Flat Towing '99 4Runner
 

Alright, setup time on the popup and the fear of towing with my trail vehicle has me looking at motorhomes. Most of the ones we like would be over their weight limit when towing a 3rd gen on a trailer, so what are the ups and downs of flat towing a '99 4x4 5spd with manual transfer case behind a motorhome?

Can a put it in neutral on the transfer case and go or am I gonna need to remove the driveshaft or go to a full floater rear-axle conversion?

What about the front end with the ADD hubs?

I thought there was a note in the user's manual about towing...

Flat-bed trailer would be how I might do it, if you get a trailer with power brakes and a diesel motor home with rear airbags, you'd be GTG... I wouldn't want to flat tow a 4x4 because what if you break something in the axle somewhere? You'd have to fix it before you could tow it back home...

Plus, flat towing adds undue miles :nopity:

Diesel motorhome-in my dreams-have you priced those lately?

Well I thought maybe like a Ford E-350 van conversion, don't they come with a diesel possibly?

I didn't mean like one of those full-size buses...

EDIT: I was thinking something like this, but with a diesel instead of the Triton V-10... or its equivalent in a GM or Chevy since a Duramax/Allison would be awesome!
http://www.rvtrader.com/rvdetail410606.htm

Yeah something like that would work but mainly the tow rating is due to the chassis-I could probably get by with one on a short chassis (20-22'), but the longer ones mostly have chassis extensions and that becomes the liability from a towing standpoint and the capacity of the rear axle and tire size. I looked at almost that same model you posted with a Powerstroke diesel this weekend and it wasn't rated for anymore than the gas motor version.

Unfortunately so far I have found that the only motorhomes that are rated to tow more than 5000 pounds are either very new or diesel pushers. The diesel pushers can tow 10,000 pounds-these have the larger almost big rig motors in the rear of the coach and are built on big rig frames.

Most of the smaller models are built on F-350 chassis and some of the newer ones on 450 and 550 chassis-I would need th e450 chassis at least to tow 6500-7000 pounds, but these are just too expensive.

You might consider a 1-Ton dually with a camper and a heavy duty hitch. I suppose it depends more on how many people you plan on shoving in said camper :camp:

Well, motorhome is mostly for the wife and for ease of setup. I have had 2 other thoughts that the wife tossed b/c they were too "redneck"

1. Mount a used fifth wheel camper (axles removed) on a 40' gooseneck trailer and pull the 4Runner up on the gooseneck behind the camper and buy a dually to to it, or:

2. Buy a F550 chassis cab-flat bed the rear and pull the 4Runner up on that and then buy a used bumper pull travel trailer

She tossed both ideas though.

I like option 2... :great:

Me too! I'm still trying to sell the idea! I just need to find out if the crew cab models have enough frame left to pull an almost 15' vehicle up on it.

http://www.whm.cc/equipment.html

Here ya go, this one was MADE to tow vehicles! The tip-bed will make it a lot easier to load and unload too!

I like option 1!!! Someone on Pirate did this, while it did look a tad redneck, but it was sweet regardless!
Also, I believe you have to remove both driveshafts. Even then it is still sketchy from what I have heard, but it is possible.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=468987

There was another one I was looking for, but I can't find the damn thing now. :(

School Bus conversions
 

Darn I wish I had pics.

I know a guy that bought an Old School Bus. He cut the back section off (Rear Doors), removed about 10 feet or so of the center section and welded the back half on again 10 feet forward. He than converted the inside to a full fledge camper,

The 10 Ft of Frame sticking out behind the rear door was than converted in a Flat Deck. (As a bonus it has a roll out sun shade, so when Parked he has a covered picnic area)

He picked the Bus up for about 2 grand, and has sunk maybe 5 Grand into it (Camper stuff like Shower, toliet, water and waste tanks, kitchen, beds, TV, PS2, DVD, and steel)


As a bonus, he has a class 3 trailer hitch on the end, So one truck on the flat deck, one truck on a trailer in tow, and all the luxuries you can dream of.

All great ideas and all definitely doable but the wife will not get past the "redneck" factor. So for now, I guess I'm back to looking for a motorhome that can tow 5000 pounds and I'll put the 4Runner on a dolly and do a rear full floater conversion. I'll be slightly over the tow rating, but motorhome manufacturers always downgrade that and I'll do a little frame beefing on the rear frame section of the motorhome to cover me.