can't get the gvwr math to work
I want to buy a Bigfoot 25C9.4SB and a short bed srw crew cab diesel to match. Everything I read says "gvwr gvwr gvwr - never violate your trucks gvwr!". ok. So, Bigfoot says their camper is 3K ...
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Easiest way to do it is to take the truck to a certified CAT scale, and weight the front and rear axle on the truck.
Then load up the camper (empty or full, your choice) and go to the same scale. This will tell you where most of the weight is.
It will be on the rear axle. You might even pass the GVWR. Don't worry about that.
As long as you aren't exceeding the max tire limits, you will be fine. Most E rated tires are at 3640 each at 80 psi. That's 7280 lbs on the rear axle.
My gas 2016 F250 CCSB gas truck carries my Lance 820, which fully loaded comes in at 3500 lbs just fine. There's 6500 on the rear tires, and 5000 lbs on the front, which comes in at 11500 lbs, 1500 lbs over GVWR.
With E rated tires, the truck handles everything just fine. I would not worry too much about the weight, as long as you are within tire limits. The Ford rear axle is good to 9600 lbs, which is WAY more than just about any tire.
I looked at the shortbed Bigfoot truck campers also. Those are nice campers. I would not hesitate to put one on a shortbed truck like a F2/350.
You are doing the right thing to worry about weight ratings. I did the same thing before taking the plunge, but I realized you literally cannot fit into all of the GVWR/GAWR/blah blah blah weight ratings.
Those ratings are total bantha poodoo. Worry about the tire ratings, and you'll be fine. Note: some people around here won't agree with my approach, and I'm just telling you what worked for me.
You won't be able to get the GVWR/GAWR math to work, because it is not supposed to work. It's not for real world applications. It's for legal butt covering.
Then load up the camper (empty or full, your choice) and go to the same scale. This will tell you where most of the weight is.
It will be on the rear axle. You might even pass the GVWR. Don't worry about that.
As long as you aren't exceeding the max tire limits, you will be fine. Most E rated tires are at 3640 each at 80 psi. That's 7280 lbs on the rear axle.
My gas 2016 F250 CCSB gas truck carries my Lance 820, which fully loaded comes in at 3500 lbs just fine. There's 6500 on the rear tires, and 5000 lbs on the front, which comes in at 11500 lbs, 1500 lbs over GVWR.
With E rated tires, the truck handles everything just fine. I would not worry too much about the weight, as long as you are within tire limits. The Ford rear axle is good to 9600 lbs, which is WAY more than just about any tire.
I looked at the shortbed Bigfoot truck campers also. Those are nice campers. I would not hesitate to put one on a shortbed truck like a F2/350.
You are doing the right thing to worry about weight ratings. I did the same thing before taking the plunge, but I realized you literally cannot fit into all of the GVWR/GAWR/blah blah blah weight ratings.
Those ratings are total bantha poodoo. Worry about the tire ratings, and you'll be fine. Note: some people around here won't agree with my approach, and I'm just telling you what worked for me.
You won't be able to get the GVWR/GAWR math to work, because it is not supposed to work. It's not for real world applications. It's for legal butt covering.
