Mobile suites weight and mobility question

Our "yellow tag" is on the entry door frame (as are all Heartlands). We came out of the factory at 13,864 lbs. This includes all options as it is weighed going out the door of the factory. We have dual panes, generator, two airs, etc.

We are fulltimers and after moving from one rig to the other, we went directly to the scales and our gross weight was just under 17,600 lbs...that is almost 3,800 lbs, which included NO fluids.

adding 1,000 for cargo is WAY under reality IMHO!

cimac wrote:
Purchased a used 2011 36' Mobile Suites. Had to get it weighed for the title in Texas. The actual dry weight was 15250 lbs with propane, but nothing else. They are heavy and you need a good truck.

.......and it looks like you did the math and used some common sense in putting your combo together.....great set up you have...:)

jimmac28 wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

jimmac28 wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

jimmac28 wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:
I still don't understand why people use "empty weight/dry weight's" of a 5er to give examples of....One REALLY needs to use the GVW of the rv whether it's loaded to that weight or not..It makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE...No one tows one "empty" or "dry", nor do they drop "dry pin weight" onto their hitch...sorry, it just doesn't make any sense.

Mobile Suites, in my opinion has a very good, high quality unit. To the OP, just make sure your truck is up to towing it, I'd take the GVW of the 5er and take 20% of that to figure out what kind of pin weight you'll be dropping in the bed of the truck...There are still a whole lot of campgrounds out there that you shouldn't have any issues at all camping in. My 5er is at 39' 9" and I've camped everywhere we wanted to stay...just looked at sites on the internet to see which one's work best for my unit.

The reason a lot of people do not use GVW is its way to much weight to be realistic. The industry standard for a family of "4" is 600 to 800lb's of stuff. A good rule of thumb is just add 1000lb's to the base weight and you should be close. Also if your going to add a generator and washer-dryer, you have to include that in your base weight, because that weight will always be there.

Lets face it most larger trailers are 3500 to 4000lb's of payload, that's the weight of an automobile. if I was carrying 3000lb's of stuff I would be rethinking what I'm bringing.

Wow, only 200 per person, what dream world do you live in! I have seen these people that basically bring it ALL with them camping. Much better to look at GVWR, and Payload capacity to get an estimated towing weight.
Most people greatly under estimate the weight of what they are adding to their trailer.
Falls right in the category of a vehicles MAX tow rating, which is based on a stripper model of the vehicles, not the plush one they drive and tow with.
Max Tow + Dry weight = Bad towing experience.

Live in the real world, most trailers are weighted as the leave the manufacture ready for delivery. All you have to do is to walk out at the dealership and look at comparable trailer as the one your going to buy. If it's used just look at the yellow tag, then you will know. No guessing.

What did you just say:h Most trailers leave the factory showing how much they weighed at that point..again, no water, no propane, no generator (unless built into it), no washer/dryer, unless built into it...only one A/C, unless two built into it....(it's pretty much empty)....

As far as the rest of your post, it's a bit confusing:

"All you have to do is to walk out at the dealership and look at comparable trailer as the one your going to buy. If it's used just look at the yellow tag, then you will know. No guessing."

HUH??? What yellow tag??? Anyone can look at the placard located somewhere in the 5er telling them unloaded weight and then GVW...what's that have to do with "looking" at a unit on a lot "then you will know...No guessing"??? It's ALL guesstimating until you pull up on the scales with 5er loaded and check the weights....Believe you would be surprised how much weight some can put in their units and think they've "packed light"...

Nowhere in your sig or profile do we see what you are towing and what you are towing it with..kind of hard to follow your reasoning....

Go to your trailer and look on the drivers side in the front, just before the bedroom you will see a yellow tag. That is were you will find a lot of info about your trailer and the weight of your trailer as it left for delivery. That tag will be found on all trailers.

I just took it for granted that everyone knew about it, my bad.

Now for the OP's question, I agree with everyone ya a dually

You are exactly right, everyone on these forums know where to find their 5er's weight information, including myself:R. Have NO CLUE what that has to do with how much load's the unit to, your formula may only work for YOU...AND again...the GVW being the most important and what one should base towing on...not on "dry" or "empty weight", or "guessing" that one will only add 600#, or 800# or even only 1,000#....

When I purchased my 5er, it didn't come with a generator, it didn't come with the washer/dryer combo...I knew my weights, ie, ACTUAL ...AND my pin weight, ACTUAL..when I added the generator and the washer/dryer, I'm STILL within my 5er's GVW and because I looked ahead on my truck, I don't have to worry about needing another one now..I planned ahead..heck, I could buy a heavier 5er by a couple tons and still be good to go.

Simple math and common sense go along way in getting the correct combo put together to make for safe/enjoyable towing experience.

