Motorhome towing questions

rknight111 · Jul 18, 2011

A friend has asked me to seek some advise for him on towing with his 33' Pace Arrow motorhome with a 454 engine. It is a large older unit and currently he tows an S-10 with the bars mounted to the front bumper to the hitch. He has purchased 1985 Grumman P30 postal van and wishes to tow that. Firstly since the Grumman with 2 quads would weigh about 8500 lbs, you would need a good hitching system as well as some type of break away system, as you cannot pull this behind freely. If something goes wrong and that Grumman takes off in neutral it wont be very pretty. Firstly is this even legal, that's what I asked him already. I told him to go out to DOT at the truck stops and speak with them
-Is there a system that ties into the existing brakes that will work with a brake controller?
-What about the connection to the hitch on the motor home. I said he should ensure the hitch is rated for this weight as well.
-Should motor homes be pulling 10K trailers?

teeroy · Jul 18, 2011

rknight111 said:
A friend has asked me to seek some advise for him on towing with his 33' Pace Arrow motorhome with a 454 engine. It is a large older unit and currently he tows an S-10 with the bars mounted to the front bumper to the hitch. He has purchased 1985 Grumman P30 postal van and wishes to tow that. Firstly since the Grumman with 2 quads would weigh about 8500 lbs, you would need a good hitching system as well as some type of break away system, as you cannot pull this behind freely. If something goes wrong and that Grumman takes off in neutral it wont be very pretty. Firstly is this even legal, that's what I asked him already. I told him to go out to DOT at the truck stops and speak with them
-Is there a system that ties into the existing brakes that will work with a brake controller?
-What about the connection to the hitch on the motor home. I said he should ensure the hitch is rated for this weight as well.
-Should motor homes be pulling 10K trailers?

there are braking systems to add to a towed vehicle, my pops has installed them in his last 2 yukons that he flat tows behind his monaco. I know one system he tried had an electric actuator that mounted under the driver's seat and the brake controller activated it to push a rod onto the brake pedal. I think he has a different setup on the new yukon tho.

I've seen a lot of the newer motorhomes pulling huge tri axle 30+ foot enclosed car haulers, not sure an older motorhome with a 454 would be cut out for that kind of weight.

Puba · Jul 18, 2011

rknight111 said:
A friend has asked me to seek some advise for him on towing with his 33' Pace Arrow motorhome with a 454 engine. It is a large older unit and currently he tows an S-10 with the bars mounted to the front bumper to the hitch. He has purchased 1985 Grumman P30 postal van and wishes to tow that. Firstly since the Grumman with 2 quads would weigh about 8500 lbs, you would need a good hitching system as well as some type of break away system, as you cannot pull this behind freely. If something goes wrong and that Grumman takes off in neutral it wont be very pretty. Firstly is this even legal, that's what I asked him already. I told him to go out to DOT at the truck stops and speak with them
-Is there a system that ties into the existing brakes that will work with a brake controller?
-What about the connection to the hitch on the motor home. I said he should ensure the hitch is rated for this weight as well.
-Should motor homes be pulling 10K trailers?

First off he'd need to make sure the hitch on the motorhome is good for at least 10,00lbs, then he can match up the proper hitch assembly from the motorhome to the tow'ed vehicle, I know the blue ox is rated for 10,000lbs on a bumper pull.

He'll need to wire up the tow'ed vehicle so he can plug in the lights just like a trailer, cost about $150.00 and a brake buddy works perfect, just plug it in, set it up to the brake peddle and away he goes.

dodgeguy · Jul 18, 2011

Question...can one flat tow an old grunman (which I do believe have a gm drivetrain) in neutral at highway speeds and still have a transmission left upon arrival? OR would you need to remove driveshaft?!?!?!

DaveB · Jul 18, 2011

I've had 3 class A gassers (7.4 GM, 8.1 GM and V10 Ford) and they were all rated for 5000 lbs max towing cap.

BrakeBuddy - Braking systems for motorhomes towing a vehicle This is a popular brake system for flat-towing.

rknight111 · Jul 18, 2011

The one he got was a standard.

KVF 700 · Jul 18, 2011

dodgeguy said:
Question...can one flat tow an old grunman (which I do believe have a gm drivetrain) in neutral at highway speeds and still have a transmission left upon arrival? OR would you need to remove driveshaft?!?!?!

X2???

If its a 4x4 with neutral position or a standard it should be ok.

dodgeguy · Jul 18, 2011

rknight111 said:
The one he got was a standard.

Answered....thanks!!

Longhorn · Jul 18, 2011

And the reason he wants to do this is just to haul the quads?? or am I missing something else?

Its do-able for sure, but the 454 will barely have enough power to feel comfortable towing the grumman, they are far from aerodynamic. If this is something that he needs to do, then he may want to consider an after market under-drive system for the motor home.

If its only to haul the quads, he would be far better off with a trailer, but perhaps he delivers bread while camping??

Not trying to be an ass, just really interested in his choice of vehicle. Give us some more info on what he is doing Ron.

rknight111 · Jul 18, 2011

Longhorn said:
Perhaps he delivers bread while camping??

:d:d:d

He wants to have 2 quads in there then he can go to the staging area rather than packing up the entire motorhome. There's no mountains planned but im sure some hills. It may be hard on the transmission going up hills as well.

rknight111 · Jul 18, 2011

longhorn -> I told him what you said, he replied, that he was bringing a freezer filled with ice so he can sell to pay for all the fuel he uses.

funtimes · Jul 19, 2011

rknight111 said:
The one he got was a standard.

Even flat towing a standard he still runs the risk of not supplying enough lube up to the bearings that are under the gearing on the mainshaft of the transmission and also the pocket bearing between the input and mainshaft. I would recommend that if he wants to flat tow the Gruman that he runs a driveshaft disconnect.

My 2 cents.

DaveB · Jul 19, 2011

If the rig looks like the one in the pic, it's probably a P30 chassis itself....not GM's best achievement. Towing 8500+ lbs is gonna let the smoke out of the transmission real fast I'm sure.

RMK Junky · Jul 19, 2011

rknight111 said:
longhorn -> I told him what you said, he replied, that he was bringing a freezer filled with ice so he can sell to pay for all the fuel he uses.

That's alot of ice to sell. Be lucky to see 4 mpg towing that WT

DaveB said:
If the rig looks like the one in the pic, it's probably a P30 chassis itself....not GM's best achievement. Towing 8500+ lbs is gonna let the smoke out of the transmission real fast I'm sure.

A larger or secondary tranny cooler would be a good investment :d

Ranking Class A Motorhome on Towing-Tow Capacity Standard

Longhorn · Jul 19, 2011

rknight111 said:
longhorn -> I told him what you said, he replied, that he was bringing a freezer filled with ice so he can sell to pay for all the fuel he uses.

Haha, he might need more than one freezer...just sayin

Well his idea makes some sense, Im just not convinced the Grumman may be the right vehicle for his plan. All fine once he gets there, but it will be the trip that will be a pain in the butt. I cant see him getting more than 4-5 mpg with the 454 and definitely agree with the other guys, that a driveshaft disconnect will be required.

My first hotshot truck was a 454 and we had to go with an underdrive system in order to have enough power to pull a big trailer.

I assume he already has the Grumman, but in hindsight something like a 1-ton deck truck (ex-oilfield) might be a better solution and achieve the same result, but lighter and easier to pull. However...no place for the ice cream...

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