I currently have a Hawk dual-axle trailer, with each axle rated at 3,500 pounds. The trailer weighs approximately 3,000 pounds (not listed anywhere in literature or on the trailer) with a 7,000-pound total weight capacity, not to exceed 8,000 pounds. It has electric brakes with an adjustable box in the cab. It is an extra-wide, extra-tall model with a front dressing room. We always carry less weight than the normal gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) allows, with horse weight of 2,400 to 2,500 pounds (two horses), but only 1,200 pounds most of the time (one horse), with a maximum towable weight of approximately 5,500 to 6,000 pounds.
The motorhome I’m considering comes with a hitch that is rated at 5,000 pounds. It’s built on a Ford E-450 chassis that’s powered by a 6.8-liter Triton V-10 engine, with a GVWR of 14,050 pounds and a gross combination weight rating (GCWR) of 20,000 pounds. I need to know if this motorhome will do the basic job and what, if any, modifications might be needed? Your educated opinion would be most welcome.
Don Broughton
Lebanon, New Jersey
The first thing you need to do is weigh the unit with full water and fuel tanks to ascertain whether its GCWR can handle that much weight. I think the trailer and horses are going to put it way over its GCWR, but I may be wrong.
Secondly, the weight of the trailer plus horses will exceed the receiver’s 5,000-pound weight rating. In many cases, it’s not the receiver that limits its rated pull weight, but the strength of the coach frame to which it is attached.
I can understand why you would want a smaller coach that’s more maneuverable, but I think that you may have to pass on the motorhome you mentioned. After all, your trailer is likely to weigh more than half the weight of the coach pulling it. I’d worry about a tail-wagging-the-dog scenario.
Finding a motorhome that is as small as the one you’re considering yet still has adequate towing capacity for your trailer will be difficult. However, if you can accept adding another five to six feet to the motorhome’s length, the possibilities open up a bit. Several companies offer coaches with lengths in the high-20-feet to low-30-feet range that have the power and towing capacity to handle your trailer.
California Blind Repair
I wanted to let you know I found a convenient and fair-priced day/night shades repair location in Sacramento, California, called Blind Magic. It’s located near Interstate 80 and Watt Avenue, and they can accommodate most RVs in the parking area. I had a bobbin repair done in about 20 minutes with a planned appointment and was most happy with the service. Their phone number is (916) 349-0555. They also restring and do other blind repairs. Folks who don’t live in the Southern California area should check the Yellow Pages in their respective city under “Blinds” and call around. I was pleasantly surprised.
Jack Burton, F390341
Sacramento, California
Vapor Lock?
We own a 1996 Coachmen Santara 35-foot type A coach with a 460-cid Ford gas engine. After driving approximately 100 miles on the highway in warm weather, if I pull off at an exit and slow down to the 35-mph-to-10-mph range, the motorhome engine experiences what appears to be vapor lock. It backfires, sputters, and dies out and will not restart until the engine cools off for about two hours. We have spent $1,400 so far trying to fix this problem, yet it still continues to happen. Our mechanic says it cannot be vapor lock, but a bunch of us old-timers (65-plus years old) say it sure acts like it. I think a “heat shield” around the secondary fuel pump would help, but the mechanic says that’s not the problem. However, he can’t determine what is causing the problem.
Gerald and Terri Mercer, F316820
Romeoville, Illinois
Without further information about the problem, what’s been done in the past to try to solve it, and the exact layout of this particular variation of the engine, I can only offer a suggestion or two, along with a few questions of my own to help narrow the possibilities.
You state that when the problem occurs, it seems like old-fashioned vapor lock (the condition of fuel boiling in the fuel lines between the fuel tank and the engine, thereby blocking the flow of fuel to the engine). Has it been verified that the problem is definitely fuel-related? If not, try this when the condition occurs. Simply spray starting fluid into the intake of the air cleaner and try cranking the engine again. Use just a squirt or two, as most starting fluids contain ether, which can cause the engine to spark knock, and too much starting fluid for too long could damage the engine. If the engine starts and runs for a second or two, you have established that the problem is fuel-related.
If starting fluid gets the engine to run for a few seconds, and fuel pressure, fuel volume, and spark all look good while cranking the engine, be sure to have your technician check for fuel injector pulses from the engine control computer. A lack of power and/or ground pulses from the computer will stop an engine as quickly as a vapor lock. Heat creates expansion, while cooling may result in shrinkage. This is especially true with electrical connections.
Several Ford Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) related to fuel problems on vehicles have been issued. Does the fuel gauge ever act up? The same harness that leads from the fuel tank sending unit (inside the tank) to the instrument cluster also contains the power feeds to the fuel pump motor. TSB 97-5-15 addresses wiring problems at the fuel tank sending unit.
Another Ford TSB, 98-26-2, includes your medium-duty chassis as well as a host of other Ford passenger cars and light-duty trucks. It addresses various drivability problems (including vapor lock) due to the volatility of the fuel.
Fuel volatility is the fuel’s ability to vaporize. This typically is measured in psi and related to something called Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP). The higher the number, the easier the fuel vaporizes. If the vehicle is being driven in warm weather (80 degrees Fahrenheit or higher), a lower volatility is required to keep the fuel in a liquid state on its way from the fuel tank to the fuel injectors. An engine wants vaporized fuel only after the fuel is sprayed by the fuel injectors. Fuel pumps can’t move vapor, only liquids. Conversely, if the fuel’s volatility is too low (RVP number too low), the fuel stays in a liquid state even after the injector sprays it into the cylinder head’s intake port. In this case, there is plenty of fuel, but not in the vapor state it needs to be in when it gets into the cylinder. This Ford TSB addresses matching the proper RVP to the ambient temperature.
Gas stations keep their fuel supplies with the right RVP for the weather in their area “” northern states with winter gas in the winter, and so forth. In an RV application, a typical snowbird might get his/her motorhome out in late fall and fill up with winter gas containing a high RVP. Then they head off to the warmer climate with higher temperatures, which can lead to creating a vapor lock with the winter gas from the northern state. A very simple cure is to simply fill your tank with the RVP from the area in which you are operating the vehicle.
If the engine doesn’t start on the starting fluid, it is back to the drawing board to look for something that could cause a non-fuel-related condition, such as a heat-sensitive ignition module.
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