Motorhome towing a glider trailer

[tmlkbr]

Hello,
I'm thinking of making a small and short motorhome to tow my DG800b
trailer. Can anyone share positive and negative experience in this.
Today I use a 2 door Montero, which is fantastic.

Tks,

Thomas
DG800b

[bumper]

Making one is gonna take some doing, time wise. Consider buying . . .

In Class C motorhomes there are only 3 mfgs that consistently get good
reviews. Big Foot, Lazy Daze, and Born Free.

I have a 26' Lazy Daze (they also make a 23'). When you look in places where
people don't normally look (like behind the microwave), the wiring is neatly
bundled and orderly. This sort of construction quality is hardly prevalent
in the RV industry, though. More often it's a cheap veneer over garbage
construction.

bumper

"tmlkbr" > wrote in message
...
> Hello,
> I'm thinking of making a small and short motorhome to tow my DG800b
> trailer. Can anyone share positive and negative experience in this.
> Today I use a 2 door Montero, which is fantastic.
>
> Tks,
>
> Thomas
> DG800b

[Discus 44]

On May 13, 9:52*am, tmlkbr > wrote:
> Hello,
> I'm thinking of making a small and short motorhome to tow my DG800b
> trailer. *Can anyone share positive and negative experience in this.
> Today I use a 2 door Montero, which is fantastic.
>
> Tks,
>
> Thomas
> DG800b

I towed my Discus with a 23' Winnebago motorhome and it was if the
glider trailer was not even there. I think the motor home made the
trailer behave even better than with my van. Side wind is the only
time where things get interesting. You will have to drive slower than
normal to keep the whole thing lined up. Weight on hitch must be
around 80 to 100 lbs to keep it from swaying. Good luck

TU

[Tuno]

Thomas,

You didn't mention which country you live in, but if it's the USA or
Canada, the only motorhome I would recommend would be one built on the
Mercedes/Dodge Sprinter 3500 chassis, with the 3.0 liter diesel
engine. The industry has only been making motorhomes on this chassis
since 2005 or 2006 so the ink is still wet on the reviews.

There are several manufacturers now building on this chassis and I
examined all of them closely before choosing the Winnebago View /
Itasca Navion (they are the same except for color / carpet schemes). I
get 12 to 17 mpg pulling my glider trailer.

~ted/2NO
2008 Winnebago View 24H

[Marc Ramsey]

> You didn't mention which country you live in, but if it's the USA or
> Canada, the only motorhome I would recommend would be one built on the
> Mercedes/Dodge Sprinter 3500 chassis, with the 3.0 liter diesel
> engine. The industry has only been making motorhomes on this chassis
> since 2005 or 2006 so the ink is still wet on the reviews.
>
> There are several manufacturers now building on this chassis and I
> examined all of them closely before choosing the Winnebago View /
> Itasca Navion (they are the same except for color / carpet schemes). I
> get 12 to 17 mpg pulling my glider trailer.

It's kind of hard to "make" (as the original poster indicated) a
Winnebago, but I do agree on one point. For those of us who don't want
to invest nearly the cost of a new glider in a motorhome, a used
Mercedes/Dodge/Freightliner tall panel van is an excellent reasonable
cost base for hacking together ones own mobile headquarters. I'm
waiting for the arrival of the Ford Transit Connect in the US, if it is
spec'd to tow a reasonable amount, I think it will make for a fine
live-aboard tow vehicle...

Marc

[Eric Greenwell]

tmlkbr wrote:
> Hello,
> I'm thinking of making a small and short motorhome to tow my DG800b
> trailer. Can anyone share positive and negative experience in this.
> Today I use a 2 door Montero, which is fantastic.

Where do you wish to use this motorhome (Brazil only?), why do you want
to make one instead of buying one, and how many people will be traveling
in it?

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

* Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more

* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

[Wayne Paul]

"Eric Greenwell" > wrote in message
news:6eoWj.252$Pr1.150@trndny03...
> tmlkbr wrote:
>> Hello,
>> I'm thinking of making a small and short motorhome to tow my DG800b
>> trailer. Can anyone share positive and negative experience in this.
>> Today I use a 2 door Montero, which is fantastic.
>
> Where do you wish to use this motorhome (Brazil only?), why do you want to
> make one instead of buying one, and how many people will be traveling in
> it?
>
Eric,

I really like your little motorhome. It looks like the space available is
used very efficiently. How many miles are on the odometer?

Wayne
HP-14 "Six Foxtrot"
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder

[Eric Greenwell]

Wayne Paul wrote:

> Eric,
>
> I really like your little motorhome. It looks like the space available is
> used very efficiently. How many miles are on the odometer?

130,000 miles, almost all of it with my 34' glider trailer behind it. I
have to disagree with bumper's assertion that "quality construction" is
important these days: I think it's layout and size that are important,
instead.

As for towing (the original topic), it's perfect:

*very stable, even in strong crosswinds, due in good part to it's
relatively long wheelbase
*reasonable mileage (10 mpg/60 mph with the 2400 lb trailer), due to
it's small size of 23' and moderate weight
*sufficient power to maintain 60 mph, except on steep or high altitude hills
*comfortable enough that my wife looks forward to month long trips even
if the glider comes with us! Or two months, sometimes.
*and it drives nicely enough she'll drive it when I fly off into the
distance, heading for our next stop

Wayne, I'll email you a bit more about the motorhome specifics.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

* Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more

* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

[[email protected]]

check out Roadtrek - I've gotten 16.4mpg pulling a glider in mine,
the best tow vehicle ever.....

