what to do with an over weight motorhome

super_camper wrote:

Dakzuki wrote:
What really is a shame is Jayco would build an RV with those limitations.

Wouldn't every RV with a similar chassis and size have the same issue regardless of manufacturer? Most out there have something competitive

There are enough differences in construction details and choices of fittings that it is easy for two apparently similar Cs to be as much as 2000 pounds different in weight. Slideout construction can be one of the bigger contributing factors, but usually it is just a lot of little things that add up.

It helps if the manufacturer has an engineering department to figure out how to do what the sales group wants, with enough authority within the organization to come back and say "no, we can't do that, you must accept some compromises on content." It doesn't work that way at every company.

As "what to do" I suggest adding air springs to help pick up some of the overload on the rear springs, and driving more slowly and more defensively.

The weakest point for the rear end of most C's is tire load capacity, which is predicated on heat generated carrying a particular load at a particular speed and road temperature. Driving slower gives you more margin on load. Driving faster can make a tire "overloaded" even if it is not overloaded according to the numbers on the sidewall.

An alternative would be a wheel and tire upsize, to 17.5 wheels with LR F or G tires. However, those higher load ratings, in that wheel size, usually come with much lower speed ratings than those of the 16" tires used OEM by Ford.