When I posted my weights they were with the trailer empty after just picking up the new unit from the dealer. I mentioned that I would post again once after loading my trailer for our first trip.
The new weights are:
Steer: 4380 80 pounds more
Drive: 5480 220 more
Trailer: 7930 320 more
Total: 17780 620 more
These weights are from the same certified CAT scale each time. Obviously my wife and I don't pack alot of stuff. We're not full timers which means that much of our gear is added and removed after each trip. Since we're loading and unloading the trailer each time we pack light. For a weekend trip our trailer is 620lbs more than it was empty. This includes full propane tanks, but empty water. The day before we went on our shake down cruise the temps were below freezing and I didn't want to leave water in the fresh water tank without heat which is why I weighed it without water.
Okay. I've now weighed my rig three different times; empty truck, truck with new fifth wheel, and rig loaded for a weekend. I'll weight it one more time on the 7th of March after we've loaded the kitchen up with food for a week and clothes before our trip to Phoenix for Spring Training.
Am I overloaded? Strictly speaking yes I'm overloaded on the GVWR. I'm below the 6200lbs on the rear axle and well under the 20k for the combined weight. I'm going to look into Colorado's laws and see if they allow us to purchase a higher rating like TX. I've been told that TX allows you to run at your axle ratings, if you pay the licensing fee, which is higher than the GVWR which is a good indication to me that the GVWR is bogus. Add to that the difference between my 9000lbs GVWR 2500 and the 10,100lbs GVWR 3500 is a set of springs I feel very safe. I've upgraded the rear suspension and added an exhaust brake.
This is not an endorsement that people should blindly ignore ratings. After doing a bunch of reading on this forum and others for the past three months I've come to realize there are three different types of people when it comes to towing. (1) The weight police. These are the folks who state you can't, should not go over any of the ratings. End of story. (2) People like myself who read and understand their limits, understand just how much weight they are pulling. (3) The last group are the folks who heard about somebody who pulled 30k of hay on a 10k trailer without problems which means their little 1/2 ton truck can pull a 15k trailer safely. So what if the truck sags a little and takes three times the distance to stop. These folks are the ones who the group in #1 are really screaming at or about.
If you disagree with me I would love to hear it. Please feel free to either follow up this post a general education or send me a private message either through this board or at 'ramcneal @ gmail.com' (remove the spaces).
