Have you weighed your cargo?

CAT Scale is easy. Only problem I had was finding the "Call Button!" A trucker can reach out of the cab, maybe open the door and stand on the running board. But if you're standing on the ground, you need to be a six-footer with a good reach.

The CAT setup won't let you weigh "corners" like Left Front, Right Rear... etc. You'll get Front and Rear AXLE weights. I mention this because Michelin publishes an "RV" version of their Pressure/Load Chart that's expressed in "Corners" not "Axles." Here's Michelin's Chart. I think they want us weighing at each "axle end" to be sure one corner's not overloaded. Any manufacturer's chart works with any other's tires, so long as they're the same Size and Load Range. The ratings are different in Single and Dual applications, so use the right line.

I'd like to see you get away from "extenders" and go with custom brass valves meant to allow you to check/add air with ease, even with Wheel Covers/Simulators. There are two popular brands:

There's Dually Valve aka BORG, and

Chuck aka Tire-Man

I have BORG. That's what the store (Six Robblees) had and the price was excellent. Since then the price has gone up and it seems to many of us that the Tire-Man kits are now the better buy.

This is from somebody (me!) who procrastinated in getting custom valves and had extreme frustration every time I had to check tires. Not only is it now easy, couple minutes to check all six, I can to it with ANY gauge, ANY air hose. And that means ANYTIME, ANYWHERE.

Many of us with larger Class C's have trouble finding a shop to work on our tires and wheels. Sometimes it helps to point out that our tires aren't any bigger and wheels aren't any different from a dually pickup truck. Some shops won't work on anything they can't put on their indoor lift. Just thinking out loud, maybe a truck stop would be OK for a quick Dismount/Install Valve/Remount job. Their problem might be that their equipment is too BIG... I can use the shop at the local Navy base. In their case, they'd do all the tire/wheel work, but not remove/install the wheels. I put our C on stands and brought them all seven wheels in my van. Worked out great. If I hadn't done that I wouldn't have learned how badly the E-series rear inners can get stuck to the hub. A truck stop would have been able to get them off, but doing it myself gave me a chance to work out a fix to let me be able to get them off in the future.

Wishin' and Hopin' wrote:
Funny visual. The reason I ask ...

We're going to Hershey RV show on Friday to thoroughly evaluate the small Class C's we've choosing between. On the short list are a couple of sprinters. I'm concerned about CCC. There seems to be some 'fuzzy' thinking (or at least fuzzy bloging) on the real CCC for the sprinter based vehicles. I know manufacturers post a label showing CCC of vehicle when it leaves the factory. That number doesn't include the dealer add-ons. I haven't yet met a dealer that can answer the 'how much does this RV weigh sitting right here and now, on your lot?' question. That worries me.

Someone suggested to me making a list of what we'd take on a trip, and adding it up. I did that, and am now trying to identify if I'm in line with other folks. We're 2 adults traveling without kids.

Thanks much for your insight.

If the dealer can't tell you within reason what it weighs they are very bad at math. For the last several years there is a placard on the driver's door jam that says how much stuff (people, water, cargo) you can put in an RV. It is based on THAT PARTICULAR RV and if the dealer adds more than 200 lbs of stuff they must amend the placard. Those numbers are based on a fully fueled RV with full LP.

If you have a Sprinter RV that says it has 1500 lbs of OCCC (on the door jam sticker), that Sprinter sitting on the lot with no water and full fuel/LP weighs 9530 lbs. See how easy it is?

brucec315 wrote:
I want to find a place to weigh each axle on my Navion 24 G. This past week I was told these units have rubber valves and can handle 60 lb inflation but he says most of these "C's" are over weight and need more air in the tires so the valves need to be changed to metal valves before I can get extensions. I am going to have someone check this out. So...... Can anyone suggest where I can weigh my RV and who can switch the valves for me and add extensions?
Thank you in advance for any suggestions or comments.

Any tire store can change out the valve stems and add your extensions.
AND IMHO you should do that ASAP.

Rubber valve stems should never have be used on your RV extensions or not. From experience I know how dangerous they can be.

brucec315 wrote:
I want to find a place to weigh each axle on my Navion 24 G. This past week I was told these units have rubber valves and can handle 60 lb inflation but he says most of these "C's" are over weight and need more air in the tires so the valves need to be changed to metal valves before I can get extensions. I am going to have someone check this out. So...... Can anyone suggest where I can weigh my RV and who can switch the valves for me and add extensions?
Thank you in advance for any suggestions or comments.

You don now want to put any valve extensions on rubber stems except the OE Mercedes plastic ones. If you want easier access you can put Alligator V2B air through caps on your stems and use a dually chuck. It gets even easier when you get tired of the wheel simulators and toss them. Easiest still is Borg/Tireman solid stems.

This is VERY IMPORTANT: When a Sprinter is jacked up it must be done by the chassis jacking points as indicated in the owner's manual. There has been a rash of damaged diff housings by shops lifting the rear of the RV with a big jack under the diff. Look at your manual, and get familiar with the jacking points. You may want to watch the shop to make sure it happens correctly.

