Vehicle Weight Rating

[DIESELSUBMARINER]

Hello Guys,

quick question: does the king pin weight add to the gross vehicle weight or is the gross vehicle weight only the max fully loaded vehicle  without the trailer? i have to declare a max vehicle weight while registering and am not sure about that part.

 

thanks a lot

 

[jkoenig24]

GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) I believe is JUST the weight of the vehicle. "Add-ons" are just that, things that are added on and, don't count towards the GVWR. The GVWR is established by the vehicle manufacturer who puts a legal placard on said vehicle. If the vehicle is REmanufactured, the remanufacturer may (must?) re-placard as appropriate. The CVWR (Combined Vehicle Weight Rating) is the maximum weight a vehicle cannot legally exceed and, that included trailers (and I guess whatever else someone decides to add). On my Super-C Dynamax, the GVWR is 33,000 pounds. The CVWR is 54,000 pounds. You would think I could tow 21,000 pounds BUT, the tow hitch Dynamax installed is rated at 20,000 pounds so, I "lose" 1,000 pounds of tow capacity (but, that "lost" 1,000 pounds increases my safety factor).

[Bob86ZZ4]

I registered mine according to the sticker inside the driver's door that shows the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating). Basically it's just the max pound rating of all the axles added together I think. 

[trailertraveler]

The gross vehicle weight rating is the maximum the vehicle should weigh including all fuel, cargo, pin weight, etc. I am not sure of the legal consequences if you register a GVWR with out the pin weight of the trailer since non=commercial vehicles are usually not stopped a t scales. However, if the truck is not actually designed to carry the pin weight, in my opinion it is a very unsafe condition.

[Big5er]

2 hours ago, DIESELSUBMARINER said:

Hello Guys,

quick question: does the king pin weight add to the gross vehicle weight YES it does.  Every answer above talks about gross or combined vehicle weight RATING. That isn't what you asked about. You asked about gross vehicle weight. Read the underlined section below...actually read the whole thing but your answer is in the underlined section

 WHAT IS GVWR?

Manufacturer specification charts include an automobile's gross vehicle weight rating -- usually referred to as its GVWR. The GVWR is an auto's maximum safe weight that should not be exceeded. Weight calculations include curb weight, additional equipment that's been added, the weight of cargo and the weight of passengers... everything is considered to determine if the GVWR has been exceeded.

A few facts to keep in mind:

• GVWR does not reflect an auto's actual weight -- it's a limit.
• Actual weight is referred to as the gross vehicle weight or GVW, and it changes every time you put something into the auto or take something out of it, from passengers to luggage. Towing a trailer increases the GVW by the amount of weight that's attached to the hitch, not by the entire weight of the trailer.
• An auto's GVWR never changes.

[DIESELSUBMARINER]

thanks, thats what i thought at first. the gross vehicle weight is inclusive the pin weight. i know my empty weight and how much i will be loading. i was just hoping that if the king pin does not count, i can declare it at 20.000. with the king pin i have to declare  26.000.. just higher cost to register :-)

the truck can easily carry it....

[VegasFlyer]

2 hours ago, Big5er said:

 WHAT IS GVWR?

Manufacturer specification charts include an automobile's gross vehicle weight rating -- usually referred to as its GVWR. The GVWR is an auto's maximum safe weight that should not be exceeded. Weight calculations include curb weight, additional equipment that's been added, the weight of cargo and the weight of passengers... everything is considered to determine if the GVWR has been exceeded.

A few facts to keep in mind:

• GVWR does not reflect an auto's actual weight -- it's a limit.
• Actual weight is referred to as the gross vehicle weight or GVW, and it changes every time you put something into the auto or take something out of it, from passengers to luggage. Towing a trailer increases the GVW by the amount of weight that's attached to the hitch, not by the entire weight of the trailer.
• An auto's GVWR never changes.

Phil's explanation is spot on, however, the actual answer is.......wait for it.......it depends!

If you were to register your truck in Nevada, you will register it with a Declared Gross Vehicle Weight.  While some folks would tell you that the Declared Gross would include your trailer weight, closer examination of Nevada's definition specifically excludes the weight of a non commercial trailer.

2013 Nevada Revised Statutes
Chapter 482 - Motor Vehicles and Trailers: Licensing, Registration, Sales and Leases
NRS 482.023 - Declared gross weight defined.