[bumper]

Sorry if this is off topic . . .

"Tuno" mentioned the Mercedes/Dodge Sprinter 3500 chassis. While the turbo
diesel and mileage is very appealing, there other downsides to consider in
some motorhomes with this chassis as offered by many of the manufacturers.
It has a max GVWR of only 11030 lbs. This might be reasonable, but not when
they load this chassis to the gills in terms of weight. Often, when the
driver climbs in, the vehicle is already over gross if full water and fuel
are on board.

To get around problem, some RV manufacturers resort to a couple of ploys.
First they try to avoid mentioning CCC (combined cargo capacity - or the
weight left for cargo after adding full fuel, water, propane and
"standard"150 lb bodies for each of the sleeping position). Then they
consider such niceties as generator, roof air, awning etc, as dealer
installed options. As such, they don't have to figure these heavy items in
computing the CCC. The'll even limit fresh water capacity to maintain at
least some CCC.

More than a few motorhomes on the highway are over gross, with poor braking
and marginal handling in emergency avoidance manuevers . . . not that they'd
be all that good to begin with.

As to Eric's thoughts, "I
have to disagree with bumper's assertion that 'quality construction' is
important these days: I think it's layout and size that are important,
instead."

I agree, quality doesn't seem important to many people nowadays. I think
that's a shame really, and perhaps even short sighted. Why not have quality
and a good floor plan and features? The alternative, shoddy workmanship and
construction, quite often results in frustration when things break down, or
the RV comes apart around you in a roll over accident resulting in otherwise
preventable injury or worse.

A well designed and built motorhome will be free of squeaks and rattles,
have good weight distribution* and handling with a low CG, and a CCC
reserve (as an example, my Lazy Daze "mid bath" has about 2,400 lb of CCC
available for adding food, supplies and other "junk" . . . though at 10.5
mpg or so, it sure can't equal the Sprinter chassis for mileage).

*There was a recent recall where one model's weight distribution overloaded
the weight capacity of the front end (not a Sprinter chassis btw). Their
fix? Add weights to the rear bumper. No kidding!

bumper
zz

[Tuno]

bumper: my 08 View, filled with my family of 4 and all sundries, is
all of 100 pounds over gross, gets 15 mpg in that state while pulling
the glider, and goes 10,000 miles between services. At the same time
it stops on a dime, does a U-turn on a regular boulevard and my crew
loves to drive it.

Just press the pedal and it displaces the air in front of it. Woo-hoo!

~edt/nO2

[Eric Greenwell]

bumper wrote:

> As to Eric's thoughts, "I
> have to disagree with bumper's assertion that 'quality construction' is
> important these days: I think it's layout and size that are important,
> instead."
>
> I agree, quality doesn't seem important to many people nowadays.

It's not that quality construction isn't important, it's my experience
and observation that even the entry-level motorhomes are built far
better than they used be. Because of this, the difference in reliability
and durability are much less than they used to be. It's similar to cars
nowadays: even the cheap ones are much better than the good ones of
20-30 years ago.

Despite it's 130,000 miles of travel all over the USA and to Alaska and
Canada, glider always in tow, our motorhome is still in good to very
good condition. It's definitely an "entry level" motorhome and not of
the quality of the ones bumper mentioned, yet it's a good, reliable
unit. How can this be? There are some reasons, of course (these apply to
Class C motorhomes):

1. They all use the same chassis, whether it's Lazy Daze or an
"entry level" unit; typically, the Ford "cutaway" Class C chassis, and
sometimes a Chevy version.
2. They all get the major items - furnace, water heater, oven,
refrigerator, air conditioner, generator - from the same manufacturers,
though not necessarily the same models of appliances. The "quality"
differences between models seems small to me; generally, you are just
getting a bigger or fancier refrigerator, etc, not a more reliable one.
3. Most of them use the same pressure-laminated sandwich
construction: fiberglass, plywood, foam board, plywood, interior
covering, with a steel frame a part of the sandwich. Lazy Daze is different.
4. Consequently, the Class C units are far more alike than they are
different, and they hold up about the same because of that. You can get
a nicer unit in some of the features (better fabrics, a more comfortable
couch, more options, etc), but not a significantly more reliable unit.

I believe the change to sandwich construction (15-20 years ago) allowed
a quantum leap in construction quality, making low cost, rugged
construction available for even the "cheap" RVs. So, the bottom end has
become much better, and the top end has become more luxurious.

Anyway, that's why I think the layout and size choices are more
important than "quality". For towing, I recommend picking one with a
relatively long wheel base. Some Class C units have a short wheelbase
and long overhang in the back, which makes them less stable with a
trailer, and particularly so in the wind. The shorter wheelbase allows
it to turn more tightly, which is useful when turning around, but I
think it's a poor tradeoff.

We probably haven't answered the OP's question very well, but let's hope
he doesn't discourage easily!

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

* Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more

* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org