Jlschuma wrote:
I am looking at campers and thinking of a 9.5 foot. They weigh about 2500 lbs and I have a 2500 dodge. I was looking on another site and there were people with 11 foot lance campers that weigh 3300 lbs on 2500 pickups.
How much over gvwr is too much?
This question always generates such fun posts!!! I am assuming you are fairly new to this site and have not seen the many other posts so I'll share my opinion.......
Before I get to your specific GVWR question, let me mention axle weights (GAWR & GAWF) and Tire/wheel ratings. It is my personal opinion that you do not exceed these ratings by more than 1 or 2%. Tires are probably the most critical, but axles fall into the same risk level.
Personally, I am comfortable exceeding GVWR by up to 10% because I believe that there is a fairly decent safety factor built into this figure by the manufacturer.
When deciding how comfortable you are exceeding GVWR, you need to consider a few things:
1) make sure you consider all the weight you will be carrying. This includes the passengers and their gear as well as food, water, propane, black water, grey water, etc. etc. It is not unusual to add 1000 lbs or more when you actually hit the road.
2) Consider how well your rig is maintained. Do you regularly service the transmission and differentials? Are your brakes in good condition??
3) Do you have any suspension upgrades that will help with stability. While air bags, extra springs, etc. do not add to your GVWR, they do help stabilize your truck and MAY allow you to safely control the extra weight.
4) Under what conditions will you be driving?? If your travels are over relatively flat roads with few steep climbs/descents on good surfaces and in temperatures less than 90 F, then I would be more comfortable exceeding GVWR by a reasonable margin. However, if your driving is going to be over rough terrain, frequent steep grades and in high temperatures, then you should probably stay closer to or within GVWR.
That is all I will say on the subject now, but I am sure you will get lots of replies.
I strongly recommend that you weigh your truck at a scale so you know exactly what you have, then start looking for a camper. And remember, the camper weights the dealer might give you can be off substantially so it is a good idea when you are right on borderline weights to weigh the camper as well before you buy it.
If you really want to get technical, you can use the calculator at
TC Calculator to get an idea what your final rig weight will be when you a fully loaded for a trip.
Good luck with your purchase.
