Normally this forum is really helpful, and in this thread there have been a few helpful posts. Thank you to everyone who gave helpful feedback and advice.
What isn't helpful are posts questioning why I would have our tanks fully loaded, suggesting that I don't know how much our personal items weigh, or assuming we're rookies.
I'm not sure why people automatically make these assumptions when they add nothing to the conversation.
Just because we don't have toys doesn't mean that we never need that much fuel and water. We boondock. A lot. And since we have a 1 year old we need extra water to give him baths and do a load or two of laundry.
And no, I don't normally drive down the highway with that much weight. We fill up close to our destination. Why on earth would I travel long distances with an extra 1500~ pounds I don't need to carry...that would be idiotic. The only time I've done that with this rig is to test the performance of our new truck. I fully loaded it and towed it over two mountain ranges to get a feel for how the truck did. I also weighed it on that trip. When we found we were overweight we dumped a lot of water.
Second, I know roughly how much our stuff weighs. Why? Because this is our third 5th wheel. I know how much cargo we had in our last 2, and we downsized a LOT when we moved into this RV. It has a lot less storage, so we dumped hundreds of pounds of tools, clothes, etc, that we didn't need.
Third, we've full-timed for over 4 years and throughout our lives we have owned 3 5th wheels and been to over 30 states, including going north of the Arctic Circle while towing. We know what we're doing.
Lantley wrote:
This scenario is why it is recommended to use the GVW of the RV vs. the dry weight.
For the most part the sticker weight is not available when researching and the dry weights taken from the brochures are notoriously inaccurate.
An experienced RV'er understands what the dry weight represents however a rookie finds out too late, after they are already in the jackpot
As said above, we aren't rookies.
The sticker is slightly LESS than 13,400 pounds. I checked that before signing the paperwork.
Also, dry weights (at least for modern RVs) include fully loaded propane tanks.
FWIW, the sticker says it can carry 3,039 pounds of cargo.
rhagfo wrote:
JaxDad wrote:
Maybe I missed it somewhere in a previous post, but if you don’t have ‘toys’ why would you add 60 gallons of fuel? That’s nearly 500 pounds. Sure there’s a genset, but at ~1/2 gal. / hour that’s 120 hours of run time.
Beyond that I can’t imagine how long you’d be boondocking that you’d need 157 gallons, 1,200 pounds, of water.
Just because a tank holds X number of gallons doesn’t mean it needs to be filled.
X2
Horsedoc wrote:
I hope I misunderstood what the OP said about water. If not, why would you want to haul 157 gallons of water? Maybe if you were headed a short distance to dry camp, but who hauls that much water traveling? good grief!
Because we need that much when we're going off grid for extended periods.
Walaby wrote:
So, I guess Im wondering what you expect to accomplish calling the manufacturer. You have the weights, they are what they are, and your loaded weight is not going to change with anything the manufacturer tells you.
My Grand Design 367 BHS was about 350 lbs heavier than the listed dry weight.
I suspect it's a combination of not accurate dry weight from manufacturer, and your stuff weighing more than you think.
Just not sure what you will accomplish arguing with manufacturer about dry weight.
Mike
I'm not planning on arguing with them. Grand Design has been extremely helpful every time I've called.
What I want to know is if the dry weight on the sticker (not on the web site) was before or after they added dealer options. If the built it with the options that the dealer ordered and weighed it when it came off the line then the sticker will include the options. If they didn't then I can add up the weight of the options and know what the actual dry weight is.
After that, some simple multiplication and addition will tell me how much our cargo is.
It's a heck of a lot easier to do that then to take everything out of the RV.
If they can't give me an answer then I'll check with the dealer. We know the owner. He'll probably know the exact weight since he had to pay to get it shipped.
On our RV the only options were the happy jack bed and couches (they both weigh next to nothing, and we took the couches and table and chairs out anyway) and the generator.
A 350+/- pound discrepancy is totally understandable. A 900 pound discrepancy (which is what we'd have to have to be this overweight) is not.
As someone said in an earlier post, if there is that much of a discrepancy then we might be able to talk Grand Design into upgrading the axles, assuming the chassis can also handle the extra weight.
Grand Design does do stuff like that occasionally. People talk about it in the various Momentum owners groups. Occasionally Grand Design has problems with axles, brakes, suspension, etc, and will either do upgrades or reimburse for the cost of them.
Even if they won't upgrade the axles I might do it myself. Again, assuming that the axles are the weak point and that the chassis and other components can handle the extra weight.
