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AdvSeekers's avatar
AdvSeekers
Explorer
Mar 19, 2014

Overweight Toyhauler Dilemma!!

We finally got around to weighing our toyhauler and it confirmed that we are indeed overweight. The scale says we weigh 14,660 lbs. total with all of our belongings on board. The trailer is a 2010 Keystone Fuzion 302 that has an empty weight of 11,195 and a payload of 5164 that includes the hitch weight of 2365. (Just realized through our recent research that Keystone does that with their weights, which means that we were erroneously assuming that we could haul 5164 lbs. of cargo.)

Unfortunately, we aren't really able to lose much weight off of our total without getting rid of a motorcycle or two which would defeat the purpose of living on the road for us! According to my calculations we are hauling around roughly 3500 lbs. of motorcycles, tools, gear, food, dishes, TVs, etc.

We're not really sure where to go from here, but neither of us are excited about living on the road full-time with an overweight or nearly overweight trailer, since that will surely cause problems down the road.

What are our options? Can we modify our current trailer to be able to carry more weight, or would we be better off upgrading to a larger, more capable setup? I'd hate to spend a bunch of money upgrading our current setup only to end up still not having enough trailer in the long run.

Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
  • AdvSeekers's avatar
    AdvSeekers
    Explorer
    Mar 19, 2014
    ah64id wrote:
    sh410 wrote:
    ah64id wrote:
    Maybe I am missing something but I don't see how you are overweight.

    The GVWR appears to be 16,359 and you said your total weight (with all belongings) is 14,660. You are 1,700lbs under the GVWR.


    Also, the fusion payload does not include the hitch weight.


    Meaning?

    You subtract hitch weight from carrying capacity? Or you can add 5164 to the axles?


    Back to the OP, you said total weight. So what was the split on pin vs axles? What size axles are in it?


    My understanding is that you subtract the pin weight from the payload capacity meaning that the max weight is as follows: 11,195 (dry weight) + 5164 (payload capacity) - 2365 (hitch weight) = 13,994. I read on another forum that Keystone uses this formula to make their numbers look better, but in the end it just serves to frustrate their owners!

    Unfortunately, the only scale we had access to was the one at the local landfill here where we're staying in Kerrville, TX. The weight we got didn't differentiate between axles and pin weight, so the 14,660 figure is just the rough overall weight of the trailer.
  • sch911's avatar
    sch911
    Explorer
    Mar 19, 2014
    Did you weigh the trailer axles and the pin all at once and that total was 14660?

    If so as stated you are indeed under the GVWR which is all that matters.
  • AH64ID's avatar
    AH64ID
    Explorer
    Mar 19, 2014
    sh410 wrote:
    ah64id wrote:
    Maybe I am missing something but I don't see how you are overweight.

    The GVWR appears to be 16,359 and you said your total weight (with all belongings) is 14,660. You are 1,700lbs under the GVWR.


    Also, the fusion payload does not include the hitch weight.


    Meaning?

    You subtract hitch weight from carrying capacity? Or you can add 5164 to the axles?


    Back to the OP, you said total weight. So what was the split on pin vs axles? What size axles are in it?
  • sh410's avatar
    sh410
    Explorer
    Mar 19, 2014
    ah64id wrote:
    Maybe I am missing something but I don't see how you are overweight.

    The GVWR appears to be 16,359 and you said your total weight (with all belongings) is 14,660. You are 1,700lbs under the GVWR.


    Also, the fusion payload does not include the hitch weight.
  • AH64ID's avatar
    AH64ID
    Explorer
    Mar 19, 2014
    Maybe I am missing something but I don't see how you are overweight.

    The GVWR appears to be 16,359 and you said your total weight (with all belongings) is 14,660. You are 1,700lbs under the GVWR.
  • the_bear_II's avatar
    the_bear_II
    Explorer
    Mar 19, 2014
    You can do several things to ease your concern.

    Replace the axles and springs with higher rated units. May need to beef up the frame around the spring shackle attachment points.
    Add shocks if not already equipped
    Go to larger wheels with higher weight rating and H rated tires.

    You'll still need to watch out for frame stress issues especially around the pin box area. An air ride hitch or pin box will help soften road caused problems.

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