Buying a 2013 3010ds - Want to tow Durango

[Kamakazi]

New to the forum and about to purchase a 2013 Sunseeker 3010ds with 5,000lb hitch. Want to tow my 2014 Dodge Durango AWD which weighs 5,300lbs. It can be 4 wheel towed. Don't plan on long trips with this setup. Usually less that 60 miles and periodically to the beach which is about 180 miles away. One other question is if it is flat town on 4 wheels, does this reduce the cargo carrying capacity of the Sunseeker? Are there other considerations other than the right hitch setup? Thanks for any help. Excited about our first Motorhome.

[tmhyer]

Flat towing will not add to your cargo weight. That is the benefit of flat towing as all the weight is on the ground and not the back of the rv

[GJones]

I flat tow a Buick Enclave,about 5000 pounds, with my 3010DS. No problems at all.


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[davel1971]

no matter how you tow it, 5300 is more than 5000

[SkipnTerri]

We have towed our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee from south central Missouri to northern Minnesota and back with our Forester and had no problems with the heavier weight of it. Don't think I'd care to tow it across the Rockies, though.

[Joseph Carozzoni]

With a 2650S, I tow a car I race on an aluminum trailer. Total package can vary between 5,200-5,500lbs and never had a problem. My trips are normally 200-400 miles.

In mid-2014, the hitch was upgraded to 7,500lbs/500lbs. The only part of the hitch requiring strengthening was the chain loops. Reference:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...s-47823-2.html

Someone posted $310 for the upgraded hitch and installation. I may do it just to be legal.

[ATVer]

Flat towing can impact how much cargo weight you can have via the GCWR of the Unit. GCWR is the weight of the Unit, plus the cargo weight, plus the weight of whatever you are towing.

As I understand from FR rep postings here the 5000 pound tow rating is based on the hitch not the frame extensions so to get a 7500 pond rating like the later units all you have to do is replace the hitch assembly. That also assumes you have the 22000 lb GCWR E450 chassis. You should check the door tags but I expect you will have that higher rating since my coach is a 2012 and it has the 22K rating.

I think it would be unlikely that you would have an issue with going over the 5000 lb rating in your case unless you had an accident that some lawyer could twist things around and say it was your fault because of it.

Lastly why bother towing if you are only going that far, unless you are traveling alone. We only tow a Focus but if it's less than a couple hours away my wife just drives the car.

[bclemens]

The E450 Ford has a gross combined weight of 22,000lbs.
The chassis is rated at 14,500 lbs. Leaving you 7500lbs of towing. The key is making sure the hitch will take it. We had to upgrade the stock hitch to get it to the current rating of 7500lbs.