I need some info about M/Hs

I'm considering buying a MH. I have been towing trailers of some kind almost all my life but I have never even ridden in a MH. So I have a bunch of questions:
What I'm thinking is a used MH about 30 to 32 ft. and I want to tow a jeep weighing around 4K lbs. What I?m finding is that almost all the MHs that are in a price range I can afford are using the Ford V-10 gas motor. Does this motor have enough power to handle a nearly 20K lb MH + a 4K lb toad? How many miles are considered hi on a MH? If well-kept is 50K a lot? Also how does a MH handle in the snow? I'm planning on using it at times during the hunting season which will get me into snowy conditions most of the time. Is there enough clearance in the wheel wells to run tire chains? Is there enough ground clearance to travel fairly well maintained forest service roads? Can I take a MH most any place I could take a 30' TT? Other than the obvious (floor plan/appearance/is all in working order) is there anything else I should be considering before I make a purchase? Thanks for any help.

There are lots of Ford V-10 motorhomes towing Jeeps.

The F53 chassis with the 6.8L V-10 is rated between 23,000 and 30,000 lbs GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating).  The tow rating varies according to the exact model, but ranges from 4000 lbs. to 7000 lbs.

https://www.fleet.ford.com/TRUCKBBAS/non-html/2013/13_F53_F59_SB.pdf.

The amount of weight you can tow depends on several factors - the weight of the motorhome as built and loaded for the road, the strength of the hitch and chassis attachment points and the chassis GCWR rating.  If the motorhome manufacturer added an extension to the frame, this may impose a lower limit on what it can tow.

The best thing you can do is find a motorhome you like, then contact the manufacturer and ask them what it can tow.

I don't have much snow experience, and none in a motorhome, so I'll leave those questions for others.  But overall, a motorhome should go almost anywhere you'd tow a 30 ft. trailer.  Ground clearance is likely better in the motorhome, so you're less likely to catch a tank or plumbing on an obstruction.  On the minus side, the motorhome's far forward driving position gives you less feedback about what's happening to the rear end, so it's harder to tell if it's slipping or sliding.

I suggest looking at motorhomes with longer wheelbases and shorter rear overhangs.  If you have a long rear overhang, i.e. some Class C's that almost look like the house is balanced on the rear axle, you'll have problems dragging the rear bumper once you get off the beaten path.

We owned a 1999, 32 foot Tiffin Allegro with a Ford V-10 for nearly 13 years (just sold it). It had considerably less HP than the current version of the same engine but I never felt it was under-powered. We live out west and routinely climb 6% grades with our MH. I was always able to maintain 45 to 50 MPH with that MH with no overheating problems. That engine gets its power from RPMs vs. torque so it can get a little noisy up front when climbing grades. The truth is, I consider myself a GM guy but I have absolutely nothing but good things to say about the Ford V-10. It never caused us any problems.

We never towed anything behind that MH but lots of folks with V-10s do and I'm sure they'll jump in here shortly. I also don't have much experience driving a MH in the snow (not a big issue out here in So-Cal), but while descending one of those 6% grades on snowy roads a few years ago, we ended up in a 6-wheel slide avoiding a double-fatal accident in front of us. I might consider driving our MH on snowy flat roads (with good visibility), but I'm not doing snow covered roads on mountain grades anymore.

Kev

If your going to drive it in snow and dirt roads, upgrade the summer tires on your drive axle. Some call them drive tires some call them mud&snow. You'll get stuck in 1/4" of wet clay or grass with summer tires. and snow will feel like driving in grease. Been driving trucks in New England for near 30 years, on and off road, and have done my share of 4 wheeling.

Bill

Thanks guys.....This is great info.....I really appreciate it.

One other note about driving in snow with it -- those duals on the rear, combined with so much weight back there, seem to give you great traction for going on snow. But they don't help you stop any better, and on ice you've got a very good chance of losing it. And, as Kevin says, I'd be leery of driving on any appreciable slope, let alone in the mountains, depending on tires.

Many motorhomes (not all) have plenty of room to install chains on the rear, but consider what can be damaged should a chain come loose (there's a lot of vulnerable stuff in those wheel wells). If you MUST go in the snow and ice, consider the Autosock?, a neat device approved in Colorado when chain laws are in effect, and it's much less likely to cause damage to your rig.

warsw said:

I. Does this motor have enough power to handle a nearly 20K lb MH + a 4K lb toad? How many miles are considered hi on a MH? If well-kept is 50K a lot? Also how does a MH handle in the snow?

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To take those 3 questions in order......

Does it have enough power: Short answer: YES, it does, I drive a 37'7" (38 in my book) and have pulled a 4,000 pound towed,  Mine has the Chevy 8.1 but the HP ratings on both engines are nearly identical... THe ford has less than 10 percent more HP, identical peak torque, but there are some differences in how they are rated that give the Chevy engine the edge in MY opinion,  However that is not much of an edge, they are basically equal.

NOTE: that your max tow rating is the lesser of two figures,  The hitch rating (Normally 5,000 on a gasser but can be different) de-rated if you use a Drop hitch receiver (BIG TIME derated).

And the difference between the weight of the MH loaded and its Max CGVW rating.. in my case that was 4,000 pounds.

But that said, I think you will have no problems towing a 4K jeep with your V-10.

What is considered "High Millage".. I have not a clue,, I do know this, Not all miles are equal..The first 15-30 miles are worse than the next quite a bit more for example.. And if you drive for like 100 miles, that is not nearly as bad as a 10 mile hike.  And I know why (The engine gets fully warmed up and some combustion by products go away that would otherwise contaminate things and cause early engine failure)  Thus high millage on a motor home may be considerably more than on a car because you don't run to the corner grocery very often in a 35'er.

