Overweight RV's

[Velos]

After we bought our first RV 30+ years ago we learned about "carrying capacity" and always checked that before looking at the rest of the RV when we went shopping for future RV's.

 

Saw this opinion peace in RV Daily Report http://rvdailyreport.com/opinion/opinion-overweight-rvs-are-an-industry-issue/

and thought it was a good reminder to review your RV's capacities periodically.

 

 

 

 

[Yarome]

it was a good reminder to review your RV's capacities periodically.

 

X2. Always do the math... but do so from an educated perspective. I agree that the RV industry is "lacking" in a lot of areas, but it doesn't help when articles like this turn people off to RV'ing with misinformation simply because they don't understand how load capacities are calculated and where all that weight goes.

 

I had a little chuckle when the author was stating that he hadn't been receiving responses to his inquiries. My first thought was.. if someone was approaching me with a question like this with the intent of quoting me.. and it's quite obvious he already has a formed opinion and hasn't bothered to do his "homework".. I might be inclined to ignore him too.

[skp51443]

We learned a hard lesson, the manufactures carrying capacity number can't be trusted. Get a scale weight of the rig and subtract that from the GVWR to see where you really are in relation to cargo capacity. You'll need to factor in any water or propane it is carrying.

 

While some manufacturers do give you a real scale weight as the vehicle leaves the factory it may be impacted by dealer add-ons. Manufacturers that give you estimated weights can also give you a nasty surprise.

 

If you are looking at being close to the maximum weight you really should go the extra step and get individual wheel weights. It can be an unpleasant surprise to discover you can't put your stuff where you want since that area is overloaded and you need to put it somewhere there is weight capacity but no storage space.

[tinstartrvlr]

Stanley,

 

Do you know how truck scales work? I ask because I weighed my truck alone, and got a reading for each axle. Then weighed the truck and TT together, and subtracted out the weight of the truck, giving me the weight of the TT. According to that, I am 500 lb under max weight.

What you said about the axles makes sense, but when I weighed the truck (2 axles) and the TT (2 axles) together, I got a printout showing the weight for 3 axles, with no 4th showing. And none of the weights made sense.

Are the truck scales just designed for 18wheelers?

[Yarome]

Are the truck scales just designed for 18wheelers?

 

I'll leave Stan to reply, but probably what you got was the 2 truck axles and then the trailer axles counted as a single axle.

[Jim Gell]

After seeing how much heavier we were on one side of our trailer, I would recommend getting individual wheel weights even if your well under the total weight using a truck weigh station. Overloading can cause expensive and even dangerous consequences, IMHO.

 

Jim

[skp51443]

Lots of different types of scales, some are very restrictive in what you can do with them while others are open to a lot of creativity. Two common types are single platform and three platform scales. With the single platform you get one weight for whatever number of axles you pull onto the platform, triple platform scales have three individual scales, front, center and rear and are designed to give trucker's a fast way to weigh.

 

Some scales are open, flat level ground around them and no barriers so you can pretty much fiddle your rig to weigh any single wheel or axle, others have barriers of some sort making individual wheel weights difficult if not impossible.

 

If you can find a scale where the weighmaster is not busy or even better an open and unattended scale you can get a lot of weighing done free or cheap. If you use something like a truck stop a talk with the weighmaster can save you a good bit of money and clue you in to any special requirements for that scale. Usually there is a fee for each weight, if you just ask for multiple readings you'll pay the full price but if you arrange for multiple weights in advance the additional ones can be a fraction of the initial weight cost.

 

Here is my suggestion for weighing your truck and travel trailer on a 3 platform scale, the same plan will work well for a truck and fiver too. I like to do this with full fresh water and full propane tanks but with the holding tanks drained and flushed.

 

1. Talk to the weighmaster and schedule two weight readings.

2. Pull onto the scale, front axle on the front platform, rear axle on the center and the travel trailer positioned so the axles and hitch jack are over the rear platform.

3. Get your first weight.

4. Crank down the hitch jack until there is no weight on the hitch. (no need to unhitch)

5. Get your second weight.

6. Lift the hitch jack and leave the scale.

 

Optional weights, if you want individual axle weights on a two axle trailer just pull forward so only one axle is on each platform. If you can't do that just pull off until only the rear axle is on a platform and then subtract from the eight of both axles to find each weight. Same sort of thing for a triple axle too.