If fuel economy is your priority, then move on and find something smaller and much lighter. If living in a solidly built unit that was put together for someone wanting to live in it full time then your looking at the correct builder. We lived in our unit just under 8 years and it still looks great. I can count on one hand the rv parks we were turned away from for lack of space to fit us. We never parked in state parks of National parks always a private style park. You just plan ahead.
Good luck

Purchased a used 2011 36' Mobile Suites. Had to get it weighed for the title in Texas. The actual dry weight was 15250 lbs with propane, but nothing else. They are heavy and you need a good truck.

NC Hauler wrote:

jimmac28 wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

jimmac28 wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:
I still don't understand why people use "empty weight/dry weight's" of a 5er to give examples of....One REALLY needs to use the GVW of the rv whether it's loaded to that weight or not..It makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE...No one tows one "empty" or "dry", nor do they drop "dry pin weight" onto their hitch...sorry, it just doesn't make any sense.

Mobile Suites, in my opinion has a very good, high quality unit. To the OP, just make sure your truck is up to towing it, I'd take the GVW of the 5er and take 20% of that to figure out what kind of pin weight you'll be dropping in the bed of the truck...There are still a whole lot of campgrounds out there that you shouldn't have any issues at all camping in. My 5er is at 39' 9" and I've camped everywhere we wanted to stay...just looked at sites on the internet to see which one's work best for my unit.

The reason a lot of people do not use GVW is its way to much weight to be realistic. The industry standard for a family of "4" is 600 to 800lb's of stuff. A good rule of thumb is just add 1000lb's to the base weight and you should be close. Also if your going to add a generator and washer-dryer, you have to include that in your base weight, because that weight will always be there.

Lets face it most larger trailers are 3500 to 4000lb's of payload, that's the weight of an automobile. if I was carrying 3000lb's of stuff I would be rethinking what I'm bringing.

Wow, only 200 per person, what dream world do you live in! I have seen these people that basically bring it ALL with them camping. Much better to look at GVWR, and Payload capacity to get an estimated towing weight.
Most people greatly under estimate the weight of what they are adding to their trailer.
Falls right in the category of a vehicles MAX tow rating, which is based on a stripper model of the vehicles, not the plush one they drive and tow with.
Max Tow + Dry weight = Bad towing experience.

Live in the real world, most trailers are weighted as the leave the manufacture ready for delivery. All you have to do is to walk out at the dealership and look at comparable trailer as the one your going to buy. If it's used just look at the yellow tag, then you will know. No guessing.

What did you just say:h Most trailers leave the factory showing how much they weighed at that point..again, no water, no propane, no generator (unless built into it), no washer/dryer, unless built into it...only one A/C, unless two built into it....(it's pretty much empty)....

As far as the rest of your post, it's a bit confusing:

"All you have to do is to walk out at the dealership and look at comparable trailer as the one your going to buy. If it's used just look at the yellow tag, then you will know. No guessing."

HUH??? What yellow tag??? Anyone can look at the placard located somewhere in the 5er telling them unloaded weight and then GVW...what's that have to do with "looking" at a unit on a lot "then you will know...No guessing"??? It's ALL guesstimating until you pull up on the scales with 5er loaded and check the weights....Believe you would be surprised how much weight some can put in their units and think they've "packed light"...

Nowhere in your sig or profile do we see what you are towing and what you are towing it with..kind of hard to follow your reasoning....

Go to your trailer and look on the drivers side in the front, just before the bedroom you will see a yellow tag. That is were you will find a lot of info about your trailer and the weight of your trailer as it left for delivery. That tag will be found on all trailers.

I just took it for granted that everyone knew about it, my bad.

Now for the OP's question, I agree with everyone ya a dually

We have a 38 ft MS 18,500 and live in it on the road. We do 5,000 miles pulling distance and pull with 450 dually. We do camp near mountains and then drive the truck up into the passes and scenic drives.

I have not seen a MS that did not require a 1 ton dually as a minimum to pull it. They are good RVS and we know several people that use them as weekend and vacation trailers.

You do need the proper truck to tow one.

As noted, the empty or dry weight is a useless number. You want an actual weight and then add all of your supplies. You can add weight a lot faster than you think when you start moving in with the clothes, food, lawn chairs, etc.

Look at the trailers GVWR as a maximum.

Ken

jimmac28 wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

jimmac28 wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:
I still don't understand why people use "empty weight/dry weight's" of a 5er to give examples of....One REALLY needs to use the GVW of the rv whether it's loaded to that weight or not..It makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE...No one tows one "empty" or "dry", nor do they drop "dry pin weight" onto their hitch...sorry, it just doesn't make any sense.

