How to not exceed weight restrictions

At the CAT scale get the weight of the front and rear separately. If you can get each side separately even better. Weight and balance seem to receive little consideration during design. After you get the weights locate the tanks: fresh water, black, grey, and fuel and consider what effect they will have on balance if/when full.

I remember a the case of a high end ($500k plus) Class A that was so overweight on the front axle that there was no tire rated for the weight on the installed wheels. Had to replace the front wheels with a larger size. Think what that did to appearance and handling after you'd dropped half a mil+.

OP, It's PghBob again. All new Ford E450 based chassis leave the factory with a GVWR of 14500 pounds. E350 Ford chassis are less (I don't the figure), and the Dodge/MB chassis are less again. All RV manufacturers have the same chassis and GVWR to work with at the start of the build. They build their coaches, add their gizmos, and add options, and the final product weighs "X" amount. The difference between "X" and the GVWR is the amount of weight of people and stuff you can carry OCCC.

I believe this next point is worth emphasizing. Do not expect the sales rep to know, or perhaps even care what the OCCC of any particular unit is. It is your due dilegence that comes into play here. YOU must determine the OCCC on your own for the safety of your family. Seek out the sticker with the info. on it when looking at new/nearly units. If buying used, ask the current owner for documentation of the OCCC. When we were looking, we had a number of reps that "didn't know", "couldn't find", the OCCC ad nauseum. Insist on getting this number, and don't take the word of the rep.

The others and I have posted previously what other factors affect OCCC so I won't repeat them here. Best wishes on your search.

Be careful. The sticker reporting/format changed a few years back. The old sticker gave you weight after water and occupants. The new sticker gives you weight w/o water and w/o occupants.

I like the new sticker format much better. But often times people forget that the PEOPLE also count as cargo. Sometimes that's a deal breaker if the OCCC is not very much to begin with.

Mich F wrote:
If you're looking at a new or fairly new one, the information is right on the drivers door. My 2014 31 K has that info on a yellow sticker. It gives you the OCCC, which is the combined weight of occupants and cargo carrying capacity of the unit. The GVWR minus the OCCC yields the base weight of the unit. If it's a fairly new unit the OCCC will be around 3,000#, which would be hard to exceed. It's also more than a lot of Class A units.

I have an 8x11" sheet in the closet of my older Class C. It's a smaller one too and you're right - there's a CCC chart at the bottom that shows the numbers based on a 70kg occupant.

While 70kg might be a little on the low side............. :)


There's still almost a ton of CCC left with five people in my RV.

If its a new Winnie, your salesman should be able to call the factory and get the actual axle weights of the unit off the line w/ full fluids as well. That might help you some.

I know I especially appreciated having that information.

j-d wrote:
The drive should include open road, and the $10 scale fee could be revealing.

For both the OP AND the SALESMAN....:)....Dennis

Or, to keep 'em honest, roll through a truck stop on your test drive and check it on their CAT Scale. The drive should include open road, and the $10 scale fee could be revealing.

If you're looking at a new or fairly new one, the information is right on the drivers door. My 2014 31 K has that info on a yellow sticker. It gives you the OCCC, which is the combined weight of occupants and cargo carrying capacity of the unit. The GVWR minus the OCCC yields the base weight of the unit. If it's a fairly new unit the OCCC will be around 3,000#, which would be hard to exceed. It's also more than a lot of Class A units.

Ah! Ok. Thanks.

Yes, we have been searching for a bit And have looked at several. Just got bad info from a few people who thought they knew what they were taking about. Clearly did not, and confused the heck out of me!

No!

GVWR - CCC = Actual Weight (Unloaded)

GCWR is the combined weight rating for when you tow.