I was gonna buy a Harley but ....

I have read from Ford guys while looking up some pros and cons to gas vs diesel on the V-10 is they have a hole in the fuel tank. Its activated when you turn the key and start pulling up hills. As light as your unit is you could have got away with a F250 I think as GVW on those is up around 12,500.

Considering our budget and what is out there we were limited to model years 2000 - 2007. Even a really good 2007 would have been out of reach. The Trailer Tow Rating on my F350 is 13,200. To find an F250 in model years 2000-2007 with the same power, etc is unheard of practically. As far as diesels go in that same range, add another 5 grand and I'd be lucky to find anything that had decent mileage. Ford diesels were the least costly, compared to Chev and Dodge and there was several to choose from but then you have to deal with all of the problems associated to the 6.0 L engine. The older 7.3 diesel was bullet proof but just did not have the power of the 6.0 L. Buying a used diesel of that age is a big risk. As for the difference in fuel mpg, while the V10 is a gas eater, over the long term it still worked out to be far less costly to operate vs a diesel of the same age. I did do some very in-depth research and calculations to arrive at that conclusion.

IMO, I got the right truck for the job.

(now if only I won the lotto! ... I did get a free play on the last draw.....)

WOW Am I confused now. Trying to find out, figure out what size truck I need. I see these huge triple axle toy haulers and have a fair idea based on what models/manufacture they weigh. So now I am using some calculators online and plugging in numbers and am surprised on the results. Probably the majority of these F350 pulling these rigs are illegal based on weight overloading. Most 350/3500 rigs are 15k jump to a 450/4500 and it only goes to 16k. Dang some of these 5th wheels are 16k shipping weight. So add in a motorcycle and some LP clothes your probably close to 19k. You need a Volvo over the road rigs.

I did find a rite priced F350 with low miles. But its an 06 6.0 diesel and those had all kinds of problems, so those years of the 6.0 are out imop.

When I was working temporary contract jobs around the country, I started thinking about getting a 5th wheel camper to live in. I looked at one that I really liked. It was a used Grand Teton or something like that, really nice. I was thinking that I would enjoy living in it. Then I found out that the GVW was over 28k lbs. It would have taken a really big truck to tow it.

I did find a rite priced F350 with low miles. But its an 06 6.0 diesel and those had all kinds of problems, so those years of the 6.0 are out imop.

If it had the EGR delete, head studs replaced, couple other things (commonly known as Bullet Proofing) it's probably ok ... without that I wouldn't touch one. The first truck I looked at was a mint, low mileage '06 F350 4x4 XLT Lariat quad cab 6.0 diesel. Had not had anything done to it ... I walked. Funny thing is, many folks have never had problems with them ... but they are generally the one's with gobs of bucks and do all the maintenance when it's due without fail.

FWIW if I haven't already mentioned it, my 5th wheel has a GVWR of 12,340 with a dry weight of 8825.

Yea the toy haulers weigh a bit more per foot. I presume because of flooring and cargo allowance. So this Fuzion I am looking at has ship weight of 13,480 and a carrying weight of 3520. So if I am beginning to understand all this stuff I add those 2 together and I need a truck that will have that or less listed as max tow capacity? 17,000#

@djh3

Another thing to consider is driver licensing .... are there any changes needed to pull a trailer?

Here in B.C. Canada in order to pull an RV trailer that weighs (not the GVWR but the actual weight) 10,100 lbs or more, one needs a special endorsement on their D/L. This involves a series of questions, an eye test, and a road test pulling the trailer.

When I went to get mine, the agent said "hmmmm ... I've forgotten how to set up the test as we've not had one of these in over 2 years"

I thought to myself "I'll bet there's lots of folks out there pulling RV trailers that aren't properly licensed and probably don't even know it". Thing is, without the proper license, if they're involved in an accident it could void their insurance.

Some owners of the 6.0 diesel reprogram it for higher boost and I've read that this is what causes the head gaskets to fail and causes the need for different head bolts. The egr causes overheating when it gets under load. I would be skeered of buying one.

