Weight question.... Jeep GC Trailhawk

[lss177]

Looking to flat tow an 18 Hemi JGC Trailhawk, curb weight is 5000 lbs or so. Looking at gas Class C's with Chevy 4500 or Ford E450 chassis. Towing limit is usually 5000 pounds on Chevy, 7500 pounds on Ford.

Anyone have toad experience with either Chevy or Ford at the 5k pound number? Is 5k pounds too much for the gas coaches?

Thanks!

[ron_dittmer]

As seen in my signature picture, our E350-V10 with a 158" wheel base and measures less than 24 feet long with 5000 hitch tows our 4400 Liberty very nicely. I do have a rear trac bar installed on the E350 and do not notice the tow vehicle except when accelerating. The tow brake makes stopping better than if not towing the Liberty. The Liberty helps slow down the motor home very effectively.

A 5000 tow vehicle towed with a 5000 rated hitch is just fine being right at the limit. But don't be filling up your tow vehicle with firewood as we sometimes do 😉

[map40]

I have towed my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited that tiped the scales at 4950 with 4 different class C's, a 25, a 28, and 2 33'. None of them had any problems whatsoever. All Ford, V8 for the 25 and V10 for the rest, all 5K towing capacity. Up and down mountains, just make sure you use the Tow/Haul mode that enables transmission braking.
Most of the time, I barely knew it was there...

[rjstractor]

Islandman wrote:
You might have difficulty with a longer Class C (say 27 to 30+ft) as the allowable tow weight and the cargo carrying capacity are usually less than a shorter Class C (maybe a 24 ft). But if you watch what you load on the motorhome, it may be okay. We all have tendancy to put too much stuff in our MH's and that's not good when you have that Jeep Trailhawk behind you. Either way, get a good braking system no matter which way you go.

The newer Ford E450 with the V10 has a GCWR of 22,000. So fully loaded you have a 7500 lb towing capacity. The GM GCWR is 20,000, so with either rig will be within factory specs although close to max with the GM.

[irishtom29]

As long as you come in under both the GCWR of the coach and its hitch receiver capacity you should be OK.

We have a 34 foot Tiffin gasser and considered the Grand Cherokee but while we would’ve been under the GCWR of our coach we would’ve been over the hitch receiver capacity of 5000 pounds. No dice. Same story for the 3.5 turbo AWD Explorer. So we bought a 2WD Explorer which loaded to our needs falls under 5000 pounds.

(We need a vehicle which can carry a pair of recumbent tadpole tricycles.)

[Winnebago_Bob]

lss177 wrote:

Winnebago Bob wrote:
We pull a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee with our 2017 Winnebago Aspect 27K (30ft), V10, 6 Speed.

No problems.

We had a good braking system installed and there is no issue with the V10.

We're close to the limit but have room on the GCWR.

No problems.

Thanks, I'm assuming E450 chassis?

Yes. I should have specified.

[Islandman]

You might have difficulty with a longer Class C (say 27 to 30+ft) as the allowable tow weight and the cargo carrying capacity are usually less than a shorter Class C (maybe a 24 ft). But if you watch what you load on the motorhome, it may be okay. We all have tendancy to put too much stuff in our MH's and that's not good when you have that Jeep Trailhawk behind you. Either way, get a good braking system no matter which way you go.

[lss177]

Winnebago Bob wrote:
We pull a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee with our 2017 Winnebago Aspect 27K (30ft), V10, 6 Speed.

No problems.

We had a good braking system installed and there is no issue with the V10.

We're close to the limit but have room on the GCWR.

No problems.

Thanks, I'm assuming E450 chassis?

[Winnebago_Bob]

We pull a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee with our 2017 Winnebago Aspect 27K (30ft), V10, 6 Speed.

No problems.

We had a good braking system installed and there is no issue with the V10.

We're close to the limit but have room on the GCWR.

No problems.

[klutchdust]

Flat towing a Wrangler with a 30 footer. I cannot feel any influence from the toad. No pushing in corners, braking system works great and it has no measurable influence on mileage. I still get 8.5 to 9 MPG average, no matter what. I see the toad when I make a turn or click on the camera, a pure dream set-up.

[bobndot]

I would ask about wheelbase length on the MH you decide to buy.
I would think a shorter WB 25ft rv would feel different that a 32ft long WB unit. At 5K you don't want the towed vehicle to push to you in corners.


I flat tow 3k with a 25' and feel I would not like towing 5k with it. I would prefer a larger rv.
I added a rear track bar on the MH to help me from being pushed in turns. I tow with a 2018 Ford v-10 and have felt like I could use a little more power on some steep hills while running back roads . Interstate travel is easier.

[MDKMDK]

"does this coach make my towed look fat?"

Weigh the towed loaded for travel, while you're looking for a tow vehicle, and make sure you don't exceed the GCWR of your choice, when everything else is known. Then do the math, using the stated towing capacity of the TV, and including the OCCC and whether you'll need to "borrow" any OCCC to make it work.
You're not going to win any races in a bigger gasser pulling 2.5 tons.

I should have added, I pulled a 4400 lb Wrangler with a 2016 Sunstar with the F53 chassis, 6.8L 3 valve V10, 6 speed tow/haul transmission, without any problems. Hardly felt it back there. The fuel economy actually went up 2 mpg (just kidding, it didn't).