Mobile Suites, in my opinion has a very good, high quality unit. To the OP, just make sure your truck is up to towing it, I'd take the GVW of the 5er and take 20% of that to figure out what kind of pin weight you'll be dropping in the bed of the truck...There are still a whole lot of campgrounds out there that you shouldn't have any issues at all camping in. My 5er is at 39' 9" and I've camped everywhere we wanted to stay...just looked at sites on the internet to see which one's work best for my unit.

The reason a lot of people do not use GVW is its way to much weight to be realistic. The industry standard for a family of "4" is 600 to 800lb's of stuff. A good rule of thumb is just add 1000lb's to the base weight and you should be close. Also if your going to add a generator and washer-dryer, you have to include that in your base weight, because that weight will always be there.

Lets face it most larger trailers are 3500 to 4000lb's of payload, that's the weight of an automobile. if I was carrying 3000lb's of stuff I would be rethinking what I'm bringing.

Wow, only 200 per person, what dream world do you live in! I have seen these people that basically bring it ALL with them camping. Much better to look at GVWR, and Payload capacity to get an estimated towing weight.
Most people greatly under estimate the weight of what they are adding to their trailer.
Falls right in the category of a vehicles MAX tow rating, which is based on a stripper model of the vehicles, not the plush one they drive and tow with.
Max Tow + Dry weight = Bad towing experience.

Live in the real world, most trailers are weighted as the leave the manufacture ready for delivery. All you have to do is to walk out at the dealership and look at comparable trailer as the one your going to buy. If it's used just look at the yellow tag, then you will know. No guessing.

What did you just say:h Most trailers leave the factory showing how much they weighed at that point..again, no water, no propane, no generator (unless built into it), no washer/dryer, unless built into it...only one A/C, unless two built into it....(it's pretty much empty)....

As far as the rest of your post, it's a bit confusing:

"All you have to do is to walk out at the dealership and look at comparable trailer as the one your going to buy. If it's used just look at the yellow tag, then you will know. No guessing."

HUH??? What yellow tag??? Anyone can look at the placard located somewhere in the 5er telling them unloaded weight and then GVW...what's that have to do with "looking" at a unit on a lot "then you will know...No guessing"??? It's ALL guesstimating until you pull up on the scales with 5er loaded and check the weights....Believe you would be surprised how much weight some can put in their units and think they've "packed light"...

Nowhere in your sig or profile do we see what you are towing and what you are towing it with..kind of hard to follow your reasoning....

jimmac28 wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:
I still don't understand why people use "empty weight/dry weight's" of a 5er to give examples of....One REALLY needs to use the GVW of the rv whether it's loaded to that weight or not..It makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE...No one tows one "empty" or "dry", nor do they drop "dry pin weight" onto their hitch...sorry, it just doesn't make any sense.

Mobile Suites, in my opinion has a very good, high quality unit. To the OP, just make sure your truck is up to towing it, I'd take the GVW of the 5er and take 20% of that to figure out what kind of pin weight you'll be dropping in the bed of the truck...There are still a whole lot of campgrounds out there that you shouldn't have any issues at all camping in. My 5er is at 39' 9" and I've camped everywhere we wanted to stay...just looked at sites on the internet to see which one's work best for my unit.

The reason a lot of people do not use GVW is its way to much weight to be realistic. The industry standard for a family of "4" is 600 to 800lb's of stuff. A good rule of thumb is just add 1000lb's to the base weight and you should be close. Also if your going to add a generator and washer-dryer, you have to include that in your base weight, because that weight will always be there.

Lets face it most larger trailers are 3500 to 4000lb's of payload, that's the weight of an automobile. if I was carrying 3000lb's of stuff I would be rethinking what I'm bringing.

Most that I know, and that's quite a few over the years will load up outside chairs, fill up their propane bottles, carry some fresh water, may have a generator...carry pot's, pans, dishes, cups, forks, spoons, knife's, bedding...clothes in the closet, and on and on and on...Guess one never understands how much one carries until they completely clean out an rv if selling it or trading it in.....

GVW is FAR more realistic than "empty" or "dry" weight...(those two weights are the MOST UNREALISTIC)....I also want to get a better idea of true pin weight I'm going to be carrying and I'm fooling myself if I use the so called "dry pin weight"....

Empty weight doesn't include water or propane (I have two 40# bottles)...When I purchased my 5er, I figured one day, notice I said, one day, I just might have it loaded to 16,200# or so and now I do....(GVW is 16,950#).....that includes a generator and washer/dryer combo. I would include numbers in earlier planning, and now I'm utilizing them, (didn't for years), and I have the truck (planned it all out), to tow the 5er with.

For one not to use actual GVW of the 5er to figure out what tow vehicle they may need, might just come back to bite them one day.