Did some research today on the 6.0 IF you "bullet proof" one they pull, and are reliable as heck. But parts alone are like $2500. Replacing head bolts, EGR cooler, oil filter by pass and relocation and engine oil cooler. I think I'll pass on this project. Partially because one of the things that has to be done to work on the motor is take the car completely off the chassis. YIKES

As for the driver license thing. Far as I know as long as its a "private use" no special requirements. Funny we as motorcyclist have to have a endorsement here in Florida to operate a motorcycle. But Elmer who hasnt driven anything bigger than a Crown Vic can by a 300k class A motor-home with air brakes and dont need anything! If I went to work for say a lawn care company with one of those little Izuzu flat nose trucks with air brakes I would have to have a commercial driver license with air brake endorsement. Just dumb

just dumb

totally!

So if we come up north of the boarder for a visit with my say 14k toy hauler, will they not let us in without some kind of endorsement.

So if we come up north of the boarder for a visit with my say 14k toy hauler, will they not let us in without some kind of endorsement.

Just tell 'em you know me and you'll be good to go!

LOL

The endorsement or any special licensing is a requirement of the province or state you live in. Not required outside of that. In other words, as long as you're "legal" there, you're legal most everywhere else.

I've been lurking on this thread. Thanks for the info.

I'm still leaning toward a Class C MH. Like Class A's better, but not willing to spend the xtra bux. A simple Class C on a Ford 350 chassis with V10....around 24'.....would fit our needs. And still allow us to tow our sailboat or a trailer for the bike.

BUT....still in thinking stage. Need to re-roof my house, etc., before we take off and play!

Thanks for the conversation...I'm here with ears wide open...

 

Thanks for the conversation...I'm here with ears wide open...

A testament to the fact that this forum is not all about bikes and that there is much to be gleaned from the members here on practically any subject.

Besides the camaraderie it is top of the list of reason's why I am still a member.

I've been lurking on this thread. Thanks for the info.

 

I'm still leaning toward a Class C MH. Like Class A's better, but not willing to spend the xtra bux. A simple Class C on a Ford 350 chassis with V10....around 24'.....would fit our needs. And still allow us to tow our sailboat or a trailer for the bike.

BUT....still in thinking stage. Need to re-roof my house, etc., before we take off and play!

 

Thanks for the conversation...I'm here with ears wide open...

I know you will, but shop around. If you want new, probably price wise yea the class C. However if you look used withing say 4yr old you can probably find a Class A gas rig for close to the same. Get more room, slides etc. Most of the ones I saw last week are on a Ford Chassis and had V-10 in them. Check out RV Trader if you havent already.

Well .... we did it!!! Took delivery of our 5th wheel RV today. BUT ... it wasn't without incident! We'd arranged to store it at an RV storage lot in south Surrey. Unbenownst to us, it was a grassy field and as we started drivng in, we got stuck. Yep, all the frost was coming out of the ground and everything was wet and mushy and as soon as you drive onto it, into the mud you go! Well, we had to get a tow truck to pull us back out because after several attempts we just couldn't do it under our own steam and were digging ourselves deeper into the muck. In the process, the guys there had put a sheet of plywood under the wheels and as the tow truck driver was pulling us back, the plywood bowed and popped the power steering fluid line off and we lost all the fluid. Luckily it did not rip the line and the guys were able to put the line back on and top up the fluid. We finally got out THREE HOURS later!

So now truck and trailer are parked in our guest parking area in our M/H park and I've no idea where I'm gonna store it at this time ... but something will turn up.

That whole thing was a bit frustrating to say the least but at the same time, rather hilarious! I do hope it's not an indication of things to come LOL

BTW, that V10 pulls that trailer with no problem and the whole thing handles very easy.

On the way to the RV storage

Stuck in the MUCK

The adventure begins!

Shortly after I bought a 24' Layton TT that I towed with a SWB F150 without traction lock, I returned home right after a rain. I had a one acre yard so I circled the back yard in order to park it. There was a slight grade and with my worn down tires on the rear, it started spinning and wouldn't move. The tires didn't even dig into the grass. I just left it there until the yard dried out.

