Well, looks like we will get a very nice used Maverick as soon as paperwork is done. Looking forward to a nice road trip driving it home
Where can I find the towing capacity? It is based on an E450 frame. I wonder if any manual somewhere would tell this. I've googled this but found nothing helpful.
We'd like to eventually tow a small car behind it, but really wanna know how much we can tow to be safe!
Any advice on how to learn this number is greatly appreciated!
I can give you some information on that. This should give you tools to work with that are better than simply a "towing capacity" (which I don't think is enumerated for the cutaway anyway?).
Basically, you have a few numbers to consider (and weigh), and you can keep on adding weight until one of them is exceeded. At that point you have to stop even if the others still have room (unless you choose to run overweight).
Here are the numbers you want to look at. Most of them are on the white sticker Ford puts on the driver's side door jamb.
1) GVWR
This is "gross vehicle weight rating," and it's the most your entire Chinook can weigh. This would be the weight of your whole Chinook (both axles) on a scale, PLUS any tongue weight if you were towing a trailer that had such (toads don't really have tongue weight).
2) GCWR
This is "gross combined weight rating." This is the total weight the Chinook plus whatever you are towing can weigh. In my experience (Ford vans, plus E-350 cutaway) you will likely reach another of the numbers before getting close to this one.
3) GAWR/front
This is the maximum weight of your front axle (i.e. both front tires on scale, but rear tires not on scale). In my experience you will likely not go over this one.
4) GAWR/rear
This is the maximum weight of your rear axle (i.e. all four rear tires on scale, but front tires not on scale). This is typically the first thing to reach capacity on an E-350 Chinook, or large E-450 RV. With your Maverick being "smallish" for the E-450 chassis, you will likely have capacity to spare.
5) The rating of the receiver hitch that is installed on the rig (i.e. the "frame" part of the hitch that is bolted to the frame of the Chinook). It will have some capacity rating which is usually on a sticker on it. This pertains to the trailer or toad, not the Chinook itself (unless you overload and tear it off, but I mean normally!).
6) The rating of the drawbar (if using a ball to tow) or towing gear (if towing a toad). This pertains more to the toad, but is also a number to keep in mind.
I highly encourage actually weighing your rig and trailer/toad to get all these figures. I think you should have ample capacity with the "shortish" 24' rig and the E-450, but numbers rule.
At a guess I would say you could easily tow 5,000#, just as a ballpark.
One more note: My previous Ford van (not cutaway) DID list a towing capacity. However, there is no way I could have towed that much without being overweight (rear axle, plus GVWR) unless I had literally jettisoned everything from the van (interior, seats, driver and passenger...). Maybe there is a stripped version of a cargo van that could have reached that tow rating, but no real world vans that I know of. That's why I like to get the actual figures listed above, plus scale weights.
Congratulations on your Maverick. I just saw your post and have explored the model and really like except I can't seem to find any in the market. What year did you buy and would you be willing to disclose price. I am interested in getting in the market for one and would like to know if I would be able to afford.
fladonb wrote:I am interested in getting in the market for one and would like to know if I would be able to afford.
Thanks,
Don
On that topic...
We almost got a Maverick this past summer for $24k with about 77k miles on it. Love the fact that it has a dry bathroom with separate shower. Alas, we needed the smaller length of the Concourse for our driveway.
Anyway, just wanted to post that there's one with only 19k miles on Craigslist in Seattle for $42k:
Almost didn't notice it since they didn't mention the model. Also, they say it's only 22'. I thought they were more like 24' with the spare mounted at rear. Mark and Ann, do you know the length?
Thanks for the heads up on the Seattle post, I saw that one. Seems a bit high considering it books for 33k although, I'm not sure book is very useful for Chinooks. You are correct, the Maverick is 24 ft. That is not an issue for me as I can go as long as 26.5 ft.
fladonb wrote:Thanks for the heads up on the Seattle post, I saw that one. Seems a bit high considering it books for 33k although, I'm not sure book is very useful for Chinooks.
Yeah, for insurance or loans, banks tend to use NADA values, which are way low for most Chinooks.
On the opposite side of the coin, there are a fair number of Chinook ads which have asking prices set way too high. I think some owners hope the market value is whatever their remaining loan is! And some dealers just hope someone walks in without doing any research.
