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Hitch Tongue Weight
From time to time we get posts about motorcycle lifts on the rear of a coach or a stacker trailer with a heavy tongue weight. Prevost is very explicit about the weight limits, but when looking at a coach it is hard to imagine anything that big and heavy would have issues if the hitch is overloaded.
I copied this from another site, not to show the fire damage, but because this is the simplest way to illustrate how little supports there are on our coaches to carry the engine cradle, much less overload it with a heavy weight. This is a motorhome chassis and the two diagonal tubes, plus the horizontal supports for the engine cradle are doing all the work. Too much weight placed on the hitch really stresses those supports which were designed for engine weight plus the additional weight specified by Prevost. When welds fail it is impossible to see the hidden damage.
For those wondering about the fire, it was reported that this Country Coach fire started in the Aqua Hot but I have no proof of that.
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21 Replies
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That is amazing how they are put together. As a heavy oilfield fabricator myself (semi retired) I see the potential for diaster there, pulling these heavy trailers. If I would have built a bus, it would never have had the horsepower to untrack. Too Heavy!
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The Aqua Hot did start the fire it belongs to Richard Anderson of Phoenix he has a donor bus the front wheel caught fire a 2010 model he has 2 or 3 more damaged Prevost he has bought so he has plenty of parts but he is still going to have a bus with a salvaged title that is going to be hard to sell when the time comes
good luck
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I have looked at the Prevost parts drawings and have noted how the engine is cantilevered off the rear of the drive and tag axle structure, but this photo really drives it home about how the rear structure is not designed to carry excessive loads.
As to rebuilding the coach, there is a lot going on in the rear engine area and depending on if and how much damage the fire did to the interior the actual cost to rebuild could greatly exceed the market price of the coach even with a clear title. With a salvage title its value is going to be way down.
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I could just picture an Overbuilt Lift with a Hog hanging off the back on a stardard 10K hitch. That will keep you up at night…
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What is the max tongue weight that Prevost talks about? 12,000#?
I’ve heard there are shops/converters that will strengthen the back of the standard coach so you pull a 40,000# trailer with a much higher tongue weight (20,000# ???); anyone aware of that? What do they do to accomplish that?
Regarding the fire, has anyone put automatic fire extinguishers in the engine and generator compartments? We have to do that for some of the racing series.
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My coach has a 20,000 pound towing limit and 1500 pound tongue weight limit.
As you can see from the photo, downforces will not have a lot of structure to deal with them, yet a pull in a straight line does not seem to be a great concern.
My previous coach had a standard 10,000 pound limit, with 1000 pound tongue weight.
Prevost has or had a kit to increase the capacity of the 10,000 pound limits but the most I have heard was the 20,000 pound.
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“My coach has a 20,000 pound towing limit and 1500 pound tongue weight limit.”
What was done to get the increase? Who did it?
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Saw this motorcycle carry accross the street.
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Jim Sheppard: has a system available. for engine compartment. He does seminars to busnuts groups. Might be a good discussion to revisit here. Jon has had a costly fire. and I am rebuilding a Fire damaged shell. Both in rear Engine area. Put Fire causes in search box at top of page there are some pictures of my coach fire—-a system like Jim has would have made this a minor event… Bob
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Prevost offers the increased capacity hitch as an option, and for a retrofit they have a kit.
One important point to understand. If a coach has damage from stress in the rear Prevost will NOT repair it. They want nothing to do with a coach whose structural integrity has been compromised. When a coach starts to get stress cracks from excess hitch weight what is visible is not all the damage. Most of the damage occurs out of sight, behind the outer skin and the walls.
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What year model did Prevost start offering a factory hitch I seem to recall in the 90’s sometime
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I am not sure when. I know they have been offering the 20,000 pound upgrades since at least the mid 90’s.
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Long time members will remember that I had mine upgraded in February of 2012. I pull a trailer in the warmer months for our ministry activities and I had been pulling a trailer that was 9500 lbs fulling loaded. We were blessed with an opportunity on a great deal on a nicer and bigger trailer but I knew the bus would have to be upgraded.
I had read too much and saw too much to take a chance on going over the limits Prevost had set for my coach. I have too much invested to ignore good advice. This Link is part of that discussion.
I called Prevost Nashville since I was already having some work performed on the bus there the next week. They scheduled me a day early and four days later the new engine cradle was installed. It is a big job and expensive but I am so glad I did it. In order to pull the bigger trailer I HAD to do it but for me it was worth it even if I was only bumping up against the limit.
The new cradle is rated at 20,000 lbs and 2,000 lbs tongue weight. It cost about $6500 in February, 2012.
DKO
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I presume the new cradle was beefier and stronger?
Did it seem to you that Prevost Nashville had done this exchange on a regular basis?
Thanks for the picture and story!
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Are you sure that the rating is 2000 and not 1500,mine is 1500 on my 2008.
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