Towing with Super C motorhome
05-12-2021, 10:06 AM
#1
Registered
Thread Starter
Towing with Super C motorhome
I wanted to see who out there if anyone has towed their boat with one of the Super C campers. I am looking at one built on the chevy 5500 frame with a duramax and it has 10k towing capacity. 26k total rig. I would be hauling a 32 hustler on a tri axle with 15” brakes on all 6 tires.
my concern is length. 32-34ft camper plus the boat probably puts me over the total length legal limits. Wondering if anyone’s done it and or gotten harassed? I know a lot of the car racers push the limits on this and they don’t seem to bother ones titled as motorhomes.
as well as navigating that length. And power of the truck to lug the camper around plus the boat back there. Stopping power the trailer brakes work mint.
id like to travel to more events and explore new places but doing so with the family stuck in the truck for 10-12 hrs is pretty difficult. I work a regular job but would love to be able to leave Thursday after work drive overnight sleep a couple hours work remote and be in my location by Friday evening.
just looking for thoughts or experience with anyone that has hauled with one of these beasts
my concern is length. 32-34ft camper plus the boat probably puts me over the total length legal limits. Wondering if anyone’s done it and or gotten harassed? I know a lot of the car racers push the limits on this and they don’t seem to bother ones titled as motorhomes.
as well as navigating that length. And power of the truck to lug the camper around plus the boat back there. Stopping power the trailer brakes work mint.
id like to travel to more events and explore new places but doing so with the family stuck in the truck for 10-12 hrs is pretty difficult. I work a regular job but would love to be able to leave Thursday after work drive overnight sleep a couple hours work remote and be in my location by Friday evening.
just looking for thoughts or experience with anyone that has hauled with one of these beasts
05-12-2021, 02:29 PM
#2
VIP Member
VIP Member
"my concern is length. 32-34ft camper plus the boat probably puts me over the total length legal limits. Wondering if anyone’s done it and or gotten harassed? I know a lot of the car racers push the limits on this and they don’t seem to bother ones titled as motorhomes."
It sounds to me like you have no concerns with braking, but concerns are 1) getting around due to maneuverability issues, 2) power, and 3) being hassled due to being illegally over-length.
Maneuverability can be overcome with planning and taking the rig to a large parking lot and practicing. I've listened to numerous "systems" for backing trailers (put your hand at the top of the wheel and ...or, put your hand at the bottom of the wheel and...) but what works for me I believe is much simpler. It doesn't matter if you're looking over your shoulder or in a mirror, or where you put your hand...if you follow the trailer it will go straight and with some practice you will learn to put the trailer where you want it. Practice and patience are the key, or at least they were to me (and my wife and kids, who all can back a trailer. My oldest can even back a hay wagon, which I do not have the attention span for ).
Power - Obviously subjective, and variables are operating condition of the rig, terrain, and weather. If you're trying to haul far more than the rig is rated for, it's not going to work well.
Our boat is 9' 6" wide and I had similar concerns over being "hassled" when towing and whether I needed to jump through the hoops of the permit process. I don't know of anyone routinely hassled "driving down the road minding their own business" & I've never been stopped while towing our boat. However, I had a friend explain it to me this way - "If you have assets, you need to be legal. Period. F'ing dot. Here's why. If you are involved in an accident, best case is a citation - and a higher insurance premium - because being illegal you are automatically at fault. Worst case, your insurance company says "sorry, Charlie, illegal operation voids our policy" AND you're also subject to a lawsuit from the other party ...and you have nobody in your corner because you were illegal. No assets ? Blood from a stone, etc etc. However, if you have a rig large enough to be involved in this conversation, I'm assuming you have assets someone would at least think are worth going after IE "Let's sue that rich guy with the cigar boat".
