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Stackers – 2 cars, 1 car + lots of stuff, or?
Wife wants to swap her Jeep (4 down tow) for a ”Mid Life Crisis Convertible” to use her words. So that means either we get a Stacker or Car Hauler. I’m leaning towards a stacker so I can bring my Colorado and her ride. Or am I overly ambitious?
Coach is rated to tow 15,000 pounds.
On the pro side – could use the Colorado to move trailer around. Having a 2nd ride would be helpful as she plans to travel nurse while we tour the country.
On the negative – much more weight and fuel (duh! Obviously!!) Or is it really that big? I’m more concerned about loss of range between fill ups vs expense.
Read many posts about flat tow vs trailer. Seems to be a Chevy vs Ford type debate I.e. strong opinions on both sides.
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13 Replies
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Plus, you’ll have to think about where you go with it and if the RV parks can accommodate it! I was thinking about one a few yrs ago, but after putting more thought into where we go, it wouldn’t be worth the trouble of having it! There are a lot of places that have the room to handle them, but more that cant!
Just my opinion!
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Even if Dana’s comments do not persuade you to rethink your needs, consider that your problem is not the 15,000# weight limit. The tongue weight limit, if exceeded has the ability to severely damage the rear structure of the coach.
You have to insure you never exceed that weight limit by weighing the trailer tongue weight, and then any time you change vehicles or placement of them you reweigh it. If you have a trailer, and it has any space remaining it tends to get loaded with more stuff so it does not take long before you drag around a lot of stuff because you can.
The tongue weight limit is specific about how far from the bus bumper the hitch is so if the ball on the hitch is a few inches beyond that specified the tongue weight is reduced proportionately so you have to take a lot of these factors into consideration.
Our coaches do quite well pulling excessive loads, but poorly handling excessive tongue weights. For that reason the absolute worst coach to buy is one that has had a heavy motorcycle on a carrier using the engine cradle for support, just like a coach pulling a trailer with excessive tongue weights.
The damage is often hidden when the limits are ignored. The engine cradle is cantilevered from the rear axle structured and supported with structural members extending downward from above. Those members doing a lot of the work of supporting the load were never really intended to carry more weight than the engine. They are sandwiched between the chassis outer skin and the coach interior, out of sight and not easily accessed. If they fail Prevost will not repair the damage under any circumstances. Often the only evidence of structural damage is a crack on the rear cap that runs across the top or bottom of the cap.
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
For yrs we pulled a 10k# loaded 24′ all aluminum full height (13’6″) stacker. For more yrs we pulled another 9k# loaded 24′ normal height steel enclosed trailer (car hauler) with stock Prevost 1000#/10,000# hitch. Fuel mileage dropped from 8 mpg to 5.5 mpg with the stacker. 8 mpg to 7.5 mpg with the normal height enclosed trailer. We sometimes put our toad in the car hauler with other cargo (furnature etc) to go back and forth between or TX & CO homes. We used the stacker exclusively for our racing operation in TX.
Toad either 4 down or in the trailer? 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.We almost never stay at RV parks.We were 69′ long with both trailers. We were 74′ long w/previous coach. Limit is 65′ in TX. Troopers rarely hassle privateers for over length violations. Don’t put advertizing on the trailer.We use a 12.5k# rated Weigh-Safe hitch with built in gauge to determine tongue wt. Move car/cargo around in the trailer to keep the tongue wt less than 1000#s.Our 3rd trailer is a little 5′ by 10′ Magnum open single axle trailer we use when we haul only the golf cart. Wouldn’t know it’s there if it wasn’t for the rearview camera. -
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Every trailer owner should have a Sherline Tongue Scale and never leave home without it.
https://www.sherline.com/product/sherline-trailer-tongue-weight-scale/#description
We tow a Chevy HHR four down with a Blue Ox tow bar. From time to time we tow a 26′ (w/5′ tongue) enclosed trailer for the race car and sometimes moving stuff.
Emphasis on “TIME TO TIME”.
To paraphrase one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met: I’d rather eat bees than tow a trailer all the time with our coach.
Some coach owners have very good reason to pull a trailer. It all depends on your mission. Three winters in a row we spent 78, 100, and 102 continuous days on the road with our coach chasing warm weather from Tennessee to Florida to south Texas to Southern California and back home to Wisconsin. Some places we stayed a week, other places overtime. Many of the places we stayed any trailer … open, 22′ enclosed, or 26′ stacker … would have been very close to impossible to deal with. Some impossible. A few would have accommodated the trailer. Emphasis on “a few”.
Beyond the campground or resort issues, pulling a long trailer limits you on where you can “just stop”; some we do quite often.
For me the decision really comes down to how we’re going to use the coach. What’s the mission? Do I really need the trailer?
Good luck with your deliberations.
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I don’t think a stacker vs car hauler would make a difference in terms of where we can go. Right? For those who do travel with a trailer are there times you have to unhook and find someone to move it for you? I am envisioning offering a camp neighbor cash / beers / wine to move the trailer if you don’t have a car or truck up for the job.
Well, from my owners manual “Installed on your King Aire is a class five, 15,000 pound car towing hitch, with a 1500 lb maximum tongue weight.” However, just because I can don’t mean I should.
One more cliche – Happy Wife = Happy Life. So I must find a way to get her mid-life crisis on trips with us. If I don’t get the car on trips she will most likely get another ankle biter dog. We already have a Chihuahua, Corgi and 2 labs. I might need the trailer for a place to hide!
We have done the 4 down towing for a few years, it is quite easy. Until that time I tried to turn into the Palisades Mall in NJ. That was bad, bad, bad! Had to unhook the Jeep with lots of Happy New Jersey and New York Residents waving with one finger. Would that scenario been easier with a trailer instead – probably not.
With a 45 foot coach I am already on a short list of places that will let us in. Fully understand it would be shorter still with a trailer. But I don’t think a stacker vs car hauler would make a difference in terms of where we can go. Right?
I am not a big fan of campgrounds – they are too crowded. Much prefer a Harvest Host Winery or Walmart.
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For the places that do let you in with a trailer, do you have to detach?
I am also considering a trailer, mostly because there are a lot of limitations on what newer vehicles can be towed 4 wheels down.
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Trailer, stacker, whatever…………The bottom line is it has advantages because you can bring anything you want plus the kitchen sink, and most of all, as opposed to towing 4 down, with a trailer you can back up anywhere, any time with no penalty.
The disadvantages are most of the time in RV parks there is no place to put one, or you have to jump through hoops to put it in an acceptable spot, not at the site. Additionally if you do not observe the hitch weight limitations you can convert a perfectly good bus into one with serious structural damage.
If you do not need RV parks, but are willing to use Camp Walmart a trailer is fine. But for convenience there is nothing as simple as towing a single vehicle four down.
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Probably the most unusual place I’ve taken the Prevost and trailer was into the then Shopko Hall at the Resch Center in Green Bay. The facility is across the street from Lambeau Field and we dry camped parked overnight in the Lambeau parking lot. This was March of 2016. We were at a three day car show supporting the Dick Trickle Memorial Project with the Schneider National race car.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
That was some first class VIP parking you had there Dick. The spectators looked like a space ship had landed there. 🙂
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Jeff: When you’re driving a Prevost … you kinda feel like Moses parting the Red Sea!
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Appreciate the comments and insight of this forum.
While I have not ascended to the ranks of Prevost ownership my coach is of similar physical size so the wisdom I pick up here is valuable to me. Thanks to all!
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