 

Universal Citation: NV Rev Stat § 482.023 (2013) 

Declared gross weight means the maximum gross weight at which a motor vehicle or combination of vehicles will be operated, except the term does not include the weight of:

1. Another vehicle which is being carried or towed by a tow car, as that term is defined in NRS 706.131;

2. Implements of husbandry;

3. A trailer or other towed vehicle which is not used for a commercial enterprise;

4. Towable tools or equipment, as that term is defined in NRS 484D.055; or

5. The load on a farm vehicle which has an unladen weight of 10,000 pounds or more.

(Added to NRS by 1985, 1835; A 1987, 144; 1991, 2353)

 

Bottom line, I would check to see what your state uses as a definition.

[Big5er]

John. he is from Florida...Nevada probably isn't where he is registering but the question he asked wasn't about Nevada's definition of "declared" weight. It was "does the tongue weight add to the GVW"...and the answer, no matter what Nevada requires to register a vehicle, is YES. That doesn't vary. 

[Dollytrolley]

Oregon is poverty with a view so try this one........

You show up with a old Freightshaker at the DMV.........you take a ticket and look at your ticket number it says 66.....you look at the big screen and it says 33......humm only 33 folks ahead of you........after 102 minutes they call your lucky number and you spread your trucks out of state title and registration (Class 8 commercial) and you mutter I want to title and register as a motorhome.......the DMV seems asleep so he checks the motorhome box.......then he mutters...."well I will need to make a VIN inspection and it will cost.....$7.00....ok?.........I mutter....OK......so he shuffles out from behind the counter and says where is your M O T O R home......and I shuffle him out to the Freightshaker and open the door and he squints hard at the VIN and scribbles ithe VIN number on the form (wrong number ...thats another story) and I ask him if he wants to look at my M O T O R home conversion and he looks down at his shoes and mutter oh no thats not really not needed if you think it's a M O T O Rhome it's fine with us.....and then I ask if he wants to measure the length of the M O  T O Rhome and he looks down at his shoes and mutters " oh we will just take your word on how long it is"........we shuffle in and he starts hammering the keys in the computer and scribbles a bunch of numbers in a piece of scrap paper and then leans over the counter and points at the numbers on the paper and mutters.....Out of state title transfer $13.64......New Title $74.76.......Out of state registration transfer $23.32........Registration as a RV of XXFeet $356.87.........AND do NOT forget $7.00 for the VIN inspection..........then he leans back and grins and mutters "WE ONLY TAKE CASH or PERSONAL CHECKS......NO CREDIT CARDS.............

They could care less what your RV weighs...... they only care about the important THING.....$$$$$$

 

Drive on.........(weight only matters at ........WeightWatchers.....and most other States)

[VegasFlyer]

2 hours ago, Big5er said:

John. he is from Florida...Nevada probably isn't where he is registering but the question he asked wasn't about Nevada's definition of "declared" weight. It was "does the tongue weight add to the GVW"...and the answer, no matter what Nevada requires to register a vehicle, is YES. That doesn't vary. 

Phil,

I did realize that he was probably not registering in Nevada, though used the NV definition to help illustrate a point, since he did mention determining weight for registration.  The main point being that some states go by GVWR and others go off of declared.  With declared not necessarily being the same and it is worth researching to see exactly what his state goes by.

A guy who lives down the road from me had actually registered his truck at a much higher weight than he needed to because he said that his brother in-law's neighbor's cat's former owner had told him that he needed to register using the scale weight of his truck and fifth wheel rv trailer combined.  He did that for five years and wound up paying a whole lot more money than he needed to.  The folks at DMV don't explain the reg, they just ask you what weight you want to register at.  Actually, as I am sure would agree, there is a good chance that the person at DMV may not know the actual regulation.

It has been a long day, so I apologize for not writing it more clearly and I do agree that what you wrote was spot on, just not for my situation and hopefully not for his.

[DIESELSUBMARINER]

Thanks again Guys,

at our DMV, I just need to hand them the title, tell them what I bought it for (yes you pay 7% tax on the "declared" Purchase price at registration when buying from an individual) and since my truck was originally registered in Florida, no VIN inspection is needed... .

Then you need to let them know the declared weight. (GVW) . The weight has to be below 26001 to drive without an CDL. RV registration is NOT possible, because it has a fifth wheel hitch. As for cost, there is about a $100.- difference once you go over 20.000lbs. So, without the one time Tax and title fee, I pay close to 400.- each year...

Ohh.. and I have to register and tag the vehicle FIRST, before I am allowed to drive it home from the seller ...

Florida regulations are not the best though....