Saturns towed by Motorhomes

[f150owner]

Hi everyone,

A friend of mine just bought a motorhome. The dealer told him that Saturns make perfect tow vehicles. He mentioned that with the Saturns (S series), the mileage doesn't roll when you are towing on all 4 wheels. Is there a tow guide or something available at the Saturn dealer that details what you have to do for maintenance? The users manual simply mentions just putting the vehicle in neutral for towing behind an RV. Anyone out there have experience towing Saturns behind your RV? (my friend is really eyeballing my new 2000 SL2)

thanks,
Duane
in the Volunteer State

[joeybagodonuts]

hi there, yes its true, i have several customers with motorhomes and the saturn makes the perfect tow vehicle, not just the odometer factor, they are extremly light weight (less fuel wasted from tow vehicle), they dont get dents (from say minor road debris kicking up)etc.
my neighbor whos saturn i service pulls his behind his motor home and has not one complaint.
so yes, they are very popular with the r.v. crowd and for good reason.
be cool, joe

[Saturnmeister]

Hey, Joey, you're the mechanic here, so refresh my memory on the specifics, but there's one VERY important advantage Saturns have as respects being towed with all 4 wheels on the ground that you didn't mention; unlike most cars, the Saturn's transmission won't be damaged by 4 wheel towing (something to do with what type of bearings are used in the differential, I think - do you remember the details?). Most other cars would require that the driveshaft(s) be disconnected, something you can't even do on front drivers, if memory serves me correctly (because the front drive halfshafts are part of what holds the front wheels in position).

[saturned]

As joey says the Saturn is very user friendly with regard to towing behind a motor home. I have sold approx 50 Saturns to motorhome owners.
They find that they save time, money, work and enjoy the experience a lot more with the Saturn than any other tow car they have previously owned.

Have sold about 7 or 8 to L series owners and they have same comments.
Not quite as easy as a few fuses have to be pulled but the same results.

Saturned1

[silverbullit2000]

I just made the trip from Louisiana to Kentucky, and I saw no less than three Saturns being towed by an RV.

[SaturnBeliever]

It seems that everywhere you look, if a car is being towed behind a motor home, it's a Saturn! Even Motorhome Magazine endorses Saturns. Not just the S-Series, but the L-Series too! Just remember to turn your key to the "ACC" position so that the steering wheel doesn't lock up. Zero miles on the odometer, gears in the transmition that are continually in the fluid, lightweight, dent resistant.... What more could you ask for?

Happy Towing!

[silverplum]

Originally posted by SaturnBeliever
It seems that everywhere you look, if a car is being towed behind a motor home, it's a Saturn! Even Motorhome Magazine endorses Saturns. Not just the S-Series, but the L-Series too! Just remember to turn your key to the "ACC" position so that the steering wheel doesn't lock up. Zero miles on the odometer, gears in the transmition that are continually in the fluid, lightweight, dent resistant.... What more could you ask for?

Happy Towing!

I read somewhere recently that all cars towed behind motorhomes should have the front wheels on a dolly even though you could tow a car with the wheels on the ground. This saves wear and tear on certain parts such as tires and whatever else is moving.:)

[Arnel]

Here are some pics that I took while I worked at Saturn. They are of a 1st generation L-series connected to an RV using the Blue Ox system.

[Arnel]

Last summer my wife saw this Saturn being towed in Delaware. It had a sign in the rear window saying, "I'm doing my best, this RV is heavy!"

[Xanatos]

Originally posted by Arnel
Last summer my wife saw this Saturn being towed in Delaware. It had a sign in the rear window saying, "I'm doing my best, this RV is heavy!"

That's good

Gotta love the power of that V6. It can push a 50 foot long 5-10 ton motor home!

[jinjimbob]

Never understood motorhomes, and especially towing cars. If you want a car, drive it and stay in a hotel.

AND I hate it when they're in the car pool lane, silly buggers! grrr

[silverplum]

I met a fellow from California while touring northern Ontario in the summer of 2001. He had retired from the U.S. Navy and was travelling all across the U.S. and Canada heading to the east coast in a van.

He told me he had a motorhome but got rid of it because of the high cost to operate it. He believes it is cheaper to stay in hotels and sleep in the van when necessary. The kicker came when his motorhome required a new transmission for $5,000. I would presume this was U.S. dollars seeing he is from California. He also had a very big motorhome.

We had quite the chat as we sat beside each other while taking a boat tour of the Lake of the Woods.

[SW2Muck]

Now granted you can't use a car, but what my family did was buy a used camper trailer in great shape for about $6,000, and we tow it behind our Expedition, but you could tow behind almost any 1/2 ton truck, and you can leave it at a campground, and drive your truck around. Not to mention with a trailer, if you need to fix anything or redecorate it, its not that much different to work on than a house is, so no matter where you go, you're home! If anything, trailers are probably the cheapest solution in the long run, that has saved us a lot of money on trips.

