Pulling a Trailor

[willie nelson1]

I have a 76 40' Flxible with 8V71 and 730 Allison, I want to know how much tongue weight can I put on
this safely, to pull a trailer, or how big of a trailer can I safely pull, or What would need to be done to
pull a trailer safely, I have been pulling a toad with no problems, but there is no tongue weight, as you know, any and all help appreciated. Thanks

[H3Jim]

My Prevost says to limit tongue weight to no more than 1,000 lbs. I imagine that you should stay under 1,000, maybe closer to 500 lbs.  Buses are not really made to have large weights hanging off the back in addition to the heavy engine.

The weight of the trailer is not generally the issue, however for stable towing at freeway speeds, they say its best to have 10% of the trailer weight on the tongue.  That keeps you from going into those out of control side to side oscillations.  But that creates a dilemma if you want to tow a 15,000 lb trailer, as it just puts too much weight on the back of the bus.  I know people that do, but you do so at your peril.

[maria-n-skip]

FWIW

   Most class III hitches have a limit of 600# tongue weight.

   The other thing to watch out for is your over-all length   Varies by state.
   GVW boys probably will leave you alone because your RV not lic Bus but the HP can site for overlength.

JMHO

Skip

[belfert]

Doesn't Prevost have some sort of frame or something that makes it possible to tow more tongue weight?  It seems to be common knowledge not to tow much tongue weight with MCI and others that have just an engine support in back.

My Dina does have a frame in the reaer so I can tow more tongue weight although my total trailer weight this year will probably be less than 1,000 lbs.

[willie nelson1]

Thanks H3 Jim I consider a Prevost to be a Real Bus, and as such can easily pull a trailer, This old Transit
is a different frame design, most are not even designed for highway use, just city street stop and go,
My bus dose have 4:10 ratio gears and that helps to get  to about 65 when needed .So I want to be as safe as I can, and I am only talking about a possable 6'X 10' trailer with lets say 1000# cargo (max) really
would be nice to have a trailer that I could drive My Blazer into and still have room for all my Stuff....
I suppose that would be longer than the bus  

[H3Jim]

Brian,
I have a dealer installed factory hitch.  Its weight limit is 10,000 lb trailer and 1,000 lbs tongue weight.  I think even the 20,000 lb hitches have a 1,000 lb tongue weight limit.  For the highter weight hitches you have to replace the entire cradle.

The hitch is attached to the engine cradle, but keep in mind that the rear bumper / hitch area is more than 10 feet from the tage axle.  That and the big engine (2600 lbs) and tranny puts a lot of leverage on the frame etc.

[niles500]

I believe the 10% tongue weight requirement also carries with it a limitation of 'to a maximum 1500 lbs'

Jim - not sure of the difference relating to hitches on Prevost 'commercial' chassis versus the 'VIP' chassis (and whether the it is a 'factory' installed hitch) - but if you buy a VIP coach from Featherlite they will be more than happy to custom build a 20K GVW trailer to go with it - ;-)

[H3Jim]

Thanks, Niles, I had not hear teh 1500 max required tongue wieght before.  good to know.

The bus chassis lacks tab on the cradle that the hitch bolts to. VIP coaches come with it.   I had to either replace my cradle or have a cerified welder weld them on.  I chose the latter.    The 20 k hitch was not available early on, and its just beefier.  I think the new ones all come with this one now.

I'm sure Featherlite would be happy to build and sell to anyone with a checkbook....

[RJ]

Willie -

Your Flxible is built like a GMC, with the engine hanging from the bulkhead and the roof - no frame, in the conventional sense.  Complicates the issue endlessly!

My suggestion is you add a Tuff-Tow unit, and let it handle the tongue weight.  www.tufftow.com

To keep the Highway Patrol happy, you need to stay under 65' overall, which means a maximum 20' box for the trailer.  These can go up to 12K GVW, which would mean, using the 10% guideline, a 1200# tongue weight.

Statically, not so bad, but the constant instant loading up and down while motoring down the superslab will eventually lead to problems.  That's why the Tuff-Tow.

OTOH, a little 6x10, properly balanced, probably wouldn't have any effect at all.  Key is keeping it balanced to minimize the tongue loading.

FWIW & HTH. . .

[TomC]

I would keep the tongue weight to a minimum since you are loading the engine cradle.  Pulling up to 5,000lb should not be a problem.  Just remember your startability with the V730 and 8V-71 is limited, especially with the 4.10 gears.  I know my AMGeneral weighs in at 31,000lbs.  If you pull a 5,000lb trailer behind, you'll have 36,000lb.  If you still have the 55 injectors on your engine, then you're putting out 253hp and 680lb/ft torque.  Based on these parameters, your startability will be 15.8%.  At Freightliner, we want 16% startability on the over the road trucks, so you'd be on the line there.  Good Luck, TomC