Suggestions on a hitch to pull a stacker??

[Jon Wehrenberg]

A concern nobody has addressed is the stress on the rear of the coach. The standard hitch is attached to the engine cradle and the tongue weight is literally cantilivered off the rear axle sub frame.

Unlike Peter's Smart car carrier that carries the vertical loads on the truss frame and has almost horizontal loading on the lower portion, a heavy tongue load with the standard hitch is going to show up in the form of stress cracks on the rear cap attach points.

A good example is looking at coaches in which a motorcycle has been carried on a hitch mounted motorcycle carrier. The stress cracks can be seen at all rivets and across the top of the cap. Prevost has a 20,000 hitch as Kevin pointed out and if a trailer of heavy tongue and gross weight is to be towed at the very least that hitch should be added.

Ditto what Harry said. Those transmission temps are going to get very high and annual Transynd changes are going to be required to prolong the transmission life.

[Toy Box]

For what it's worth, Our triple axle featherlite weighs 6200 lbs. empty. I don't have a lift inside, but we do have some attic space for carpet rolls and misc. small items. I can weigh the tongue in our shop with a store bought hydraulic scale. I simply place the scale on a floor jack under the ball socket of the trailer and adjust the tongue height to correspond with the same amount as it is when hooked to the bus. This scale gives a very precise reading within 50 lbs. When empty and on level ground in the shop, the trailer has a tongue weight of 750. When loaded with the vette to the extreme rear, the golf cart or the harley sideways and just ahead of the car, the tongue weight is at 1280-1300 lbs. We do have the Prevost hitch at 20,000 lbs. and all three axles have brakes. I can actually stop quicker when loaded. Hills on interstates in Texas, New Mexico or Colorado are not a problem as long as you down shift and keep an eye on temps. in the transmission...both up hill and especially down with the retarder. Although we are 73' long overall, I have never [ to date ], had any issues with the fellows in the smokey bear hats. Just keep a low profile if possible! We do have two friends with H45 units towing triple axle 29' ers with stackers. They both have to load as much as possible in the rear and still have tongue weights in the 2000-2400 range... too much for this country boy!!!

[Kevin Erion]

I installed a 20,000LB Prevost hitch on my 99XL for piece of mind, got the scale that toy box has and played with it for hours to get the tongue weight to 1250. But at the end of the day, sold it, and I have not looked back. I tow our 3/4 ton Suburban with the 3rd seat out and a bus spare rim with tire, a BBQ with 2 LP tanks and life is way less stress.

[Coloradobus]

Harry,

One 8V to two 5 spd trannies, is much better record than one DDEC to four 4060' tranmissions. Do you know when we can expect our Alison to go out>? Guess the Alison MH4060 is not as stout as the old 5 speeds. Question??: Why, in the POG pricing guide, does the 5 speed tranny get dinged when what the Billings DD shop, (been there) say they last longer than the MH4060?
How would a coach with a 1st generation Series 60 with a 5spd rate? That also takes a hit on the pricing guide?

[nealandjudy]

Thanks for all the input guys....I will pass this along to Neal. You are all so helpful! I hope we can make Spearfish!

[hhoppe]

Jim The explanation given was the Ser. 60 has so much power & torque over the 8V it overloads the transmissions easier. The added 6th gear would add more strain on the trans. if used on hills or heavy loads. Keep the rpms up and avoid problems.

[Jeff Bayley]

I towed a double stacker companion trailer a year ago from CA. to FL. on the standard 10,000 pound hitch. I weighed it at a truck stop and it was 17,000 pounds loaded. 12,000 pounds unloaded (I had one car and some household stuff). It has the matching stainless sides which I understand add 2-3k pounds of weight to the trailer (not worth the bling in my opinion for the extra weight). The tounge weight was not an issue as this trailer had a front axle the steered and followed the coach. You know that sucker's back there for sure when your going up hill. I wouldn't do it again and I have no plans of buying a stacker that. I was borrowing that one and transporting West to East for the owner at the same time.

Despite being 75' in length and over the limit in some of the states I passed through, I never got stopped. I only got stopped when a bearing went out and got so hot that the spindle disenetgrated and it along with the trailer tire are still somewhere between El Paso and Albequreque New Mexico in the middle of the desert. Took 5 days to get back on the road since I was in the middle of BF Egypt. Like Kevin, I'm done with them big trailers.

[rickdesilva]

Thats what I love about this forum. I had been contemplating a stacker to transport our toys to Florida. But after reading everyones comments it doesn't seem like its worth the expense and wear and tear on the bus. I had a 20' trailer that I could fit in a car (a 911) and one harley, but it was tight. What size trailer would fit a car and 2 Harleys? Dale I think you fit your SUV and a harley in a trailer. What size is it and could you fit in another bike if you wanted? Maybe we should have a trailer seminar at the next rally.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Unless you prefer your stuff inside a trlr you could have Peter build you a lift like his. Put the bikes on it and pull your toad 4 wheels down behind that. That would be lighter and eliminate the expense and inconvenience of any trlr.

Possibly pull a full size P-U with a cap and it doubles as a storage shed.

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[Sid Tuls]

How in the world would a person ruin the looks of there bus with something like that???? If you can buy the bus I bet a few pennys a gallon isn't going to break you.








Sid & Judy Tuls
2007 Thompson XL11 D/S