tow capacity '83 Winnebago Brave

[Schwarzkopf9]

Hey guys, I have a 1983 Winnebago brave 27' and would like to tow my boat to the lake this summer. The engine is a 454 and I don't know what tranny. There is a sticker on the back that says 1000 pounds but that seems a bit low. The boat is about 2,000 pounds.

[HandyDan]

Kind of ironic that the front page of the 1983 Winnebago Brave sales brochure shows a 26ft Brave towing a boat.  I don't know the towing capability of the Brave chassis, but the motor certainly can handle it.  I would think you could hook it up and never even know it was back there.  I pull my 3000 lb. boat behind my Holiday Rambler and have no problem with it.
Dan

[liquidwrench63]

could that be tongue weight ?

[Schwarzkopf9]

It says tow weight rating 1000 pounds. Tongue is 300 pounds. That just seams a little dainty to me. I had an Olds alero that was rated at that...I see pictures of people towing cars with rvs that are bigger than mine but still have the 454 in them.

[DonD]

My Dodge Neon will tow 1500!!   i??

[cncsparky]

Receiver hitch?  If so, what size is it?  Is the sticker on the hitch or does it seem like an original sticker to the coach?  Your 454/TH400 will have no problem towing 2000 lbs, depends on the hitch size.

[legomybago]

You should have a Class III receiver. We tow a 4k bronco behind our P30...no problem

[Froggy1936]

Schwartz, The rateing most likely applys to the frame of the R/V Look at how the extension was added to original chev frame See if it can be reinforced Also check hitch attachement to frame . The engine and the Turbo 400 will handle 5000 lb with no trouble the weakness is the hookup  Frank 

[bluebird]

Look the frame over real good!! I pulled with my 80 Itasca, but I had to pull the tank down and do a LOT of frame work to do it. The welds on my Itasca were very poor. I broke the frame on an old GMC Gimmy  many years ago. If you do that, it's a LOT of work to make it right again.

[cosmic]

unfortunately you cant tell how strong a weld is by how pretty it looks. I wish that was the case. a lot of times the weld fails because it was not put on hot enough,  or to fast. So if you plan on pulling heavy loads, it might be a good idea to have a extra pass or too put over the extensions. Like was  said above.. really hard to make right after it lets go.

[Froggy1936]

My extension was done at the Winnebago factory both sides are fish plated looked good but i did not trust them so i added a heavy chain from the frame ahead of the extension to the plate that the ball is mounted on If the welds fail the chain will keep everything attached till repairs can be made  Frank

[cosmic]

That's a great fail safe. Frank 
piece of mind and not all that difficult to do.

[Schwarzkopf9]

I like the idea of reinforcing the frame, I just banked up some work with my welder buddy, so I think ill cash in! Froggy, that's exactly what mine looks like. I think I'll look up some receivers and replace the hitch, it makes me feel better knowing the engine and tranny will handle it as I have no personal experience with these ones. Thanks guys! MERRY CHRISTMAS!