Class A Towing capacity

lbligh wrote:

Dave,

As I have said, I have been in this business for 40 years. NOTHING you have said is related to the issue of gross capacities. Are these engineering specifications that are used in developing a gross capacity? Maybe. As I have said before... I do know that many things are taken into consideration by engineering (which I never claimed to be one) in the development of the gross capacities. Now, to use your term, lets don't be "silly," and ever think that one pound over any gross capacity is going to make a difference. However, I believe that we both know that taking any component to its maximum stress point constantly will shorten its life span....

I guess I'm not sure how the engineering basis for developing gross capacities has "nothing" to do with gross capacities.

Does 2 lbs over the limit matter? Does 5 lbs or 10 or 50, or 100, or 500? At what point do you hit the "wall"? The point is that it is not a wall. From a regulatory stand point it might be, but from an engineering standpoint, its not. It is as the stress factors rise, longevity goes down. Handling may or may not come into play. How bad is it?

Something else that is significant is that most motorhomes are not really using dedicated motorhome chassis parts. They pick and choose truck parts that fit the need. So where in a commercial vehicle, most design limitations all hit at once - meaning that everything is sized for a specific capacity. In an RV chassis, its a hodgepodge of parts, which means you have some parts that are way over sized for the job, and some that just barely meet the requirement. They just don't build enough motorhome chassis to warrant sizing all components to just make the minimum. A motorhome is a totally different animal than a commercial truck.