I've never looked into the permitting process for excess length, because it didn't apply to me. In MI, the permit process for over-width is tedious, but not difficult, if that makes sense & if you don't want to go through the process yourself there are agencies you can pay to get your permits for you and/or appropriate permits for the states you're traveling through. My permits are up for renewal right now but the last time I paid for them they consisted of $50 for the tow vehicle, $50 for the trailer, and $50 for the object being towed. Required info includes the specs (length, width, height, axles etc) of each component and at my width - unless the reg's have changed, no special signage or flags. are required
An added benefit is permitting removes any "pucker factor" every time you see an LEO, or worse yet, a weighmaster.
And last, as an opinion, which is worth exactly what you pay, I know several police officers, and why in the hell any of them continue to put up with all the bull**** for the thankless job they do is beyond me, but the last thing I want to do is give any of them an excuse to vent some frustration because I did something stupid and avoidable...or even put them in a bad position because it's to the point where exercising any sort of discretion on their part is liable to result in a negative review of their performance due to the vehicle and body cams. "You let him go with a warning because he's (fill in appropriate sex/ethnicity/whatever here) ? Anyway...Sorry to get off track....but tons fo scrutiny right now so it's hard for them to use any prosecutorial discretion.
Cheers
d
It sounds to me like you have no concerns with braking, but concerns are 1) getting around due to maneuverability issues, 2) power, and 3) being hassled due to being illegally over-length.
Maneuverability can be overcome with planning and taking the rig to a large parking lot and practicing. I've listened to numerous "systems" for backing trailers (put your hand at the top of the wheel and ...or, put your hand at the bottom of the wheel and...) but what works for me I believe is much simpler. It doesn't matter if you're looking over your shoulder or in a mirror, or where you put your hand...if you follow the trailer it will go straight and with some practice you will learn to put the trailer where you want it. Practice and patience are the key, or at least they were to me (and my wife and kids, who all can back a trailer. My oldest can even back a hay wagon, which I do not have the attention span for ).
Power - Obviously subjective, and variables are operating condition of the rig, terrain, and weather. If you're trying to haul far more than the rig is rated for, it's not going to work well.
Our boat is 9' 6" wide and I had similar concerns over being "hassled" when towing and whether I needed to jump through the hoops of the permit process. I don't know of anyone routinely hassled "driving down the road minding their own business" & I've never been stopped while towing our boat. However, I had a friend explain it to me this way - "If you have assets, you need to be legal. Period. F'ing dot. Here's why. If you are involved in an accident, best case is a citation - and a higher insurance premium - because being illegal you are automatically at fault. Worst case, your insurance company says "sorry, Charlie, illegal operation voids our policy" AND you're also subject to a lawsuit from the other party ...and you have nobody in your corner because you were illegal. No assets ? Blood from a stone, etc etc. However, if you have a rig large enough to be involved in this conversation, I'm assuming you have assets someone would at least think are worth going after IE "Let's sue that rich guy with the cigar boat".
I've never looked into the permitting process for excess length, because it didn't apply to me. In MI, the permit process for over-width is tedious, but not difficult, if that makes sense & if you don't want to go through the process yourself there are agencies you can pay to get your permits for you and/or appropriate permits for the states you're traveling through. My permits are up for renewal right now but the last time I paid for them they consisted of $50 for the tow vehicle, $50 for the trailer, and $50 for the object being towed. Required info includes the specs (length, width, height, axles etc) of each component and at my width - unless the reg's have changed, no special signage or flags. are required
An added benefit is permitting removes any "pucker factor" every time you see an LEO, or worse yet, a weighmaster.
And last, as an opinion, which is worth exactly what you pay, I know several police officers, and why in the hell any of them continue to put up with all the bull**** for the thankless job they do is beyond me, but the last thing I want to do is give any of them an excuse to vent some frustration because I did something stupid and avoidable...or even put them in a bad position because it's to the point where exercising any sort of discretion on their part is liable to result in a negative review of their performance due to the vehicle and body cams. "You let him go with a warning because he's (fill in appropriate sex/ethnicity/whatever here) ? Anyway...Sorry to get off track....but tons fo scrutiny right now so it's hard for them to use any prosecutorial discretion.