 

Individual wheel weights are easy on an open scale, just get your first set of weights for the full rig as above, then pull off and back onto the scale with only one side of the rig on the scale, subtract to find the weight of the side not on the scale.

[Darryl&Rita]

In the posted article, the unit was sold with an 18k CVW, axles rated at 15,600 lbs, and springs rated for 12k. All the scale time in the world isn't going to help that unit, nor would an inspection likely catch that. This is where an NHTSA report should be filed, along with legal representation. The axle rating appears appropriate, given the hitch weight that will be carried by the truck, but the springs sound like they were left over from the prvious production run.

[horizon36]

On the unit in the article it would be interesting to learn where the 12,000# figure came from. Also there was no mention of the pin weight which looks to be 2,400# giving the rig a total GVWR of 18,000. The person writing the article did not do any homework and has therefore mislead the reader. I think this article is a bit irresponsible. They should have asked the opinion of one of the professional weighmasters.

 

The best way to weigh a truck & trailer is with individual wheel scales like Smart Weigh or RV Weigh.com. When done by a professional you get each wheel, axle total, pin weight, total trailer total weight of the TV with no rig and also with the rig. You will be able to see if your hitch is adjusted correct vertically and fore/aft. You will also get a GCWR. You will know the before and after readings for the TV for each axle and wheel and be able to see if the TV is overloaded or not. In addition the report will show side to side weight difference.

[mptjelgin]

One thing that the article fails to mention is that weight is carried by the axles and the hitch. So in the example given a GVWR of 18,000 pounds along with axles rated for a total of 15,600 wouldn't be out of line, as on a large fifth wheel carrying 2400 pounds (or more) on the hitch isn't unusual. That all totals 18,000 pounds.

 

As far as the spring rating, I'd like to learn a little more about that. I've not seen much information about spring ratings and am not sure how one would go about determining their rating. But I would frankly be surprised if Heartland was putting 4000 pound springs under 5200 pound axles.

 

I have no doubt that there are RV's out there with lousy CCC and by all means, let the buyer beware. But the fact that the article fails to accurately present the relationship of axle ratings to GVWR makes me wonder what other "facts" may be in dispute.

[Yarome]

Leaf springs generally have a code stamped on them that can be used to contact the mfg and get the load rating.. although.. it's really difficult to read the code off them other than when they are practically new. Thickness and number of springs as well are not an indicator of load rating. Typically.. leaf springs (each side) should be rated at a minimum of 1/2 the axle weight. Ie., 6000# axles should have leaf springs rated for at least 3000#'s on each side.

 

In the article the axles have a combined load rating of 15,800 / 2 so roughly 8,000#'s minimum. If the person had 12,000# rated leaf springs then they are more than good to go. Again.. the feller failed to do his homework.

 

Note: Load ratings on leaf springs are PER set of springs.. not both sides combined.. (think tires) so with a 18,500 GVWR 24k of springs seems purtty darn good to me!

[WeBeFulltimers]

Lots of different types of scales, some are very restrictive in what you can do with them while others are open to a lot of creativity. Two common types are single platform and three platform scales. With the single platform you get one weight for whatever number of axles you pull onto the platform, triple platform scales have three individual scales, front, center and rear and are designed to give trucker's a fast way to weigh.

 

Some scales are open, flat level ground around them and no barriers so you can pretty much fiddle your rig to weigh any single wheel or axle, others have barriers of some sort making individual wheel weights difficult if not impossible.

 

If you can find a scale where the weighmaster is not busy or even better an open and unattended scale you can get a lot of weighing done free or cheap. If you use something like a truck stop a talk with the weighmaster can save you a good bit of money and clue you in to any special requirements for that scale. Usually there is a fee for each weight, if you just ask for multiple readings you'll pay the full price but if you arrange for multiple weights in advance the additional ones can be a fraction of the initial weight cost.

 

Here is my suggestion for weighing your truck and travel trailer on a 3 platform scale, the same plan will work well for a truck and fiver too. I like to do this with full fresh water and full propane tanks but with the holding tanks drained and flushed.

 

1. Talk to the weighmaster and schedule two weight readings.

2. Pull onto the scale, front axle on the front platform, rear axle on the center and the travel trailer positioned so the axles and hitch jack are over the rear platform.