How does it handle in Snow.

I have driven in serious snow only one time.. Now I am an "Expierenced" snow driver and thus knew to slow down a bit and not try to push it, And when it got too "White and Scary" (It was after all a blizzard) I found parking for the night,  Glad I did too as a quarter mile more and the ditches were literally lined with cars. Some trying to occupy the same space (not a good thing for the cars) the next morning, after the road crews had cleaned the road off.

As I recall it handled fairly well... But again, I did not "Push it" as it were.

WIND is a bigger problem.. Mix the two and my best recommendation is PARKING!

John From Detroit said:

To take those 3 questions in order......
What is considered "High Millage".. I have not a clue,, I do know this, Not all miles are equal..The first 15-30 miles are worse than the next quite a bit more for example.. And if you drive for like 100 miles, that is not nearly as bad as a 10 mile hike.  And I know why (The engine gets fully warmed up and some combustion by products go away that would otherwise contaminate things and cause early engine failure)  Thus high millage on a motor home may be considerably more than on a car because you don't run to the corner grocery very often in a 35'er.

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What I was kinda thinking here, or I guess worrying about, was with the weight of a MH it would seem that every mile going down the road the motor would be working pretty hard just to keep it moving. I was wondering if this added stress would prematurely ware out the motor and running gear. I'm not hearing many, if any, complaints so I think it is probably an unnecessary worry.

How does it handle in Snow.
I have driven in serious snow only one time.. Now I am an "Expierenced" snow driver and thus knew to slow down a bit and not try to push it, And when it got too "White and Scary" (It was after all a blizzard) I found parking for the night,  Glad I did too as a quarter mile more and the ditches were literally lined with cars. Some trying to occupy the same space (not a good thing for the cars) the next morning, after the road crews had cleaned the road off.

As I recall it handled fairly well... But again, I did not "Push it" as it were.

WIND is a bigger problem.. Mix the two and my best recommendation is PARKING!

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I was wondering not only how a MH did in the snow on the hwy (thanks for the good info here) but also off hwy. To get to where I like to camp during elk hunting I have to travel about 6 miles on forest service road. These roads don't get plowed and will sometimes have 4" to 6" of snow. Now I have a 4X4 pulling a TT and it does really well. Do you think a MH will be able to get enough traction to travel on this type of road also?

You guys are doing a great job helping me out. I hate to keep dumping more questions on you but I also hate to quit now while we are doing so good  .

warsw said:

To get to where I like to camp during elk hunting I have to travel about 6 miles on forest service road. These roads don't get plowed and will sometimes have 4" to 6" of snow. Now I have a 4X4 pulling a TT and it does really well. Do you think a MH will be able to get enough traction to travel on this type of road also?

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You will need good off road tires to do this.  Plowing fresh snow is tough and if crusted, it is even worse.  I have done it in all season tires in the Jeep but wouldn't even try in the MH with out the off road tires.

Keep in mind that you are bouncing a house around when off road, so that's potential increased maintenance. And you'll need to pick one with pretty good road clearance. Even just a washboard road was a lot rougher in the Bounder I used to have than in my Jeep or F-150 -- I actually had to creep along, and cringed with every washboard segment, as I could "feel" everything jarring loose, though it wasn't quite as bad as it seemed, but I didn't do that very much.

And I'd agree with Jim about off-road tires for anything other than dry dirt road conditions.

WHen you talk about taking the MH down rough roads.. Kind of reminds me of part of what I say about OPTIMA batteries (not really the best choice for a motor home, but.. If you have a Wave Runner or 4-Runner type vehicle that is going to be slamming over waves or ruts and ditches and logs and such.. That is the battery for IT, but if you drive your motor home that way, Batteries are going to be the least of your problems).

Serously.. Now to ground clearance.

Varies model to model.. I have seen some, even gassers, that look like a speed bump would give them prolems.. In fact a speed bump DID give me problems (but not the kind you might think of,, Took out my jack retraction springs).

Others.. Well.. the only places I can not crawl around under my rig at just over 6 feet tall and 300 punds is said jacks, and the differential.. And I'm not sure about the differential.

It's a tight fit sliding under though.  Some (Many) palaces under the coach I can SIT!!!

All depends on your body builder (Those sit up places are between the frame rails)

John From Detroit said:

WHen you talk about taking the MH down rough roads..

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Not rough roads.....Snow covered roads. Sometimes 4 to 6 inches.

Larry N. said:

And I'd agree with Jim about off-road tires for anything other than dry dirt road conditions.

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How expensive are tires for a M/H? What size is most common? Would they be "E" rated or "G"?

I had the V10 in my class c 05 to 09 with no problems .
they do make 4x4 units        http://www.xplorermotorhome.com/

Roy said:

they do make 4x4 units        http://www.xplorermotorhome.com/

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Wow.....I didn't know that. Thanks for that little hint. I'm going to check that out.

One thing you need to consider is what you would do if you got stuck in that snowy Forest Service road.  Will your road service company tow you out of a road that is not plowed?  Will your insurance cover an accident where you slide off the road in those circumstances?

I have a Class C that weighs 15,000 pounds and is rated to tow a 5,000 pound vehicle, but I would not dream of driving it down a snow-covered road.  Biggest worry for me would be how to get it out.  Can a wrecker drive around you and tow from the front?  Is there a way to turn it around with a wrecker?  Can they tow you backward?

Just something to think about.