So now for the Ironical sidebar....

We bought the trailer in Chilliwack ... appx 1.5 hr drive away. The place we got stuck was about half way home. Anyhoo, we made it home, trailer in tow, with no place to store it.

This morning I started phoning around and the closest place that had an opening was ..... yep! .... a few blocks away from where we bought the trailer!!! LMAO! So all the way back to Chilliwack we went.

There is always an upside to everything ... as I always say, there's a reason for everything. This "adventure" at least gave me an opportunity to haul the trailer around and get used to it under various conditions and that was a good thing.

Dont that just figure, the storage place would be all the way back there? By the looks of the bog, even 4wd wouldnt have done much for you. Some of that stuff looks like it would just load up the tread and its like having slick tires. No grip. Those King Ranch jobs are optioned out nice.

Yeah, you're gonna have to swap that truck for a dually 4x4!

Yeah, you're gonna have to swap that truck for a dually 4x4!

Nope, no plans to try that again LOL

I just bought a class C MH from a friend that went to a bigger one. It is on a 77 Ford chassis with a 460 with 61,000 miles. He took very good care of it and I got it at a price that I could not turn down.

I just bought a class C MH from a friend that went to a bigger one. It is on a 77 Ford chassis with a 460 with 61,000 miles. He took very good care of it and I got it at a price that I could not turn down.

My ex father in law had this set up and drove the wheels off it. He had one issue with that chassis high altitude operation especially on his annual cross country run if he took the northern route through either Colorado or Montana. If you go more southerly the passes are a few thousand feet less in total elevation

One of the old high-altitude tricks to get some of that horsepower back is to really advance your ignition timing. On big V-8s, we used to advance it to the point where the engine sounded like a coffee can full of rolling marbles if you drove down to sea level, the engine would ping so bad.

It was bad enough the last time. He said " i'm to old to get out and crawl around and change the damn timing to get to Denver, I'm buying a diesel. well the diesel was 20 years newer and had computerized fuel injection, but of course that wasn't the issue to him.

So other than though he had for like six years with no mechanical problems, he had more issue with the diesel. I do recommend getting a "good sam's" card because when you need a tire in the middle of nowhere, its nice to have that price guarante!!

SO IS THE FRAME STIFF ENOUGH IN THE BACK TO ADD A LIFT FOR THE BIKE? THATS WHAT I'VE BEEN CHECKING LATELY.

My ex father in law had this set up and drove the wheels off it. He had one issue with that chassis high altitude operation especially on his annual cross country run if he took the northern route through either Colorado or Montana. If you go more southerly the passes are a few thousand feet less in total elevation

 

One of the old high-altitude tricks to get some of that horsepower back is to really advance your ignition timing. On big V-8s, we used to advance it to the point where the engine sounded like a coffee can full of rolling marbles if you drove down to sea level, the engine would ping so bad.

 

It was bad enough the last time. He said " i'm to old to get out and crawl around and change the damn timing to get to Denver, I'm buying a diesel. well the diesel was 20 years newer and had computerized fuel injection, but of course that wasn't the issue to him.

 

So other than though he had for like six years with no mechanical problems, he had more issue with the diesel. I do recommend getting a "good sam's" card because when you need a tire in the middle of nowhere, its nice to have that price guarante!!

 

SO IS THE FRAME STIFF ENOUGH IN THE BACK TO ADD A LIFT FOR THE BIKE? THATS WHAT I'VE BEEN CHECKING LATELY.

I am not sure about that, I haven't looked into it. If I want to take the bike I can always load it on one of my trailers.

I've heard good things about the durability of those 460 engines. A 77 would have a carb and no computer.

Nuutin wrong with computer controled EFI. Just have to understand it. That said carb parts are getting hard to find. Holley and some others make aftermarket bolt on throttle body FI kits that work pretty dang good.

On the lift for the bike, I have been looking around some for something like that. you see them for bikes under say 400 lb or so. Hard to find one for a 1000lb bike though. Would need so much more support than just a bumper.