Pulling 242 with Motorhome

[cane.mba]

Has anyone or does anyone tow their boat behind a Motor home? We're looking to purchase a camper of some form or fashion (looking at a travel trailer or Ultralite 5th wheel). The challenge is I use my Ram 1500 to pull the boat, so it'll have to pull the camper. My wife has an '05 4Runner with a v-6 and I really don't trust it to pull the loaded 242. So I started thinking maybe we should consider a Motorhome, and use it to pull the boat. Just curious if anyone does this now, and do you have any tips, tricks or advice on using a Motorhome to tow a boat?


Mike

 

[TN888]

My wife has an '05 4Runner with a v-6 and I really don't trust it to pull the loaded 242.

Id think the 4Runner could pull the 242 with no issues. I own a RV/boat facility and see motorhomes towing boats often but every turn and mauever must be thought about before making.....backing up is not an option. Driving a set-up like that is a job.... but fun when you arrive to your destination.

 

[jcyamaharider]

I was actually looking at the same thing before we pulled the trigger on a new car. The family and I love to camp but I don't want to pay for double the gas. A guy I work with pulls his smaller sugar sands boat and says he has no issue launching and retrieving. As far pulling with the RV, and transmissions are built to handle higher loads so I wouldn't see a problem there.

 

[0627Devildog]

Id think the 4Runner could pull the 242 with no issues. I own a RV/boat facility and see motorhomes towing boats often but every turn and mauever must be thought about before making.....backing up is not an option. Driving a set-up like that is a job.... but fun when you arrive to your destination.

V6 4 Runner (varying slightly by year) has a towing capacity of right around 5K. A fully loaded 242, plus gear in the truck would be stretching the limits. For anything other than local trips to the ramp, I would rule that setup out.

 

[BoaterGuy]

Id think the 4Runner could pull the 242 with no issues. I own a RV/boat facility and see motorhomes towing boats often but every turn and mauever must be thought about before making.....backing up is not an option. Driving a set-up like that is a job.... but fun when you arrive to your destination.

I just looked up the towing cap on that vehicle and it's only 5,000 lbs with the V6, which is probably not enough for a loaded 242. The tongue weight is also another consideration to think about as well.

6,000 lbs would be much safer.

I've never seen a motorhome pulling a boat before! (Sorry I cant offer any advice on that)

 

[Wayloncle]

I've seen motorhomes pulling trailers quite often, seen a couple pulling boats, my concern would be launching/recovering the boat.
If you are putting it in the water on arrival and leaving it in the water until you leave it wouldn't be SO bad, but I just think about getting the motorhome all hooked up and set up on the campsite then for some reason you have to get the boat out of the water...pack it all up, unhook water, power, sewer, cable.... Get the boat out then set it all back up...

When we were considering a camper we thought about a Class C for a minute (well, my wife did, I never wanted one) then I asked her about going to see things/getting around while camping. So that idea was scraped and we got a travel trailer. And I have no regrets.

 

[0627Devildog]

http://www.bishs.com/2012/03/30/triple-towing-what-you-need-to-know

 

[cane.mba]

Thanks everyone! The 242LS is too much for the 4Runner, not an option. 242LS on the trailer is 5,063 lbs +315lbs for 50 gallons of gas, then add in coolers, tubes, skis, rope, life jackets, food, yada yada and we're easily at 5,500 minimum. Add a couple of people into the 4Runner and that adds even more weight. It could pull it, but not sure it could stop once it got rolling at highway speeds.

Wayloncle, you have hit the nail on the head. My problem is we want to camp primarily on lakes so we can use the boat. My thinking is with a motorhome I can pull the boat and get it to where we are going, my wife can drive my truck. Once we arrive, drop the boat and trailer, set up the motorhome and use the truck to launch/recover the boat, make grocery runs, sight seeing etc.

Life would be much easier with fewer toys!

 

[Williamsone46]

Here's my dad's setup 85' long.


My in-laws have a 42' motorhome that they use to pull their 30' sleek when camping.

 

[cane.mba]

@0627Devildog - That's not going to happen! . I drove a heavy transport in the Reserve before going active duty, we hauled M1A1's and other very heavy equipment. So I'm confident I could do it, but I'm also old enough to realize there's no way in hell that I want to do it!

Plus it's not legal in Georgia...

 

[Wayloncle]

85' wow that is a long setup! Is that legal in any states? I was think the max was 65-70' nationwide, and the list for triple towing was pretty short, but it's been a while since I researched all of that.

 

[cane.mba]

Here's my dad's setup 85' long.
View attachment 16079

My in-laws have a 42' motorhome that they use to pull their 30' sleek when camping.

That's an awesome looking combination, I'm a little jealous of that 5th wheel, looks like a really really nice one.

 

[txav8r]

We had a member on the other site, that was from Salt Lake I believe, and he did lake Powell all the time with their Winnebago Vista, pulling a loaded up 230 I think it was. I have not heard from him on this site and he has a very busy life (chief of staff at teaching hospital). But even on the long/steep ramps at Powell, they launched the boat behind the motorhome. I can't remember the length but I think it was the bigger one at 35'. He commented that he didn't even get the rear wheels in the water, and that even the wife could back that thing down the several hundred feet to the water.

 

[txav8r]

I believe it was Utard on the other forum Mike...he was an anchor owner, so I had contact info, but he never replied when I tried to contact him regarding the new forum. So either he sold the boat or just never visited again, but you could try him there. Like I said, he is a busy guy.

 

[Ronnie]

The guy I bought my '06 230 sx from used to haul it around with his 40' motor home when he wanted to go boat camping with his wife and kids. He said he had no problem launching and recovering the boat from the ramps he used. he went on to state that he felt he could always find a fellow boater that would be willing to tow his boat and trailer in and out of the ramp if he didn't feel comfortable doing so himself with the rv, just keep two $10 bills on you to tip the guys (usually a fisherman in the morning and a pleasure boater in the afternoon evening).

In retrospect he saved on hotel fees and he got to keep his family close the entire trip but he stored it at someone else's facility during the offseason and probably only had insurance coverage during the boating season. I've thought about renting an rv and towing with it but haven't looked to see if the rental agreement at the big chains allow for that.

 

[Boat Crazy]

One option if you are going to be camping at the the same campground by a lake, is to store your boat close by the campground. If considering this, than purchase a 5th wheel. Tow the fifth to the site, set up, than pick up your boat just miles away. I do it all the time. Works good for me.

 

[cane.mba]

We actually live on a lake with a lot of campgrounds. So the vast majority of our "camping" (it's really hard to call it camping) will be local, and I'll just take the boat from the dock to the campground. The issue comes when we want to go to Jetboater.net meets in KY, Tx, Bimini, etc. not that we've done that yet, but those are some of the bonus perks!

 

[0627Devildog]

I'd like to see you tow the camper behind the boat to Bimini. . . . now THAT would be a sight.

 

[cane.mba]

I've actually thought about making a floating camper. Old pontoon's are really cheap and would make a reliable but stable platform...

 

[Wayloncle]

I've actually thought about making a floating camper. Old pontoon's are really cheap and would make a reliable but stable platform...

I've thought of that as well, my Dad had a 60' house boat on lake Ouachita in AR, when they went out to an islad for a weekend he would pull his deck boat with the house boat to the island. One weekend that I went with him I thought about having a camper boat to pull with the ski boat. A 20ish foot pontoon would make a nice cheap floating camper.