Cheers
d
__________________
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There are 2 types of people in this world:
1. Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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Padraig (05-13-2021)
05-13-2021, 08:05 AM
#3
Registered
Thread Starter
Great advice thank you. I didn’t think about the permitting and thus making myself legal. Duh. I will have to look into that.
the asset part and automatic guilt is a good reason to make sure of legality.
I would love to find a 26ft diesel truck frame RV but I don’t think they exist and I’m not in the right tax bracket to buy new if they did. Thank you for your insight. Next step will be to weight my boat and trailer and make sure it all falls within the specs of the hauler rig so I can apply for a legal permit too.
the asset part and automatic guilt is a good reason to make sure of legality.
I would love to find a 26ft diesel truck frame RV but I don’t think they exist and I’m not in the right tax bracket to buy new if they did. Thank you for your insight. Next step will be to weight my boat and trailer and make sure it all falls within the specs of the hauler rig so I can apply for a legal permit too.
05-13-2021, 05:07 PM
#4
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
I completely agree with Slippery. Be sure everything is legal to avoid any hassles. Years ago I had a 45' Apache that we pulled with a Pete 330. Together they were just over 80' in length. I never bothered with it locally (even though I should have), but every time we traveled away from home I pulled oversized permits just to be on the safe side. I never got stopped and nobody ever asked to see the permits, but I had them in the truck just to cover my a$$. If you use a permit company, the process is very easy. Today I use a company called Mercury Permit that I found through Boat US. All you have to do is call them and provide your personal info, your vehicle and trailer info and the dates and location of travel. They will do all of the legwork for you and send you a file with all of your needed permits. The process for a trip from Maryland to Florida and back costs a few hundred dollars for the permits and fees, but it is well worth it for the peace of mind knowing that you are 100% legal should anything go wrong.
Last edited by Hot Duck; 05-14-2021 at 09:36 AM.
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05-13-2021, 07:21 PM
#6
Registered
Great question AEStream. I was curious about that myself. I really like the Super C's. I do enjoy my camper and use it quite a bit but I hate that I cant tow my boat or a boat not my boat. My only complaint is when you want to go to town or forgot something at the store you have to unhook and unlevel then hope you can get in town with a motorhome because its so long so good luck parking. Sorry man I sometimes overthink things. Anyway good luck with your decision and keep us posted. Im definitely interested in this thread.
05-21-2021, 06:35 AM
#8
I wanted to see who out there if anyone has towed their boat with one of the Super C campers. I am looking at one built on the chevy 5500 frame with a duramax and it has 10k towing capacity. 26k total rig. I would be hauling a 32 hustler on a tri axle with 15” brakes on all 6 tires.
my concern is length. 32-34ft camper plus the boat probably puts me over the total length legal limits. Wondering if anyone’s done it and or gotten harassed? I know a lot of the car racers push the limits on this and they don’t seem to bother ones titled as motorhomes.
as well as navigating that length. And power of the truck to lug the camper around plus the boat back there. Stopping power the trailer brakes work mint.
id like to travel to more events and explore new places but doing so with the family stuck in the truck for 10-12 hrs is pretty difficult. I work a regular job but would love to be able to leave Thursday after work drive overnight sleep a couple hours work remote and be in my location by Friday evening.
just looking for thoughts or experience with anyone that has hauled with one of these beasts
my concern is length. 32-34ft camper plus the boat probably puts me over the total length legal limits. Wondering if anyone’s done it and or gotten harassed? I know a lot of the car racers push the limits on this and they don’t seem to bother ones titled as motorhomes.
as well as navigating that length. And power of the truck to lug the camper around plus the boat back there. Stopping power the trailer brakes work mint.
id like to travel to more events and explore new places but doing so with the family stuck in the truck for 10-12 hrs is pretty difficult. I work a regular job but would love to be able to leave Thursday after work drive overnight sleep a couple hours work remote and be in my location by Friday evening.
just looking for thoughts or experience with anyone that has hauled with one of these beasts
