With the idea of an Alaska trip this summer, we are thinking of trading in our 40 ft DP on a 2008-2010 Sprinter motor home. All we have looked at have the Mercedes diesel. We are currently looking at Fleetwood Pulses, Quests, and Winnebago Views. Here is my big concern... Will one of these tow my 3000 lb car in a reasonable manner up and down grades in the mountains? If you have experience here, I would greatly appreciate a post. Specifically, will it tow all day at 60-65 mph and not slow down to 30 mph by the the top of each hill?
Also, do you expect a good longevity for this rig and engine? We saw several for sale with mileage in the 40,000 mile range. My Cummins might go 500,000 mies. What do you think this smaller diesel will do?
I drove one today and on flat road, it accelerted well to about 60 mph, but getting to 65, then 70 was very slow. This with an empty vehicle and no toad.
No it does not have as much power as your DP. Yes they will pull a 3000 lb toad but you won't win any races. The 2010 Benz chassis got a power boost so that will help. I find the power level in mine just fine. Not all sprinter RVs are equal. Some are rated for 3500 lbs towing and some are 5000 (like later V6 View/Navions).
If you want to ping a bunch of owners of these RVs join this group:Skinnie Winnie Owners. I did to learn before I bought.
A little input about taking a tow vehicle to visit Alaska. It doesn't make much sense. You will most often be on-the-move sleeping wherever you are at the time. There are few applications where you would setup camp, then return to it at the end of the day where a tow has it's advantage. Also consider you may desire to take a few ferry trips. They charge by the inch, so you will find having the extra vehicle VERY expensive. The alternative is to drive it which has it's own series of extended back-tracking to the main highway. Either way, you'll wish you left the tow vehicle home. And with the price of fuel, why not run more efficiently.
I vote for leaving the tow vehicle home and drive your 10,000+ miles exclusively with your little Sprinter motor home. Vacationing/touring to and within Alaska for most people is very different than in the continental USA. There are very few base camp oppertunities where having a tow vehicle is so nice.
BTW: My brother and wife took their little 21 foot Starflyte through Alaska. They had a rear cargo platform attached to their rear hitch to provide additional storage. The ferry charges for that cargo thing had them removing it when ferrying around.
Thank you for the kind advice! We are still looking and will see what we come up with. We are leaning towed following your advice. We were there for two weeks in a rental car in the nineties, so we kind of know why we are getting into. This is just what we were hoping for as advise. Thanks everyone!
I own a 2012 Coachman Prisim, and Dolly tow a ford fusion. I get 14 MPG towing and no problem, at least in flat Florida as far as maintaining my speed, (which is about 62 MPH on the Turnpike). The gentleman who has been to Alaska, (it is on my bucket list), makes a lot of sense! But I have heard that there are some areas where you would want to leave the RV and use the Jeep to explore. I guess it depends on where you go and what you want to do !!
We went to alaska 2 summers ago- towing a jeep cherokee- which weighs in around 4000 lbs- give or take- we took that into areas of BC, Yukon territory and Alaska I would not take my RV. If getting off the beaten path is important to you, a car can make a difference- Look up Wrangel St. Alias national park and photos of the Kennecott Cooper mine- a hard rock mine from the 30's and 40's that is very much what it looked like the company pulled out in the middle of the last century- I visited it in 2005 and 2010- a lot had changed.
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