So thought i had a class 5 hitch (turned out to be a 4) and went to get it installed on my E350 bus today.. well it dont fit.. its 6" too narrow apparently.. The cutaway/motor home chassis are a bit wider and hence i need a different hitch..



Also discovered that there is no such thing as a class 5 hitch for the vans apparently...

So even if i did settle for a pre-fab class 4 hitch, being im a 1990 im still out of luck because it seems anything older then a 1992 is out of luck in actually getting a hitch other then through Uhaul. and they dont garuntee it to fit...

So it needs to be able to handle 1500-2000 tongue weight and 12-13000 pull weight.. guessing only thing left to do is to get one custom fabricated??

<img src="http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a379/ANTheStuff/Trucks/1990%20E350%20Goshen%20Bus/Hitch/f9024363.jpg">

 

I would think that you could have a class 5 modified to fit your frame. I bought a Drawtite Class 5 for my E350 and was very impressed with the thickness of the side frame members. There should be plenty of meat there to weld extensions to each side for your application. A welder with a bit of experience should be able to fix you up.

Good luck

 

ya i really wanted one of those but it only goes back to 92 and im a 90

 

Your van is a 'chassis cab' technically (as you identified). The frame rails are set wider to match with industry standards for commercial vehicles. You will have to have a hitch custom built.

Depending on how far the rear of your van is from the rear axle, you may not be able to handle a 2000lb tongue weight without severely affecting the steering of the vehicle or overloading your GAWR. Ford states the GCWR (maximum weight of Vehicle and Trailer) is the same as the GVWR for the Chassis Cab vehicles. You wont be able to tow 10k legally unless your RV is gutted and weighs 5000lbs.

Most highway patrol agencies don't give a crap, but your insurance will. If you are in an at-fault accident, they will deny you coverage if you are overweight at all. A fairly large number of Class C RVs on the road will be overweight with full tanks of gas, water, and 2 passengers plus 300lbs of stuff. It happened to me. Minor, minor fender bender (I paid 300 bucks to the owner of the other vehicle) but my insurance told me it was not covered because I was over my rating by 65lbs.

That said, at 2000lbs tongue, you REALLY should have a weight distributing hitch. You should also consider reconfiguring your trailer to get the tongue to 15-ish instead of 20%

 

well i know empty with a full tank it weighs 4555kg (10050lbs) the GVWR is 13,500lbs for the vehicle, leaving roughly 3000lbs give or take..

trailer is setup for 10% hitch weight. dry its 10k trailer 1k ball. I do plan fully to use a WDH.