3. Get your first weight.

4. Crank down the hitch jack until there is no weight on the hitch. (no need to unhitch)

5. Get your second weight.

6. Lift the hitch jack and leave the scale.

 

Optional weights, if you want individual axle weights on a two axle trailer just pull forward so only one axle is on each platform. If you can't do that just pull off until only the rear axle is on a platform and then subtract from the eight of both axles to find each weight. Same sort of thing for a triple axle too.

 

Individual wheel weights are easy on an open scale, just get your first set of weights for the full rig as above, then pull off and back onto the scale with only one side of the rig on the scale, subtract to find the weight of the side not on the scale.

Stanley is 100% correct with this. Just remember to not do any hitching/unhitching on the scale platform(s) as this could damage the scale. This makes the scale owner/attendant VERY UNHAPPY!

[Kirk W]

I would never accept a trailer that had spring ratings that were 1/2 of the axle rating unless both ratings were far above what the rated GVWR would ever put on them because no trailer always sits in a level position while traveling and the movement causes weight to shift from side to side, placing far more weight on one side than the other. The rule of 1/2 axle weight for spring ratings is a minimum standard. Weight issues can be quite complex and are more important as your load reaches the upper limits. I believe that this link is a good place to start, but there are many more articles on the internet that address and explain weight issues.

 

It is important to realize that RIVA is an organization of RV manufacturers whose primary purpose is representing and protecting the RV builders who are members and customer protection is really not a part of their agenda. The weight standards and requirements for manufactures to post weights in an RV were set in an effort to keep the government from imposing safety rules on them, such as has been done with the federal highway safety regulations that apply to automobiles. The automobile standards required seat-belts for years before RIVA finally added them to their requirements and the same has been true for weight issues. Very slowly the standard for revealing weights has improved but it has only come with pressure from groups like the RV Consumer Group and RVSEF, as well as people like the Escapees, Good Sam and a few other consumer groups. Even today, you need to know more information about listed weights and the company who posts them before you really trust that information and everyone should get a minimum of an actual weight for each axle with the RV loaded for travel.

[bruce t]

A couple of comments re weight -

 

Some years back we purchased a 35ft motorhome on a Ford chassis. We had it weighed at a FMCA rally. Shock horror the front left was 500# over weight. Yup, 500#. They had simply put too much heavy 'stuff' on that side. So we went back to the manufacturer. They didn't want to know us. (We purchased new). So off to Ford. They said it was the motorhome builders responsibility. Back and forward for a week. In the end I mentioned 'lawyer'. We were suddenly invited back to the Ford dealership where they installed a new super heavy front end. Brakes n all. Moral of the story is? Don't trust anyone. Not even the lawyer you don't have.

 

In Australia scales are a required visit for ALL vehicles over 8 tons. "Commercial' has nothing to do with safety. It's only a matter of time and the same will apply in the USA. It's up to user to ensure they know their weight figures. Abuse those figures and the authorities will be forced to enforce them.

 

regards

[skp51443]

Something like SmartWeigh is ideal with only one shortcoming and that is a deal killer for me. You have to buy the rig and take it to where you can get it on a SmartWeigh system. Once your check has cleared you are not in a good place to fuss about weight issues, good outcomes like Bruce mentions are rare and you should hope for such good luck but depending on it will usually lead to tears. If you could get a SmartWeigh setup to the dealer's lot it would be wonderful.

 

If you don't want a nasty surprise and to be stuck with a problem RV get your weights however you can before you buy. Putting down a deposit before having the dealer get you your weights is not a big problem as long as you note on it that it is pending weight verification. The dealer will not be happy to miss the sale but better trying to get back your deposit from a grumpy dealer than sitting in YOUR new RV and trying to find a solution to YOUR problem. Sometimes the only solution is to sell the RV and buy another and you know what that will cost you and it will be way more than walking away from a deposit! You can usually fight the deposit issue for little cost and excellent chances of getting your money back if you pay it with a credit card instead of cash or a check.

 

If a dealer refuses to get you a set of weights maybe you have the wrong dealer. Do help make it as easy as possible for the dealer, have the location of a good scale near the dealer and be flexible on when the weight is taken. You really want to be there to witness the weighing as it is far too easy to cheat things just a bit if a wheel or axle is too heavy and if there is any question of what weights are needed you'll be there to make sure you get what you need.

[bigjim]

I was at the Camping World "Rv show" last week and I was stunned at the low listed cargo weights listed on the stickers on several of the travel trailers I looked at. There will be many more overloaded brand new rv's on the road.