A Little Help With Weights

wjlapier wrote:
We purchased a Host Everest recently. We figured we would need a newer duality so we traded in our 2015 GMC short bed 3500 for a 2019 Chevy dually. Here are some numbers I have and am hoping for clarification for my piece of mind haha…

GVWR—13000
Curb Weight full tank—8400 ( Just weighed today after fill up )
GM Truck Camper Rating ( sticker in glovebox )—3900
Host Everest As Equipped—4350 ( Host Sticker )

Am I missing anything?

I assume we gain back some GVWR with no passengers in rear seat.

We won’t travel with water in the camper until we are close to our camping destination.

Question is, what is our true payload weight less mine and my wife’s weight. And her duffle bag lol! For now we are carefully considering our usual camping gear while we load up.

Thanks a lot.

I think it depends on where you will be driving for how much overweight you can be "safely". Eg, braking going down a long steep mountain road at highway speed is different from in town on a flat road. I don't know how they "rate" brakes. One clue is the 2003 2500HD says you can pull a 2000 lb trailer without its own brakes, but over that 2000 the trailer needs its own brakes.

As to the OP questions not answered unless I missed it,

OP has to check for 2019 rules (see driver's manual), but 2003 Chev method was to have the cab weight allowance = 150 lbs per seat, so a five- seater was 750 lbs.

The weight allowance for the box was called "Cargo Weight Rating" as given in the sticker in the glove box. You add the 750 for the cab to the CWR and that is your "payload". Should show that on the door sticker

Picky question is whether it is ok to steal some cab weight allowance if you go over the CWR and call it good if still under GVWR. Most don't care about that. Perhaps GM have separate cab and box allowances because of frame flexing (as came out in the recent Twisted Truck thread).

Your "curb weight" is defined as with full fuel and OEM truck, so fuel does not come out of payload. Anything added to the truck comes from the payload allowance like belly bars. But you likely don't have the heavy tail gate on with a camper. Might be a wash.

So weigh the whole thing with the camper on and get your front and rear weights to see where you are at. The 2003 axle ratings are based on the tire ratings, but if you get tires that can carry more you have to look at the spindle and other ratings too. Those stronger tires weigh more and their wheels could be heavier if you are keeping track.

Once you know exactly where you stand wrt the ratings, you can decide how to play it. Braking going down a mountain is what would worry me the most.