We have a 1996 Itasca Suncruiser 37RW. We have been camping and enjoying it alot this summer. We also have 3 small children (4, 3, and almost 11 mos) we do not have a toad yet, and are searching. We own a ford 500, that fits all 3 carseats in the back. How hard would it be to tow this vehicle? Should we buy something instead? We couldn't afford anything brand new, but could probably do a decent used vehicle. It has to accommodate 3 carseats in the back. What would you recommend? tow the 500 or find something else. tia!!!
The first thing I would do, sense you like the 500 is check to see if it's towable. You can do that thru the Motor Home Magazine listing or better yet like in your owners manual and talk to your dealer.
Second, why go the expense of another vehicle ownership.
Third, depending on what you find, go four down or dolly. My experience, having had both, 4 down is the easiest to set up, it is also the most expensive.
Make the decision and enjoy.
The following link will take you to the Ford website where you can look up the owners manuals for all Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles going back several years. Page 181 says you cannot tow the 500 four down.Ford owner manuals.
OK....assuming you can't tow your 500 four down in it's stock configuration, you have a couple of options. First, you could see is a company such as Remco has equipment available that will allow you to tow it such as a lube pump or a driveshaft disconnect. Second, you could opt to pick-up a different vehicle.
My recommendation (since you have 3 children) would be for a 2000-2004 Honda Odyssey minivan. (By the way, our 3 youngest are just about the same age spread as yours. ) We flat-tow ours. All that is required is a pre-tow shift sequence. The Odyssey is very reliable and very roomy. It easily accommodates all 6 of us and still had room for the stroller (we needed a double stroller), cooler, beach toys, etc.. This was really helpful when we went out sight-seeing away from the campground. (I've got a 7 passenger Suzuki XL-7 4WD that can also be flat-towed, but when we load the 6 of us into it, there is very little space available for anything else, so it just doesn't work as well for most of our expeditions.)
Just a few details. What is the towing capacity of your RV? Hopefully it's at least 5,000 lbs. Some RV's, however, only had a 3,500 lb. tow rating. The Odyssey's weigh in around 4,500 lbs. To set up a vehicle to flat-tow, you should expect to pay somewhere around $2,000 for parts (tow plate, tow bar, lights, auxiliary braking system) depending upon what you want. In general, the more you pay for the tow-bar & auxiliary braking system, the easier they are to use. So you DO get what you pay for.
I'm sure you'll get other vehicle suggestions as well. Just make sure that you can fit your children, their car seats and all of the "kid support" gear as well.
~Rick
2005 Georgie Boy 3625 DS on a Workhorse W-22 (Class A)
Rick, Gail, 1 girl (12-Angel), 1 girl (7), 2 boys (8 & 5), 1 plump Golden Retriever.
2001 Honda Odyssey with Demco Aluminator tow bar & tow plate, SMI Silent Partner brake controller.
Trade it in on a Ford Explorer with 4wd and get a neutral tow kit installed. I think there's room for a third car seat in the 2nd row. If you get one with the optional 3rd row seats, you'll have room for all three when they out-grow the car seats.
You'll need a 5000 lb hitch and tow rating, however.
Mark
2000 Itasca Suncruiser 35U on a Ford chassis
2003 Ford Explorer toad with US Gear brakes,
ReadyBrute tow bar, and Demco base plate.
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