Truck Registration

[NDBirdman]

I have a 2015 Ran 3500 dually and a 2002 Park Avenue 32ft camper.  My truck (new to me as well as the rv) is registered at 16k (and change) weight.  Am I good, or do I need to change the registration weight?  Truck weighs around 8.5k and max weight per manufactured for camper is 14k.  Do I need to change the registration card to say 24,000?  I have time to do it before I pull it again, just want to be legal across all state lines/laws.  Per Dodge, my truck is good up to 27,400 so no problem there.

[Chad Heiser]

I'm a little confused about your question.  Are you talking about Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) for a single vehicle (the truck and anything in the truck) or are you talking about Gross Combined Vehicle Weight (GCVW) for a combination of vehicles (truck and trailer and all their respective contents)?

Either way if you are in a state that requires you to declare a weight (which is sounds like you are), then you want to declare a weight slightly more than you will every actually carry/tow.  By declaring slightly more, it gives you a little fudge room if you are ever put on a scale.  You still need to keep the max weight under what the truck is rated for by the manufacturer.  If your truck weighs 8.5K before you add the camper and the camper weighs 14K (8.5 + 14 = 22.5) then you need to register it for at least 22.5K.  I would probably register it at 24K like you suggested to give yourself a little wiggle room just in case

[oldbutspry]

Out of curiosity, of the 3 states commonly used by full-timers (SD, FL, TX), which of them require the owner to declare a weight for their truck?

[NDBirdman]

I will go out and look at the registration card, it's in the truck and we are getting hammered right now.  All the card says is registered weight at top of box with the 16k typed in.  I don't know if that is for GVW or GCVW.  I'm just trying to make sure this newbie has his bases covered before I hit the road.

[remoandiris]

16 hours ago, oldbutspry said:

Out of curiosity, of the 3 states commonly used by full-timers (SD, FL, TX), which of them require the owner to declare a weight for their truck?

Florida does.  They base their registration cost on weight.  For the first 2 years the state automatically maxed me out at 13K.  I dropped it to 9K and saved money ever since.  The clerk gave me the same fear factor story...oh if you ever get pulled over and weighted, blah, blah, blah.

When was the last time you saw a pickup/5er on a LEO scale?  Personally, I have NEVER seen it, so I'll keep my money in my pocket, thank you.

[Kirk W]

19 minutes ago, remoandiris said:

Florida does.  They base their registration cost on weight.

Looking at my Texas truck registration, it also lists weights but they appear to have come from the manufacturer's information as it has EMPTY WEIGHT 4500, CARRYING CAPACITY 1500, & GROSS WEIGHT 6000. I bought the truck from a widowed neighbor in 2014 and all of those numbers came from the previous owner's registration. 

[Ronbo]

When I registered my HDzt in Texas I had to have a weight ticket. They then had me give a weight I wanted for the truck. There was never a discussion of the total weight with the trailer. They just didn’t want the declared weight being less than the actual weight.

[oldbutspry]

Thanks everyone!  I'm trying to learn all the differences between the 3 states.  Haven't figured out yet which one I want to go with when we get a fiver.