Yahoo Message Number: 79833 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79833)
Just picked up a 98 Intrigue and have a couple questions. What is the Factory hitch rated? And if I wanted to add a brake controller will I need to add a harness from front to rear or will I find it already installed?
Thanks
and probably more questions to follow
John Lynch
Yahoo Message Number: 79839 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79839)
Check for a tag on the hitch. Our 97 Magna says 7000# with tongue weight of 600#. We have the Gilleg chassis. What do you want to tow? Your hitch can be beefed up by a good hitch shop. We had ours beefed up and tow a 10,000# rated enclosed trailer.
As for the trailer control wiring, look under the dash and dig around there and in the engine compartment in the big wiring loom. You should find unused wires. The more I dig the more unused wires I find in the most unexpected places. Check the wire for voltage drop. I think it is a good ideal to use two wires to carry the load the distance to the trailer.
This is the brake control I like the best for our air brake system: http://www.brakecontroller.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=29 (http://www.brakecontroller.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=29)
Leonard
97' Magna 5418
Yahoo Message Number: 79842 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79842)
John
I would also be watching axle weights.
Dan 2006 Allure 31348
Yahoo Message Number: 79845 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79845)
H John,
According to my specs the 1997 Intrigue which has the same chassis as the 1998 is 6200. GWR 30,000 GCWR 36,200. Great coach, but if it has a slide make sure the recall has been done on wheels, tires and changes to the ride control valves. Country Coach in Junction City Oregon will have the information required to comply with the recall.
Adding the coach Serial Number, will help other owners with similar model coaches help you solve problems that will crop up over time.
Welcome to the group.
Jack Allure 1997 30076
Yahoo Message Number: 79853 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79853)
Leonard,
I always thought that the hitch ratings applied by the vehicle manufacturer are so called certified ratings. When a hitch shop beefs up a hitch can they also re-certify the new rating for insurance and legal purposes?
Don Seager
2004 Allure 31046
Yahoo Message Number: 79855 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79855)
My 1998 Intrigue has the stock CC hitch. The data plate on it says 7000lb trailer and 600lb tongue weight.
Steve & Jane
1998 Intrigue
#10557
______
Yahoo Message Number: 79856 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79856)
One can find some really HD hitch receivers for the later pickups from the aftermarket. OEM hitch receivers have always been on the light side of any real towing with a RV. The key is frame strength. The OEM hitch receivers are on the very light side, one can not find a good rated aftermarket one for motorhomes, over 5000 lb.. The 7000 lb. rating on our CC was one of the reason I liked the coach, it is higher then most, but it was to light for my needs. The hitch place in Eugene Oregon has lots of experience beefing up RV hitches. They did an out standing job with it. As far as being certified, certified by who? If you buy a RV without a receiver and buy an aftermarket it still has to be custom fitted to the frame of the coach it goes on. They simple do no make a bolt up receiver RV specific. So who is going to certify the install and how and by what standard? That is why one wants to use a good hitch shop that has lots of experience with RV and not your neighbor hood welder. I'm a welder but would not attempt to do the hitch mod because of lack of experience on design on my part.
Our CC with the Gilleg chassis is a HD truck with lots of towing capacity. Can they be over loaded, yes, but you would be surprised what is being towed behind diesel RV's. Much more then our little load of less then 10,000 lbs. We have towed heavy with every RV we have owned. Two must haves to be successful, a beefed up hitch receiver and good trailer brakes. We also tow a Jeep Wrangler on the ground or in the trailer with a Polaris RZR. One cannot tell much difference between the two loads when pulling grades. Have a friend who tows close to what we tow with a 99 CC. His experience is the same as we have compared notes several times and towed together.
This CC is the most brake on towed vehicle dependent RV we have had. The last was on a Ford gas chassis. It had disc brakes and did a better job stopping. The CC's are designed to handle the weight of the coach out of the factory an do so nicely. Adding more weight behind of any kind i.e. towed on the ground vehicle, will need a good brake system to handle the extra weight. The CC brakes do not have any reserve.
Yahoo Message Number: 79862 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79862)
John,
The hitch rating is stamped on the hitch. It should be 7000# w/ 600# tongue weight. That rating is the max you can carry base on the axle weight rating, brakes and wheels and tires. Beefing up the hitch and then maxing out the coach with fuel, water, supplies and people you will exceed to overall CGVWR. You cannot just beef up the hitch and say it is now a 10k hitch without taking away 3000# from the coach. Otherwise, it exceeds the design of the coach.
Not sure about your year coach, but factory was great about putting spare 12ga wire pairs in various parts of the coach. One such pair is in what I call the doghouse compartment in front of the passenger seat. The spare pair is butt capped and marked with the letter "D" for dash. The other ends goes to the rear DC fuse panel in the rear of the coach. If layout is like my coach, should be aft compartment on passenger side. The ends are also butt capped and marked with the letter "D". There should be at least two other pairs of spare wires in the coach as well. One pair is midship near the refrigerator and the other is in the bedroom usually behing a drawer in the night stand. They are all butt capped and appropriatly marked with a letter.
As far as a braking system, there are many choices out there and in most cases it boils down to personal likes and dislikes. Personally I like the US Gear Unified Tow Brake. I installed it in my 99 Chevy Tahoe and have not had a bit of problems with it for more than 10 years now.
Welcome to the group and safe travels....
Jim Hughes
2000 Allure #30511
Yahoo Message Number: 79864 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79864)
...and if a max GVWR, what happens on a down hill slope and your trailer brakes fail....you now have to depend on the coach's brakes to stop the load that now exceeds the CGVWR by 3000#.... let's hope the light is green at the bottom of the hill. A comfort level by design is one thing, but comfort level by chance is totally different.
Jim Hughes
2000 Allure #30511
Yahoo Message Number: 79867 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79867)
What happens on a mountain grade with a bare coach and your engine brake fails? A diesel can hold nothing back by itself. What to see heavy duty towing with an RV? Check this link: http://www.trailertoad.com/ (http://www.trailertoad.com/)
Yahoo Message Number: 79869 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79869)
Let's say, heaven forbid, that the light is red and in the resulting rear end collision you kill somebody. I would hope that if you had beefed up the hitch as a means to safely accommodate the additional 3000 lbs that you can convince the insurance companies and the authorities. If you can't then the accident could far exceed just the cost of repairing the vehicles. I for one would want to at least test the theory before a potential accident happens. You can almost bet that weight is going to become a factor in the settlement of the case and you better be legal and able to prove it.
Don Seager
2004 Allure 31046