I am looking to tow my F-250 behind my motorcoach. I have seen different ways this is accomplished. I would like for some of you to share your ideas on the most effcient way to do this. I have thought about an enclosed trailer, but it would have to be very large and with tight turning radius' already, I am a little stumped. All of my friends just keep telling me not to haul my big truck around and to buy some little piece of nothing to go with us on trips, but I can not do without my truck. Thanks for the help. This is my first post I hope I did this in the right place. I come around here all the time and look, but I needed this answered.
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2004 Ford F-250 6.0, 4x4 Supercrew, 2003 Mercedes S500, 2001 Lexus 400, 2005 American Carriage Motorcoach using Prevost Motorcoach.
Well first you might consider towing 4 down, and see what Ford recommends for doing this. Second, you might get a single vehicle trailer to tow behind the motorcoach, one that is not enclosed just a flatbed trailer, which would not be very much longer than the actual pickup. 3rd if you can afford a ("1.3 million dollar Prevost, then just rent you a Superduty every where you go, or buy one for every place you go to, and leave it there for future visits") LOL-HAHA, Seriously good luck, and welcome to The Diesel Stop.
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2000 model Red GMC 3500,DRW,2WD,Reg cab,5.7 V8,auto 8'5" J&I flatbed. 1982 white Ford F-100, reg cab, shortbed, 3.8 V6, 3 speed on the tree.
Tow bar. Same thing you see all the motorhomes use. Then, get a good braking system. You shouldn't have any problems.
Option #2 would be to get a flatbed trailer, with a rock shield and extended tongue, and haul it that way. The extended tongue will help with that turning radius.
The owner's manual says if it is a 4x2 you can tow with all four wheels on the ground if you put the trans in neutral, don't exceed 35 MPH, and don't go more than 50 miles. If you want to go over 35 MPH or further than 50 miles you need to remove the driveshaft.
If it is an electronic 4x4, it says you can't tow with ANY wheels on the ground.
If it is a manual shift 4x4 they forgot to put that in the manual!
All of that (except the manual 4x4) is on page 188 of the 2004 Owner's Guide.
An open trailer is usually quite a bit smaller than an enclosed trailer. That would be my choice.
Thanks for the replies. I knew I could not tow with any of the tires on the ground. I guess I am going to go out and find a real nice trailer. I also want to get some really good tie downs. Any suggestions on the best points on the rear of the truck to tie it down. I plan to use the tow hooks for the front tie downs. Thanks again.
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2004 Ford F-250 6.0, 4x4 Supercrew, 2003 Mercedes S500, 2001 Lexus 400, 2005 American Carriage Motorcoach using Prevost Motorcoach.
A PSD toad is certainly not your normal toad, but it can be done.
But you can't flat-tow a 4x4 without doing some time-consuming changing of stuff. And if it has the "automatic" 4x4 shifter stuff called ESOF, then you can't flat-tow it at all.
Easiest solution is to get a car-hauler trailer, but you can't get just any ole trailer. You don't say exactly which body you have, but any PSD is going to weigh way over 6,000 pounds and probably closer to 7,000 if it's a CrewCab.
(Note that a trailer for a 7,000 pound truck needs more than two 3,500 pound axles because the combined weight of the truck and trailer would be a lot more than 7,000 pounds.)
So start with one of those, then have Big-Tex customize it for you with two 5,000-pound axles. I'm pretty sure Big-Tex will build it for you.
With the open-air car-hauler trailer, you'll need to go to http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...m?skunum=16893 and buy the front-end protector for the front of the truck. Or maybe just modify the trailer by adding a built-in front wall.
With a Prevost tow vehicle, lots of your fellow RVers tow a huge enclosed trailer - often painted to match the coach. So a "Race trailer" might be right up your alley. You'll need it to be at least 23' inside length if you have a CrewCab longbed pickup. And you'll need two 5,000-pounds or more axles on that one too.
The main problem with a race trailer is the widest they make is 8.5' wide. So your pickup will barely squeeze in, and then you'll have fun trying to open the door enough to squeeze out of the pickup.
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My Sierra Blanca is a '99.5 PSD CrewCab hot-rod Towing Machine! BTS tranny; TurboRamAir intake and 4" stainless turbo-back exhaust; DP-Tuner tunes flashed into an Edge Evolution tuner; ISSPRO EV gauges and TTM; AIC; SP-Diesel exhaust brake and torque converter controller. I special-ordered it new and plan to drive it until it quits.
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Any suggestions on the best points on the rear of the truck to tie it down.
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There are slots in the frame that I've used. I have tie downs that have different "keys" that fit into different slots in the frame. These are really easy to put in and don't ever come out by themselves.
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The main problem with a race trailer is the widest they make is 8.5' wide. So your pickup will barely squeeze in, and then you'll have fun trying to open the door enough to squeeze out of the pickup.
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Good point Smokey. He may want to spring for a sliding back glass. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif[/img]
Reading the other thread in this forum about Big-Tex trailers, someone mentioned the 10ET and the 12ET car haulers, with 10,000 amd 12,000 pounds GVWR. I didn't realize they made those. That's what you need. No customizing needed. Here's the 10ET. http://www.bigtextrailers.com/spec/10et.html
I took a look at those trailers SmokeyWren and they looked real nice and heavy duty. I did not see a dealer network, need to find a way to get one down here to Atlanta. I am going to give them a call and check around here at some of the local places too. This all got rushed up a bit when my motorcoach got through production faster than I expected. Thanks again to all. When I get here all hooked up and ready to go I'll try to remember to snap a shot and sent it to you guys. Thanks
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2004 Ford F-250 6.0, 4x4 Supercrew, 2003 Mercedes S500, 2001 Lexus 400, 2005 American Carriage Motorcoach using Prevost Motorcoach.
Kaufman Trailers might be close enough to you that you could take a weekend drive to go to the factory and get a trailer. I've heard very good things about their trailers; this one would fit your needs nicely - http://www.kaufmantrailersinc.com/ca...c008b32c3cc68a
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