Coachmen Freelander 21QB towing a car

[Newbiecampers]

Wife and I have had an eye on the Coachmen Freelander 21QB for some time now. Possibly getting close to buying one. Our biggest sticking point is no transportation once in the camping area except for the camper itself.

I was wondering if anybody has towed a "toad" with one of these models, and if so, how does it do?

We would be towing a '13 Ford Fusion. The vehicle is around 3500 pounds, and I believe the towing capacity of the 21QB is 5000 pounds. We would probably need to use a dolly as, from my research, the '13 fusion has not fared well when towing on all 4 wheels(transmission). I believe Ford even changed the manual to state no towing on all 4.

If no experience with the 21QB, anybody else tow a "toad" with a similar size 24 foot Class C/5000 towing limit?

Thanks

[Newbiecampers]

FunTwoDrv wrote:
I suspect you will be fine. We pull a Beetle conv on a Demco with a 28QB...and yep,it's back there! Just can't go anywhere quickly. Then again, you can't go anywhere quickly even without the toad. LOL
Gary

Ha ha.

Yep, I'm guessing we won't be winning any records, even without a vehicle in tow.

[Newbiecampers]

Thanks for all the info/responses to date.

Appreciate it.

[j-d]

I wanted to make sure we were talking a V8/V10 chassis of some kind!

Last time I looked, a Jayco Melbourne was a nearly-30-ft "B+" (narrow Class C with a cab fairing instead of the cabover bunk). On an E450, and Jayco offered some as 4x4.

Anyhow, just saw a new Melbourne that was on a Sprinter chassis, so I'm not taking "Freelander" by memory to mean on Ford or Chevy. But it seems this one is.

[Horizon170]

An E350 will tow 5000# with ease.

[Healeyman]

In our first 10 years of RVing, we visited all of the lower 48 states and most of Canada in a 22 foot Four Winds. The RV was on a Chevy chassis and had a 350 V8 engine.

We towed a 2 seat, 2,500 pound, Miata for the last 7 years.

Tim

[FunTwoDrv]

I suspect you will be fine. We pull a Beetle conv on a Demco with a 28QB...and yep,it's back there! Just can't go anywhere quickly. Then again, you can't go anywhere quickly even without the toad. LOL
Gary

[j-d]

Agree that on paper it's doable. V10 is a very good load toting engine and so's the 6.0 Chevy.

Dolly puts very little hitch weight onto your coach and probably weighs 500 or so. You can use the manufacturer's advertised weight for the dolly, but weigh the car and coach.

Much of this will have to do with your expectations and where you plan to go. You should be good in the midwest, east, and south. Out in the mountains, you'll know you're in a heavy coach no matter what it is, and much more so with another 4000 behind it. As I said, V10 pulls well and has a great cooling system. Will definitely get you there, anywhere. No coach will climb mountains like a car.

[Newbiecampers]

Hi all,

Thanks for the responses so far.

They had not posted any pictures or many specs on the unit when I posted but just found out that it is a 2014 Freelander 21qb with:

Ford E-350 chassis, and if the brochure I found is to be believed, it is a 6.8L V-10.

GVWR on the Ford chassis appears to be 12,500, with a GCWR of 18,500. Too bad it isn't the chevy 4500 as it has 1500 lbs additional combined capability, and 1700 lbs additional carrying capability. Curb weight I am guessing is roughly 9700 with options installed (9300 before options per brochure).

GCWR of 18500 minus 3600 for the Fusion, 500 for the dolly (?), 9700 for the camper leaves 4700 pounds.

GVWR of 12500 minus 9700 for the unit itself leaves 2800 pounds for us and stuff. Anybody know how much weight, if any, the dolly when loaded would transfer to the hitch and consequently the camper itself? I have no idea what the hitch weight of a loaded dolly would be. Not even sure how much a typical dolly weighs.

To me it potentially looks doable on paper, but that doesn't necessarily mean it would be fun in reality.

Any thoughts or real-world experience?

[tred0956]

Depends on the year and chassis. We have a 21QB on the Chev chassis with the 6.0 and 4 speed auto. I have towed our boat which is about 3500 lbs and, although I knew it was there, it was no problem. Over the years, we have rarely felt the need for a toad, except in Utah where a jeep would have been fun, but we just rented a couple of Razors instead. We always felt that we would rent a car if we ever needed one, but so far have not had to do so. The 21QB is small enough to do all our driving in and, other than city parking lots, is no problem. That's why we bought a small class C.

[magnusfide]

j-d wrote:
What is the Model Year and Chassis of the Class C?

X2. The size of your motorhome engine will also be important.

[j-d]

What is the Model Year and Chassis of the Class C?