GVWR, does it really matter

IMO the reason you need to know your weights is to make sure you are not overloading the axles/tires/frame, you would be surprised how much weight you can get in there without knowing it. Just the usual propane, water, dishes, and misc adds up, my wife puts in at least a 1000 lbs of clothes, not counting bath/bedding and all the other stuff. Throw in some cast iron/grills/heaters/generators/etc for the outside use and WOW, where did all that weight come from. Just a good reason to weigh and know where you are at!

To me it often does not matter. The advice many on here give to match a truck to the trailers GVWR is not always good/correct. Just because a trailer "could" hold a given amount doesn't mean a buyer has any intention of doing it.

A perfect example is my old TT. It had 5000# axles and only weighed 6500# so the GVWR was around 11,000#. The yellow sticker said I could put 4600# of cargo inside. There's no way I'd ever do that so there would be no need to but a truck capable of hauling 11,000#.

In many (most?) instances the GVWR is actually a pretty good guideline but not always. When shopping for trailers I've often just figured 2000# over the dry weight is a good number to plan for. In reality I'm usually about 1500# over dry weight once loaded up with basic stuff to go out with.

In a case like you describe I dont think the GVWR is anything to worry about at all. My TT is the same way; I have nearly two tons of CCC so I don't worry about weights at all. I'm no where near any weight limits so there's nothing to worry about.

Your example is a little widespread but understand your point. Without weighing truck or FW you really can't be sure of weight. In your example dry wt of 10K, it will likely be some higher with just batteries, propane, etc.

The FW GVWR if 4-5K more than dry may not matter to most, unless full time RVing. A figure such as adding only 500 lbs, is unlikely too! On average you could figure to add 1,500 lbs to a 32-35 foot FW.

In reality you just need to be concerned about the scaled ready to camp wt of the truck and FW.

Jerry