[piney]

Originally posted by silverplum
He told me he had a motorhome but got rid of it because of the high cost to operate it. He believes it is cheaper to stay in hotels and sleep in the van when necessary. The kicker came when his motorhome required a new transmission for $5,000. I would presume this was U.S. dollars seeing he is from California. He also had a very big motorhome.

That is something that I firmly believe. While I like motorhomes, the nice ones, they run about a buck twenty. That is a lot of money. The guy behind me spent about 125k on his fer chrissmassake.

I can stay at a Residence Inn or Courtyard many, many, many nights for that kind of money.

If you have a motorhome and it depreciates 40 grand in 5 years (that is a lowball number), you could have stayed at a nice hotel, ate out, and driven a comfy car about 80 nights per year (125 per day with food for two at a hotel - extra cost of dine-out food offsets fuel penalty).

Plus, you'd still have 80 grand to invest and play with.

Lastly, who likes to drive in the right lane??

[silverplum]

Originally posted by SW2Muck
Now granted you can't use a car, but what my family did was buy a used camper trailer in great shape for about $6,000, and we tow it behind our Expedition, but you could tow behind almost any 1/2 ton truck, and you can leave it at a campground, and drive your truck around. Not to mention with a trailer, if you need to fix anything or redecorate it, its not that much different to work on than a house is, so no matter where you go, you're home! If anything, trailers are probably the cheapest solution in the long run, that has saved us a lot of money on trips.

I had a camper trailer back in the late 70s. I pulled the trailer behind a 258 cu. in. 6 cylinder AMC Gremlin all the way out to British Columbia. You hit the nail on the head when you indicate they are cheap in the long run.

Speaking of nails, a local hardware store has recalled all their nails because the heads were installed on the wrong end.

:D

I really noticed the trailer behind such a small car, especially in the mountains. I replaced my thermostat before I left for the trip and installed a transmission cooler. This no doubt was a very wise investment.

My next car was a used 1976 Chev Impala with a 350 cu. in. engine. I had air shocks installed and with 4 people, equipment, a canoe on the roof, you never even noticed the trailer behind the car.

A friend bought a used Roadtrek and finds this a cheap way to travel without having to stay in hotels. The cost is nowhere near that of a full size motorhome.:) :D

Walmart will let people with stay on their lots overnight at no charge. A lot of people with motorhomes take advantage of this freebe. This is not what I call camping.

Campgrounds in the Whitehorse area are up-in-arms because of the loss of business. Motorhome owners have suggested that if the campground owners charged a fair price, they would stay in a campground.

Is it right for Walmart to allow people to stay overnight on their lots:?:

[piney]

Originally posted by silverplum
Walmart will let people with stay on their lots overnight at no charge. A lot of people with motorhomes take advantage of this freebe. This is not what I call camping.

Campgrounds in the Whitehorse area are up-in-arms because of the loss of business. Motorhome owners have suggested that if the campground owners charged a fair price, they would stay in a campground.

Is it right for Walmart to allow people to stay overnight on their lots:?:

Why not? It is a fee market economy and campgrounds are not cheap. Let the competitive market benefit the consumers for a change.

If 'camping', I'd rather camp at a campground than in some Wallyworld lot where the parking lot sweepers will wake you up at 0300.

[Xanatos]

Yeah, my apartment complex is right next to a Super Walmart. There are at least 2 motor homes a night there. I've seen up to 10. It's crazy. But one thing I have noticed is most all of them have Saturns behind em.

[OhioVueBoy]

I towed a 15 foot long popup behind my VUE earlier this summer for my uncle.. as the AWD was acing up in their Astro. My VUE handled it wonderfully.. the only problem was that I had to install his 1 7/8" ball on my reveiver, as I use a 2" for my jetski trailer (everything we tow with the truck has a 2" ball.. we keep it the same for interchangability.)
~D.J.~

[ProDarwin]

I believe staying in the Wal-Mart lots is for stopping overnight on a long trip, not actually camping there.

[Privateer]

Originally posted by silverplum
I read somewhere recently that all cars towed behind motorhomes should have the front wheels on a dolly even though you could tow a car with the wheels on the ground. This saves wear and tear on certain parts such as tires and whatever else is moving.:)

so instead of wear/tear on the car tires, you're putting wear and tear on the dolly tires? Seems kind of silly.
Not like your towed saturn is going have *****en performance tires or anything...

later
P

[XtremeGrandAm]

I always see saturns behind motorhomes I think its cool

[silverplum]

Originally posted by Privateer
so instead of wear/tear on the car tires, you're putting wear and tear on the dolly tires? Seems kind of silly.
Not like your towed saturn is going have *****en performance tires or anything...

later
P

You have a point. Nothing was said about wear and tear on the dolly tires. Those tires would certainly rotate a lot faster. By the way, what is the word we cannot read that ends in en:?: :D