How many of you actually know what your GCW (gross combination weight)is? Also how many run over the GCWR (gross combination weight rating). I just weighed my MH and toad and I am just 300# under with full water and fuel.The Subaru only weighs 3000# and I see coaches similar to ours pulling much larger vehicles. Also has anyone been stopped to be weighed by state patrol or gotten a ticket for being overweight.

Rheevs wrote:How many of you actually know what your GCW (gross combination weight)is? Also how many run over the GCWR (gross combination weight rating). I just weighed my MH and toad and I am just 300# under with full water and fuel.The Subaru only weighs 3000# and I see coaches similar to ours pulling much larger vehicles. Also has anyone been stopped to be weighed by state patrol or gotten a ticket for being overweight.have you weighed your MH without the toad with separate axle weights? are either of your MH axles overweight when the actual weight is compared to the GAWR?

I know my GVWR and GCWR. I work to remain under those weights. It is difficult to find any RV with sufficient GCWR and GVWR left for normal use. I actually looked at a 36' Super C that was over the GVWR when it left the factory! Some of them had 500# of CCC left without water most were over! I only found out by calling the factory rep and asking what the shipping weight was and the NCC (net cargo carrying capacity) was. He didn't know (the factory rep) and when he returned he said that it seemed that they had been shipping many units overweight from the factory. It is common to put a 10K hitch on a DP but the unit only has 4K of GCWR left if loaded to its max GVWR. This makes it very difficult for the average customer to realistically determine what they are doing. I will have my unit weighed and try to manage within the specified weights because I'm paranoid. Some weigh stations demand that all vehicles over 16K stop at weigh stations even RVs. Technically they can write you a ticket and take you out of service until you reduce weight.

About the only time you stand a chance of being weighed by D.O.T. or the state police is if you're involved in a fatal accident and it looks like it might be your fault, then they might weigh you if with TOAD they think you're over weight. If you're within 300lbs. of Gross and your TOAD only weighs 3000lbs. then yes you need to get on a scale ASAP and see what your coach weight is BY axles. You didn't tell us what MH you have but most MH's have at least a 5000lb towing capacity, if yours does then you could be around 2000lbs over Gross on the MH.

We know ours (26K). Our towed weighs 3856 lbs. We are under our GCWR and under our GVW.Is your Winne on the 22K chassis or the 24K? You have too much weight in the coach - at least 700 lbs. Note on the 22K chassis, the GCWR is 26K (4K difference with a 5K hitch). Our A is 2.5' shorter than yours on the 22K chassis - we have 3500 lbs of cargo capacity. With our extra batteries, solar panels, 2/3 water (60G), and full gas, loaded for fulltiming, we are under GVW by about 600 lbs.

msturtz wrote:I know my GVWR and GCWR. I work to remain under those weights. It is difficult to find any RV with sufficient GCWR and GVWR left for normal use. I actually looked at a 36' Super C that was over the GVWR when it left the factory! Some of them had 500# of CCC left without water most were over! I only found out by calling the factory rep and asking what the shipping weight was and the NCC (net cargo carrying capacity) was. He didn't know (the factory rep) and when he returned he said that it seemed that they had been shipping many units overweight from the factory. It is common to put a 10K hitch on a DP but the unit only has 4K of GCWR left if loaded to its max GVWR. This makes it very difficult for the average customer to realistically determine what they are doing. I will have my unit weighed and try to manage within the specified weights because I'm paranoid. Some weigh stations demand that all vehicles over 16K stop at weigh stations even RVs. Technically they can write you a ticket and take you out of service until you reduce weight.it's not enough to know the GVWR. you need to know the actual weight on each axle and how that compares to the gross axle weight rating for that axle. it is possible to weigh less than the GVWR and still have one axle...usually the rear...overweight. I know this to be true from personal experience. load your MH as you normally would for travel (don't forget people and pets) and then get individual axle weights. know, don't assume.

GCWR | Good Sam Community

THUNDERUSONE
Explorer
May 13, 2015
Nice rig.....
Ductape
Explorer
May 12, 2015
^ Looks perfectly acceptable to me.
bshpilot
Explorer
May 12, 2015
Because we CAN (and still not be over our GCWR).....

BAIT for the (forum) weight / length police as they will surely come outta the woodwork on this one.
msturtz
Explorer
May 11, 2015
That guy is a menace! Yikes, not only overloaded but very top heavy as well!
bshpilot
Explorer
May 11, 2015
its not just motorhomes...
msturtz
Explorer
May 11, 2015
bsinmich wrote:
With all the vendors leaving Holland after Tulip Time I spotted a 90's Bounder (gas) sitting in the Wal-Mart lot with a very heavy trailer hooked up. The rear end of the MH was probably at the bottom of the spring travel. Slightly overloaded?

I've seen this so many times it isn't funny. I saw a gasser MH pulling a full size F250 4x4 crew cab. Hope they at least had a brake system in the F250!
bsinmich
Explorer
May 11, 2015
With all the vendors leaving Holland after Tulip Time I spotted a 90's Bounder (gas) sitting in the Wal-Mart lot with a very heavy trailer hooked up. The rear end of the MH was probably at the bottom of the spring travel. Slightly overloaded?
Hookum
Explorer
May 11, 2015
I might add a couple items to consider. The state may allow 20K on the front axle but very rarely does any M.H. have 20K rated axles or tires. Usually they are only found on heavy haul trucks. 18K may be on Magma, Newell, Bluebird, most others are 16K fronts or lower.

A single rear axle maybe rated for 20K with 4 tires but m.h. with a tag axle (6 tires) will often overload the tag (2 tires), especially when adding a trailer.

Towing capacity may be 10K but tongue weight is the most important number to consider. Long rear overhang plays havic by overloading rear axles, severly effects steering and braking.

I agree that many, many m.h. go blissfully down the road and it may not affect them until they can't stop and plow into some cars. That is when the attorneys and insurance co. wants to know the details. Who will pay.

Bruce Jennings driving a SUV pulling a trailer with ORV, plows into stopped cars, one person dies, is example of million $$ suit. Did trailer have brakes?? Were they working?? What was GVW? or GCVW. You can bet they will dig all that up. Stay tuned.
bshpilot
Explorer
May 10, 2015
I tip the scale at 32k lbs - completely FULL (140 g of fuel, 50gal of propane, 220g of water, people, beer, food).

By the MFG numbers this puts me 8k lbs UNDER my GCWR....plenty of margin for safety & towing !

If i'd bought a coach (like mine) w/ a 2nd (screw/drive) axle I'd have capacity for another 22k lbs of margin (on top of my 8k of margin that i already have) !
ncrowley
Explorer II
May 10, 2015
I went to the Escapees location in Phoenix and had a 4 corner weight done with full water, propane and fuel and packed for a trip.
GVWR: 31000
Front GAWR: 12000
Rear GAWR: 19000
Right front: 6000
Left front: 5375
Right rear: 8850
Left rear: 9250
Therefore, we can load more in the rear and we should put the load on the right side as much as possible. Given that we were packed for a trip and we never run around with a full water tank, we are in pretty good shape.

The Escapees have various locations. If you are going by one, it is worth calling and stopping for a weighing.

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