[gary]

Yes, to be safe, one must change out the engine cradle. A few years ago Prevost would sell the conversion “kit” to you direct. Don’t know if that is still possible. We purchased ours from Prevost in Jax. A really big job unless you have the right tools and a fair amount of mechanical knowhow. We took about two days in our shop. Five grand for the whole job sounds o.k. to me. FWIW.

[Archived]

DKO,

The limits are established for a good reason. I know of several coaches now that had either a trailer whose weight exceeded the hitch limits or had a motorcycle lift that because of the location of the center of the downward force exceeded the tongue weight limits, the result being visible damage to the coach. Remember the limits are 10,000 towing weight, or 1000 pound tongue weight on a ball that is located 8″ from the bumper. Exceed either limit and there is a risk of damage.

Open the rear doors and look forward on the engine cradle and note that it is mostly cantilevered rearward from the structure around the tag and drive axles. There is some additional support from support members in the rear which extend vertically as well as some diagonal bracing, all of which can be seen by going to the parts manual for your coach and looking at the body parts. What it all adds up to however is a structure designed for the purpose of supporting the engine and transmission, and not really intended to carry much more weight levered that far to the rear. I am sure if the coach was just carrying the extra weight but was not subject to the forces that act upon it when you hit dips in the road for example the limits would be quite high, but the reality is our coaches are bouncing up and down under certain road conditions and that extra weight does cause serious problems.

If you get a heavier trailer, make sure you modify the coach to accomodate that weight. You will not be sorry.

I think newer coaches have higher tongue weight limits than our vintage coaches.

[Lee]

I would love to do it myself, George but definitely out of my league. Glad you could do it. Has it worked good since you beefed it up? How much weight do you pull?
Very good information, Jon. I understand and I am in complete agreement. I am a little compulsive when it comes to things like that and after talking to bus people all day, I am more determined than ever to do it correctly. they made sure I am scared straight!
I did get a price from Prevost to modify my XL for 20K capacity. $2500 for engine cradle and hitch and $6500 total. They said it’s about 30 hours labor. That’s a bunch of money no matter who’s counting it. I think even he was surprised it was so high.
I have the facts. Now I need to make a decision.
Thanks,
DKO

[Bob]

[Archived]

Don,

E-mail me and tell me what you are using. You have been posting here before, so need to figure out what has changed.

[Terry]

[Terry]

Tom, we pull a 24′ featherlite with three axles. When empty, the trailer weighs 6500 lbs. Loaded with corvette, golf cart and motorcycle we weigh right at 17000 lbs.Pulls like a dream. The trailer you are looking at seems heavy. Does it have a generator? Just wondering. Get the right cradle, hitch, and hook-ups. Then you never have to look back! Also, get a scale so you can weigh the total amount of the tongue . With a tongue scale, weigh the amount of pounds on the hitch before you actually set it down on the hitch ball. Be sure to set the trailer’s hitch at the same height as your ball on the bus when you read the scale. Adjust the load as needed.

[Archived]

I
totally agree with the above post advising you to upgrade to the 20,000 pound (Cradle
Receiver Hitch) to be referred to here after as the hitch.

I
purchased December 2010 a 1995 XL 45’ Prevost Marathon with a matching 25’ foot
stacker trailer that I haul (at most) 4 Harley Davidson’s and 1 Mini Cooper to
give you some input on where I am in relation to where you can or may be.

Since
being a newbie to the Prevost and air brakes that did not feel right to me I made
it a point to go to what I felt would be the most Convenient for me and hopefully
knowledgeable people.

Prevost
Jacksonville Florida January 2011

Within
minutes I found these people to be outstanding. While doing a level 3 preventative
service, and repairing a brake system that a trucking company had obviously not
a clue on what to do to a bus.

John
the service manager and the technicians are constantly looking for potential
problems as they are performing your requested services. They found that my old
10,000 original trailer hitch had a hair line crack in it and strongly suggested
for safety reasons I should upgrade to the 20,000 pound hitch.

I
agreed to have the work preformed; upon removal of the hitch, 5 yes 5 more cracks
along with some very shabby welding had been preformed It was an accident waiting
to happen. I have retained the old hitch to show friends of what not to do.

With
the above mentioned I strongly recommend anyone pulling any trailer over 10,000
pounds upgrade to the 20,000 pound hitch one mishap will cost more than the
upgrade not to mention the liability that could follow.

[Rick & Denise]

Great post Don… Now we have first hand experience of the potential problems when dealing with heavy trailers and the need to upgrade to the 20K hitch.

I see these heavy Overbuilt Lifts hanging on the back of coaches with a Harley or Goldwing and have to wonder about the amount of stress it’s putting on the frame. Usually the hitch has been converted to 3 point instead of one receiver, but it still has to put serious stress on the frame/engine structure.

[gary]

Thanks for all the good information as usual. I can’t believe I am about to spend the money but I knew if I took the deal on the Featherlite trailer I would have to upgrade. I was aware of the consequences of pushing over the limit and I am not willing to go that route. Everything you all said just confimed that.

I was coming to Prevost in Nashville anyway on Tuesday of this week so I called and they fit me in today (Monday) for the hitch upgrade. They were shipping the part from Jacksonville and it should arrive tomorrow. They have committed to getting it installed by the end of the week so I can drive to my next revival in Ellisville, Mississippi by Saturday.

I was already having the driver’s side window replaced and the air dryer serviced so they added the hitch and engine cradle in. The quote was higher than the service guy originally thought. $6500 is the estimate. I would be interested in how much Jacksonville charged Don last year if he would be comfortable sharing the information. If not, then I certainly understand that too.

I pulled the new-to-me Featherlite trailer here from Claremore, Oklahoma (under 10,000 lbs) and my wife drove the toad ahead. It was quite an adventure getting here but I will save that story for another post.

Thanks again,

DKO

[Bob]

DKO,

Good deal, you’re doing the right thing and you’ll have piece of mind knowing the safety issue has been resolved.

Now tell us about the adventure, it’s got to be good…..

[gary]

To those of you who have the 10,000# hitches (especially on an 8V92 coach), please check them for cracks on a regular basis. Admittedly, I towed 12000# a lot of miles with my old coach but I ‘broke’ TWO hitches during my ownership period.

[Archived]

The old 10,000 pound hitch was a accident waiting for the right time to fall out from under the coach, but it had not found the most proper time to do so (police watching, heavy traffic ETC)