AquaDawg Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Hi everyone,Doing some planning for retirement, and would like to know if anyone is towing a 3/4 or 1 ton truck with two ATV's loaded on the bed, behind a 40'-45' pusher? Looking for pitfalls you may have run into.thanks- David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warroland Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Way too much for me to lug behind my motor home! Weight, length, parking and stopping for starters. Alabama/Tennessee Campers On Mission 2002 Fleetwood Revolution 38B2006 Honda CR-V, Air Force One, Blue OX tow bar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyretired Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Weight is a consideration but length could be a legal problem. Many states especially in the West allow up to 65ft. Very few allow more and some quite a bit less. We considered a MH pulling a pickup with a RZR but decided to stay with our current rig. I kinda thought we could get by with a 1/2 ton short box and load the RZR at an angle but never persued it. Another way is to use a trailer and load a car and atv's. I saw a MH pulling a car, RZR, a tent trailer and a 3 wheel motor cycle on a double decker trailer. So I guess anything is possible. Randy 2001 Volvo VNL 42 Cummins ISX Autoshift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
folivier Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 We fulltimed in a 45' motorhome and towed an extended cab full size 1/2 ton short bed pickup with a Rzr in the bed. Our total length was about 72'. We towed from Louisiana through Texas, N. Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, S. Dakota, Idaho, and Alberta on interstates, state highways and county roads. Never was stopped for being over length. YMMV. Back on the road again in a 2011 Roadtrek 210P 2011 Tahoe 4x4, 2006 Lexus GX470, 2018 Ranger XP1000, 2013 RZR 570LEhttp://finallynewellin.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimalberta Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 If you look at my picture you will see that we tow a full size extended cab pickup with a RzR on the back....works pretty well. It is approx 6600 lbs so I dont think I would want to tow much more than that. <p>....JIM and LINDA......2001 American Eagle 40 '.towing a GMC Sierra 1500 4X4 with RZR in the rear. 1999 JEEP Cherokee that we tow as well. IT IS A CONTENTED MAN WHO CAN APPRECIATE THE SCENERY ALONG A DETOUR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaDawg Posted April 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Thanks for the reply's everyone. I had already made up my mind that we are not going to worry about exceeding the OAL in some states. If it becomes a problem, we will just unhitch and the DW can drive the truck, an option we would not have with towing a 24-30 ft cargo trailer behind the motorhome.Jim and Oliver, I am planning on putting a flatbed on whichever truck I finally decide to go with (needs to be minimum of 7' wide by 8' 6" long to carry the ATV's without them banging into each other). I f I go with my current 2500HD, I'm looking at a GVW of about 7500 lbs +-. Which tow bar did you go with? (Make and model) and has is worked with no problems with your weight? Have you seen any extra wear and tear on your coach from hauling the amount of weight on your toad? What HP is your coach, and do you feel it's enough when towing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaDawg Posted April 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 I might add that the coach we wind up purchasing will most definitely have a tag axle on it. Would be interesting hear from those who have towed both with and without a tag axle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimalberta Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 I like the idea of a flatbed and have considered that for my truck although that would add more weight to my truck unless it was aluminum. I use a Blue Ox 10,000 lb tow bar which works well. There is no wear on the coach from towing. I suppose the greatest stress would be on the transmission but I keep an eye on the temp of it and it has never even got close to getting hot. Trick is to not travel too fast. I set my cruise at 60 to 62 mph and let the crazies go past and there are a lot of them. As far as a tag axle ...I see no need for a tag for towing a toad . There is no added weight to the MH. A tag would be good for a heavy stacker trailer or a motorcycle lift which would actually weigh down the MH. My MH has an 8.9 Cummins ISL with 370 hp and 1200 ft lbs of torque. It handles the toad well although I can say that the MH will go up a mountain faster without the toad but hey..I'm retired and there is no need to be the first one up. My MH will still usually hover around 45 MPH at 1600 rpm and outpull a lot of semis and a lot of other MHs even with a 7000 lb toad. <p>....JIM and LINDA......2001 American Eagle 40 '.towing a GMC Sierra 1500 4X4 with RZR in the rear. 1999 JEEP Cherokee that we tow as well. IT IS A CONTENTED MAN WHO CAN APPRECIATE THE SCENERY ALONG A DETOUR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dollytrolley Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 David, Have you pondered a HDT (Class 7 or 8 tractor) and then tow a 5th wheel trailer or larger bumper pull trailer. A lot of HDT owners have a deck sized big enough haul whatever car, pickup, bike(s) or ATV they choose and the added weight only makes the truck ride even better. HDT's have many advantages that might well consider. Life is much simpler when whatever you tow is so simple to back up whenever you need to. Whenever you tow a car or pickup on it's own wheels behind a motorhome you find no other option to backing up but to stop, hop out unhook the toad and then move the toad then move the motorhome.......not my cup of tea being retired. HDT's are designed from the start to backup a trailer (Big Trailers) into tight spots from day one......I actually enjoying backing up trailers with our Freightliner.......those BIG high mirrors and a backup cam making backing up almost fun... RV weight loads mean almost nothing to a class 7 or 8 truck the brakes are great and the power is stunning and the air ride suspension is great as well. Try it you might like it...... Happy retirement, Dollytrolley Freightliner Century Class towing tt Dune toyhauler with a removeable horse module in the "garage" for Dolly the Paint-Horse 97 Freightshaker Century Cummins M11-370 / 1350 /10 spd / 3:08 /tandem/ 20ft Garage/ 30 ft Curtis Dune toybox with a removable horse-haul-module to transport Dolly-The-Painthorse to horse camps and trail heads all over the Western U S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimalberta Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 I agree that HDTs have some advantages just as they have some disadvantages. I considered one but my wife could not see herself climbing into one and I certainly did not want to use the HDT as a run around vehicle. Since the OP has quads they would take up the deck space unless he got a toy hauler ...then he could put a car or 4x4 on the deck if there is room. That is the only way I would do it as my RZR is an integral part of our lifestyle. We find the MH and pickup with the rZR on the back ideal. We can only back up in a straight line about 5to 10 feet before I have to unhook but it takes less than a minute to unhook.....not an issue. The advantages to being able to unhook a 4x4 pickup and scout ahead far outweighs the disadvantages. <p>....JIM and LINDA......2001 American Eagle 40 '.towing a GMC Sierra 1500 4X4 with RZR in the rear. 1999 JEEP Cherokee that we tow as well. IT IS A CONTENTED MAN WHO CAN APPRECIATE THE SCENERY ALONG A DETOUR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaDawg Posted April 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Dolly, A toyhauler and HDT was our original "Plan A". In the meantime we purchased an interim motorhome and sold our 5th wheel, just so we could make apples to oranges comparisons before we retire. DW has decided she likes the motorhome better, so that's the route I'm planning for.I've got 8 short years to get this figured out....Jim,I have already decided we need the tag axle for the extra GVW it gives the motorhome. I also have talked to a few people who have told me the tag axle makes their motorhome handle substantially better going down the highway, particularly with a cross wind. Just wondered if the improvements carried over to a heavy toad too.I'm totally with you on scouting ahead and having 4x4.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.