Entropy69
Ohio
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Hello all.
I'm about to move down to Florida and will be renting a u-haul vehicle trailer to tow a 3700 pound vehicle behind my RV. Anyone done this before and any special considerations I should be concerned with?
2007 Four Winds 5000 28A
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GrumpyandGrandma
CIncinnati, OH
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Entropy69 wrote:Hello all.
I'm about to move down to Florida and will be renting a u-haul vehicle trailer to tow a 3700 pound vehicle behind my RV. Anyone done this before and any special considerations I should be concerned with?
The only issue would be the rating for your hitch (3,500/5,000) and the GCVW for the MH.
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j-d
Sunny Florida USA
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Be careful here, please. The UHaul Car Hauler weighs 2200# empty accordig to their site. If your vehicle weighs 3700, that's 5900 behind your coach at the very least. Ford E450 chassis allows towing 5000 but I think yours might be 3500. That puts you half a ton over the limit of a beefier vehicle, right at two tons over the rating of yours if I'm right at 3500.
I have the feeling you're going ahead with this regardless of cautions. You'll need the car hauler to apply some tongue weight to the rear of your coach or it'll try to wander. That load multiplies into the rear axle loading because of the length of a Class C overhang. You won't be able to carry much weight inside the RV, and its positioning (what fliers call Weight and Balance) will be critical. By the time you get the car hauler to not whip behind the RV, you may find the RV's rear axle over weight AND handling compromised because weight on the rear lightens the front axle.
God Bless, jd
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Ken & Barbie
New Boston, MI, USA
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Another point - drive slower this will keep the sway down alittle but overloading is still a concern.
Ken & Barb
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Dusty R
Charlotte Michigan 48813
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If you can go to a weight equalizing/distribution hitch it will handle much better.
Dusty
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fisher60
Plant City, Florida
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Have you concidered a Tow Dolly instead of the Car Trailer? A lot less weight. My 28A receiver is rated at 5000 lbs, 6000 with a WD hitch.
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atreis
IN
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Last winter I towed a '56 Thunderbird on a UHaul trailer. I pulled it using a UHaul truck since I don't have a capable enough vehicle of my own. As someone else indicated these trailers, empty, are VERY heavy. They also don't come with any sort of WD or sway control.
At 3700 lbs, you'll almost certainly exceed the weight capacity of your receiver after adding in the trailer weight.
An additional concern: The engine of the vehicle is on the front (tongue) of the trailer, and the trailer's wheels are fairly far back. This configuration works well if the truck is over-sized (like the UHaul trucks are) since the heavy tongue makes for more stable towing, but would be a nightmare on your RV which likely is not configured for anywhere near that kind of tongue weight.
Options:
As someone else suggested, rent a tow dolly. They're lighter overall, and the vehicle weight is all on the ground.
Another option would be flat tow it. This would mean getting a tow bar and having someone install the connector doohickies (technical term  ) needed to hook up the car, but it could actually end up being a less expensive option (assuming the car doesn't require other modifications) than renting a dolly due to the distance (FL to OH). Not all cars can be easily flat towed though.
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Vet Man
Ct. & Florida
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Does your class C have a brake controller? How will you stop all that weight?
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rjstractor
Auburn, WA
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Vet Man wrote:Does your class C have a brake controller? How will you stop all that weight?
UHaul trailers have surge brakes. Even so, that's a lot of weight for that rig.
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carringb
Corvallis, OR
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Besides hitch limitions, I'm pretty sure that will put you well over your GCWR of 16,000 pounds.
Bryan
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