Please advise - determining max tow capacity

What braking system are you going to use?

Just as a reference, our toad weight almost 500lbs more than the mfg curb weight without a driver and about 8gals of fuel...

Gary

johnxhc wrote:
Thanks for all of your help! Your guys are wonderful!

Here is what I found out from Thor Customer service about my couch by giving them my vin number.

GCWR: 26,000
GRWR 22,000
Vehicle Dry Weight: 16,646.

My flat towed vehicle is 4x4

I will probably only load 1/4 of my fresh tank( I am camping at fully hookup camp site 100%) , that will reduce the load by 300 lbs.

The Weight of the whole family(assuming everyone in the family goes): 860 lbs

Since I am not a full time I do not believe I would carry more than 500 lbs of luggage with me (if I do, I will make reduce it to 500)

Also the curb weight of my towed vehicle DOES include the weight of the driver (165 lbs) since no one will be at towed vehicle when it is flat towed , the weight of my towed vehicle is only going to be 5,856 - 165 = 5,691

So What I can tow is as following:
26,000 - 16,646 (Motorhome Weight) - 860 lbs (passenger) - 500 (cargo) - 100 lbs (1/4 of fresh tank water) - 88 (propane ) - 480 (gas) = 7,334

7,334- 5,691(towed vehicle weight ) =1,643

So looks like I still have 1,643 lbs buffer to play with. Even I fill the whole fresh water tank, I still have 1,343 lbs buffer.

That makes me very comfortable.
Of course I will definitely weight the motor home when it is loaded.

Thanks again to all of you

looks good, john but i strongly urge you to verify at a certified scale.

Alan_Hepburn wrote:

rk911 wrote:
if it were me i would want to KNOW the dry weight rather than trust a brochure or closet sticker.

I know it's just semantics, but to me the DRY weight is a fictional number. An RV will NEVER match its dry weight once you drive it out of the dealer. You're going to add fuel, water, propane, batteries, tools, kitchen stuff, clothing, etc. and most of that stuff will stay in the RV forever. What you need to determine is the ACTUAL weight, which you can ONLY get by visiting a scale. Ideally, you want the weight carried by each wheel; if you can''t get that then the weight carried by each axle will work; if you can't get that then as a last resort you can use the total weight on all axles.

which is why i don’t accept the mfg stated dry weight, empty weight...whatever label you want to place on it. when we took delivery of our current MH i weighed it. nothing in it but me, the extras from the dealer and factory and a few gallons of gas. after deducting my weight and x-lbs for the gas i had my actual empty weight. i then filled the fuel, fresh water and LP tanks and re- weighed. that gave me my wet weight. payload = GVWR minus wet weight. when we loaded up for a trip i re-weighed to be sure neither axle was overweight. on my F53 chassis the GVWR = the sum of the GAWRs.

Thanks for all of your help! Your guys are wonderful!

Here is what I found out from Thor Customer service about my couch by giving them my vin number.

GCWR: 26,000
GRWR 22,000
Vehicle Dry Weight: 16,646.

My flat towed vehicle is 4x4

I will probably only load 1/4 of my fresh tank( I am camping at fully hookup camp site 100%) , that will reduce the load by 300 lbs.

The Weight of the whole family(assuming everyone in the family goes): 860 lbs

Since I am not a full time I do not believe I would carry more than 500 lbs of luggage with me (if I do, I will make reduce it to 500)

Also the curb weight of my towed vehicle DOES include the weight of the driver (165 lbs) since no one will be at towed vehicle when it is flat towed , the weight of my towed vehicle is only going to be 5,856 - 165 = 5,691

So What I can tow is as following:
26,000 - 16,646 (Motorhome Weight) - 860 lbs (passenger) - 500 (cargo) - 100 lbs (1/4 of fresh tank water) - 88 (propane ) - 480 (gas) = 7,334

7,334- 5,691(towed vehicle weight ) =1,643

So looks like I still have 1,643 lbs buffer to play with. Even I fill the whole fresh water tank, I still have 1,343 lbs buffer.

That makes me very comfortable.
Of course I will definitely weight the motor home when it is loaded.

Thanks again to all of you

rk911 wrote:
if it were me i would want to KNOW the dry weight rather than trust a brochure or closet sticker.

I know it's just semantics, but to me the DRY weight is a fictional number. An RV will NEVER match its dry weight once you drive it out of the dealer. You're going to add fuel, water, propane, batteries, tools, kitchen stuff, clothing, etc. and most of that stuff will stay in the RV forever. What you need to determine is the ACTUAL weight, which you can ONLY get by visiting a scale. Ideally, you want the weight carried by each wheel; if you can''t get that then the weight carried by each axle will work; if you can't get that then as a last resort you can use the total weight on all axles.

It sounds like you're on the right track doing your research. However, when determining whether it's safe to tow, remember to also research stopping distances. While you may be able to pull that heavy vehicle up a hill, slowing it while coming down the hill is another thing..IMO, a braking system is a must..best of luck...Dennis

rk911 wrote:

john, 400-lbs is a bit close for my personal comfort but as long as you’re under the GVWR (actually the GAWR for each axle), your hitch and tow bar are rated for the load and you’re under the GCWR you should be good to go.

One needs to check that it's under both the GVWR and the GAWR for each axle, in general, not one or the other. There are plenty of vehicles where being under the GAWR for each axle doesn't necessarily mean you're under the GVWR, i.e. the GVWR is lower than the sum of the axle weight ratings. That's a nice situation to have as it gives rather more flexibility in loading the vehicle.

I don't know offhand if the Ford motorhome chassis is like that or not. The E series chassis, as I recall, has the two coincide so that maximum loading requires careful weight distribution.

johnxhc wrote:
Rich,
Thanks for the quick response, Yes, this is exactly what I am going to do, I will take the motorhome and weight it this week.

Great idea! I will call Thor first tomorrow morning to make sure the GCWR is 26,000.

Assuming my estimate is right and there are only 400 lbs difference between the Max Tow capacity & flat towed vehicle, did you see any major problems driving this around North America?

Thanks again.
John

john, 400-lbs is a bit close for my personal comfort but as long as you’re under the GVWR (actually the GAWR for each axle), your hitch and tow bar are rated for the load and you’re under the GCWR you should be good to go.

Tow rating is the LESSER of the :

Weight of the RV loaded for travel (water, food, lp, gas, people) minus the GCWR

OR

The hitch rating.

When weighing your rig, 4 corner weights are optimal , but axle weights will suffice for calculating towing.

Weighing is also helpful in setting the optimal psi.