You do not know you are overweight until you see it for yourself. There is a lot of BS floating around from "experts" so find out for yourself. Based on 1100, lbs the tire pressure MB recommends is 61. I run about 65.

Good idea about attending Hershey to check out the models of interest. Most (all?) new vehicles are supposed to have the weight data posted somewhere in the vehicle, usually in a cupboard or behind a door. You will need to search it out and the sales reps are not always helpful with this as you noted. And, you will need to make sure that the OCCC (Occupant and Cargo Carrying Capacity) weight includes dealer add-ons as noted earlier. When we went to Hershey to check things out before buying, we found some units that would be near the max weight limit just with the four adult members of our family on board.

We have a 2011 Lazy Daze mid-bath at 27 feet. The GVWR is 14500. The OCCC is 2961 pounds. In June at an FMCA Rally, we had the rig 4-corner weighed. We had equipment and items for a 5 week trip. There were 3 adult occupants, nearly full fresh water 58 Gal. tank, empty black and gray tanks, 3/4 tank of gas, 1/2 tank propane, and a few days of groceries on board (just came from Walmart). We and our stuff weighed as follows: Driver's front 2150 pounds, Passenger front 2075, equals 4225 pounds on front axle; Driver's rear 4425, Passenger rear 4200, equals 8625 on rear axle. All of this equaled 12850 weight on the chassis. We had capacity to spare.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your search.

Bob

PghBob wrote:
Good idea about attending Hershey to check out the models of interest. Most (all?) new vehicles are supposed to have the weight data posted somewhere in the vehicle, usually in a cupboard or behind a door. You will need to search it out and the sales reps are not always helpful with this as you noted. And, you will need to make sure that the OCCC (Occupant and Cargo Carrying Capacity) weight includes dealer add-ons as noted earlier. When we went to Hershey to check things out before buying, we found some units that would be near the max weight limit just with the four adult members of our family on board.

We have a 2011 Lazy Daze mid-bath at 27 feet. The GVWR is 14500. The OCCC is 2961 pounds. In June at an FMCA Rally, we had the rig 4-corner weighed. We had equipment and items for a 5 week trip. There were 3 adult occupants, nearly full fresh water 58 Gal. tank, empty black and gray tanks, 3/4 tank of gas, 1/2 tank propane, and a few days of groceries on board (just came from Walmart). We and our stuff weighed as follows: Driver's front 2150 pounds, Passenger front 2075, equals 4225 pounds on front axle; Driver's rear 4425, Passenger rear 4200, equals 8625 on rear axle. All of this equaled 12850 weight on the chassis. We had capacity to spare.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your search.

Bob

Wow. 1650 lbs of people and stuff including water. That's less than I would have guessed. Nearly 500 lbs of that is water too. Did you account for beer?:B

Thanks for all the suggestions about tires and weight of vehicle. I found a stone quarry near me that weighs for no cost. Front axle is 3320 (90 lbs. under (GAWR). My DW is a little bit more than 90 lbs. but we are pretty close. Rear axle is 7280 which is 440 under GAWR. The holding tanks are about 1/3 full Total weight is 10,380 which is about 650 under GAWR. If we travel with empty tanks we should be under Max. even when we add food and beer. I empty the tanks before long trips. I still plan to change out the rubber stems and purchase some sort of extensions for the dually tires. We are also going to Hershey this weekend and will check out even more opinions I am sure!
Anyone staying at Hershy Park Campground (Used to be High Meadow Campground)???

Bruce (2013 Navion iQ 24G (C class / not B+)

brucec315 wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions about tires and weight of vehicle. I found a stone quarry near me that weighs for no cost. Front axle is 3320 (90 lbs. under (GAWR). My DW is a little bit more than 90 lbs. but we are pretty close. Rear axle is 7280 which is 440 under GAWR. The holding tanks are about 1/3 full Total weight is 10,380 which is about 650 under GAWR. If we travel with empty tanks we should be under Max. even when we add food and beer. I empty the tanks before long trips. I still plan to change out the rubber stems and purchase some sort of extensions for the dually tires. We are also going to Hershey this weekend and will check out even more opinions I am sure!
Anyone staying at Hershy Park Campground (Used to be High Meadow Campground)???

Bruce (2013 Navion iQ 24G (C class / not B+)

Bruce,

We travel with the fresh water about 1/3 full so we have some water aboard. The only time I run with full fresh water is when dry camping.

OK. I'm the OP. Let's se if I got it right. We looked at a MH, and the plate inside the door said CCC 1578. That calculation is with full gas tank and propane already counted. So I can subtract what the dealer added (below that required for additional an additional plate. Let's pretend 150lbs. Subtract water (308 lbs), people (310 lbs). That leaves us with 810 lbs for gear, (including beer) auto-levelers, and solar. If we jettison the dream for auto-levelers and solar, we're good. Right? Thanks especially to the folks who posted the weight of what they travel with.

Before I bought my winnebago, I asked the salesman to get the weight for it from Winnebago. The dealer then weighed it and gave the four corner weights when I took ownership. If you are looking at Winnebagos they will give you the weights and occ of their vehicles.