Towing capacity

EsoxLucius wrote:
Tell the prosecutor that GVWR is meaningless when he can prove your vehicle exceeded GVWR after a tire blows on your rig and you take someone else out on the highway.

obviously you missed the point of my comment. I pointed out that you should not exceed the GVWR. but to blindly use that weight as your actual weight is stupid IMHO. I also pointed out that a sprinter has so little load capacity, that you might be close to the GVWR in actual service.
bumpy

Tell the prosecutor that GVWR is meaningless when he can prove your vehicle exceeded GVWR after a tire blows on your rig and you take someone else out on the highway.

in my opinion, GVWR is meaningless. what is important is the actual weight of the vehicle, fully loaded, which I "assume" is less than the GVWR. however, a Sprinter might be very close to that GVWR when loaded down.
bumpy

Good points.

Note: my axle ratio example would already be factored in to the GCWR.

I'd suggest getting the numbers for the particular van you are interested in if you have a specific towing requirement in mind. The info on the manufacturers websites is for a generic model and won't included optional equipment for example. Optional equipment, fuel, water, propane, cargo, passengers, clothing, gear, food etc. all would be added to the UVW and the subtracted from the GCWR.

If anyone here has weighed a packed and loaded-for-travel newer Sprinter based Class B please post what it weighed.

There are also details that are not factored in. Does the Sprinter have a transmission cooler is one critical one. There is also the presence of a factory hitch and towing brake controller which can make life easy.

Really handy calculator here: http://changingears.com/rv-sec-calc-trailer-weight-tt.shtml

Many factors affect towing capacity. Fill in all or as many blanks in the calculator as you can.

Items that you don't immediately think of like the rear axle ratio affect towing capacity.

For example, my GM van has a 3.73 axle ratio. That limits my GCWR to 13,000 lbs and max tongue weight to 750 lbs. If I had the 4.10 axle ratio then the GCWR would be 14,500 and max tongue weight would be 900 lbs.

Maybe some Sprinter owners have weighed their RV's when loaded and will post their numbers so you can make a guess what yours would weigh and plug it into the calculator.

If your MB Sprinter 3500 motorhome weighed 10,250 lbs. (GVWR) fully loaded you could tow the maximum of 5,000 lbs., but would be at the Gross Combined Weight Rating of 15,250 lbs. But, as your GVWR increased you would be able to tow correspondingly less. 11,030 + 4,220 = 15,250

Dry weight is meaningless. You need to look at GCWR minus GVWR. That will be far more realistic. You will never see the vehicle dry, except in some designers wet dreams.
Once you add a battery, propane, food clothes, pots pans dishes etc you will add a lot of weight to the vehicle.