cargo weight

Snowbird67 wrote:
Has anyone ever weighed how much cargo they carry in a full time rig? What is the average?

I have.

My camper's advertised dry weight is: 11,840 lbs.

My camper's specific yellow sticker's dry weight is: 12,239 lbs.

After a season, my camper went back to the factory for repairs. After I emptied it, I weighed it. That weight was: 12,440 lbs.

Once we loaded it for fulltime travel, on day 2, I stopped at a CAT scale: 16,380 lbs.

After 3 weeks, I took the camper to an Escapees Smart Weigh to get individual wheel weights: 16,070 - 16,330 lbs. (depending on how you calculate pin weight since my truck's front axle seemingly had weight removed from it)

Assuming I had a "loaded for bear" weight of 16,330 lbs., that gives me a total of 3,890 lbs. for my family of 4 from my "dry" weight vs. my fully loaded weight.

--

We have been on the road for 4 months and have gone on a weight loss diet. The problem is, for each thing we remove- we tend to find something to take its place. It takes a lot of books and cups to makeup for the new Weber Q2000 grill. :D (Though, that currently/usually rides in the bed of my truck.)

Calicajun wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
I honestly don't think the OP cares one way or another whether his truck can handle that particular 5th wheel. From what I read he has pretty much made up his mind and does not wish to be bothered with data that shows it may not be a wise match.

Agree; his mind is made up.....don't confuse him with the facts.

True one can always fight Ram but my point was why under buy and have to worry about overloading the truck and having to fight Ram. That was my reason for moving up to a 2500 Ram.

:h...Think we were addressing the OPs choice of " not enough TV" for what he's wanting to tow....Not addressing you going from a 1/2 ton to a 3/4 ton TV.

NC Hauler wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
I honestly don't think the OP cares one way or another whether his truck can handle that particular 5th wheel. From what I read he has pretty much made up his mind and does not wish to be bothered with data that shows it may not be a wise match.

Agree; his mind is made up.....don't confuse him with the facts.

True one can always fight Ram but my point was why under buy and have to worry about overloading the truck and having to fight Ram. That was my reason for moving up to a 2500 Ram.

fj12ryder wrote:
I honestly don't think the OP cares one way or another whether his truck can handle that particular 5th wheel. From what I read he has pretty much made up his mind and does not wish to be bothered with data that shows it may not be a wise match.

Agree; his mind is made up.....don't confuse him with the facts.

Calicajun wrote:
Did have a number of people on another forum come back and say that can't happen. So I offered a challenge which no one took up. That was overload your truck, then take it in for service and see what the dealer says to you.

Sure, dealers can say lots of things, so can Dodge. I've had a few warranty claims denied because they felt something unrelated voided the warranty. I challenged their 'finding', went thru arbitration and won. When you force the burden onto the dealer or manufacture legally they'll often back down if they have no proof to back up their denial.

That said, if you exceeded the load ratings then items that can be affected may be denied warranty. But not the entire trucks warranty for unrelated items. If challenged the manufacture has to show that the damage was caused by the overloaded conditions and not a manufacturing defect. That often means going thru arbitration or further up the legal chain.

mileshuff wrote:

Calicajun wrote:
Another thing to watch with a Ram truck that has air bags is cargo weight. That is if you overload the cargo weight the truck's senors on the air bags will tell on you by sending information to the truck's computer. This can void your truck's service contract. I went through this problem with a 2014 Ram Eco Diesel Limited. Spent months in contact with Ram and their Engineers, only to be told if you overload the cargo weight you void the service contract. They also told me how they can tell if you are towing more than the truck's weight limit.

Legally they cannot void the entire warranty. The burden of proof is still on Dodge to prove any warranty claim they deny was caused by truck being overloaded. For instance, would being overloaded be grounds for warranty denial for a failed A/C unit?

Yes, the Eco Diesel is only a 1500 truck but it was the truck I had at the time I was dealing with Ram. Using my experience dealing with Ram to give an example of what Ram could do to someone if they feel any Ram truck had been overloaded. I now have a Ram 2500 with no factory air bags. Doesn't ride as smooth as the Eco Diesel with full four point air suppention but it sure pulls our 6,200 pound (dry weight) TT with no problem. ??

Did have a number of people on another forum come back and say that can't happen. So I offered a challenge which no one took up. That was overload your truck, then take it in for service and see what the dealer says to you.

I honestly don't think the OP cares one way or another whether his truck can handle that particular 5th wheel. From what I read he has pretty much made up his mind and does not wish to be bothered with data that shows it may not be a wise match.

Me Again wrote:

azjeffh wrote:

Snowbird67 wrote:
Has anyone ever weighed how much cargo they carry in a full time rig? What is the average?

Heard one should plan on ~1K lbs pp. We're looking for our full-time fiver now and are planning on at least 50% more.

60 gals of water times 8.1 = 486 pounds

It all adds up quickly. That is why it is best to use GVWR of the trailer and 20 percent for pin weight. Now some of the new trailers have the axles back farther which ups pin weight even more. The new Cardinals are noted for that! Chris

Good feedback on why the OPs truck won't have enough payload to carry the load, but doesn't provide an answer to his question.

We're planning on a fifth wheel payload capacity of 3K to 3.5K for fulltiming. Without discussing the TV, am I underestimating the required payload capacity?

azjeffh wrote:

Snowbird67 wrote:
Has anyone ever weighed how much cargo they carry in a full time rig? What is the average?

Heard one should plan on ~1K lbs pp. We're looking for our full-time fiver now and are planning on at least 50% more.

60 gals of water times 8.1 = 486 pounds

It all adds up quickly. That is why it is best to use GVWR of the trailer and 20 percent for pin weight. Now some of the new trailers have the axles back farther which ups pin weight even more. The new Cardinals are noted for that! Chris

mileshuff wrote:

Calicajun wrote:
Another thing to watch with a Ram truck that has air bags is cargo weight. That is if you overload the cargo weight the truck's senors on the air bags will tell on you by sending information to the truck's computer. This can void your truck's service contract. I went through this problem with a 2014 Ram Eco Diesel Limited. Spent months in contact with Ram and their Engineers, only to be told if you overload the cargo weight you void the service contract. They also told me how they can tell if you are towing more than the truck's weight limit.

Legally they cannot void the entire warranty. The burden of proof is still on Dodge to prove any warranty claim they deny was caused by truck being overloaded. For instance, would being overloaded be grounds for warranty denial for a failed A/C unit?

It only works that way on paper! Ask anyone that has had the warranty cancelled. And there are many! Chris