load capacity of travel trailers

Cotay wrote:

TucsonJim wrote:
From your load capacity, you need to subtract the weight of the following: water, propane, waste water, after market accessories, televisions, clothing, groceries, and anything else you might put in the RV. By the time you subtract the water and propane, it doesn't leave much for a lot of extras.

Our hybrid had a UVW of 3184 with a max load of 3800 pounds. With a full 50 gallon tank of water we struggled to keep the weight within that limit. What always troubled me was that it had a single axle rated at 3500 pounds. I never understood how Aerolite could claim a 3800 pound GVW with that single axle.

IIRC: They figure that 12% of the 3800 lbs is on the tongue, leaving just under 3500 lbs on the axle.

TucsonJim wrote:
From your load capacity, you need to subtract the weight of the following: water, propane, waste water, after market accessories, televisions, clothing, groceries, and anything else you might put in the RV. By the time you subtract the water and propane, it doesn't leave much for a lot of extras.

Our hybrid had a UVW of 3184 with a max load of 3800 pounds. With a full 50 gallon tank of water we struggled to keep the weight within that limit. What always troubled me was that it had a single axle rated at 3500 pounds. I never understood how Aerolite could claim a 3800 pound GVW with that single axle.

When looking at TT/5'ers I look at the floorplan 1st of course, but the next thing I always look at is the CCC. The more the better. I like being able to haul anything I want. It's no fun trying to figure out what you can take and what you can't take. IMO 2500lbs is the minimum for CCC.
On our current 5'er we have 4315lbs of CCC. I pack 1500lbs of gear in it. If I want to tow with all 3 tanks full it's no big deal. I often tow with the fresh water tank full. That puts me around 2000lbs. Still have 2315lbs left. That's 578lbs left for each tire. Which has me running on 75% of tire capacity.

Just like tow vehicles in that you can't have too much, same goes with CCC.

Campsask wrote:

pappcam wrote:
It's basically the difference between the "dry weight" and the GVWR which is the maximum weight the trailer should weigh.

You must be talking about a fairly small trailer as that's a fairly low capacity.

Nice to see another flatlander here.

Its a tracer AIR 250. So overall length is 28 and the dry weight is 4900 lbs.

Go look at it and lay under it. Check the axles for what they are rated at. I would not be surprised to see 2800 pound axles. That is 5600 pounds of capacity on the trailer axles themselves.
Seems fairly typical for RV manufacturers to spec axles that "just barely" meet capacities.
You asked about issues related to "overloading". Some problems that could come about are abnormal and excessive tire wear, and a greater possibility of tire failure. Both, of course have safety related consequences.

Our last trailer had a load of 1200 and our current trailer is about 1600 I think. We never carry water, I know some don't understand that but we have water at the site so we do not use the tank or our pump. We empty our tanks before leaving the site so that weight is never an issue. If you overload, your biggest issue could be your axles which could bend, cause tire problems and lead to to much sway. Hope all works out for you.

There was a survey done on here that collected all the measured/scaled weights of RVers. The average RVer added 1200 pounds to MFR dry weights. Weekender couples were lower, families and full timers more. A family of 4 for a week long trip? I suspect more than the average.

Another thing to consider is what type of camping/travelling you plan to do. If you are only doing weekend trips, you won't be hauling as much weight. But, if you are planning longer, multiple week trips, you are more likely to have more gear on board.

That carrying capacity is a bit low. Here's a few figures for my Winnebago 2201DS as a point of comparison.

dry weight - 4,820
carrying capacity - 2,180 lbs.
GVWR - 7,620

OK...I know that the dry weight doesn't include 2 propane tanks, battery, 19' awning, slide topper

After purchasing the trailer, I loaded all our gear that we normally keep in the trailer. So, minus some clothing and food that we would carry, I headed to the CAT scales. The trailer weighed in a 6,120 lbs. So, that leaves me quite a bit of capacity for added weight, if I were to need it.

I think that you should keep in mind, that the bigger the trailer, and with more than two travelers, your will be adding weight! So, I would suggest looking for a trailer that allows around 2,000 lbs. carrying capacity UNLESS you are sure that you can travel very light and/or are not adding any options to the trailer that cut into the carrying capacity.

I think quite a few manufactures keep GVWR figures low my having unrealistically low cargo capacities.

You can cut down on the weight in the trailer if your tow vehicle has room to carry heavier items, such as bicycles, heavier chairs, etc. Just know all the specs for your tow vehicle.

rbpru wrote:
I was really surprised at how fast the weight added up. My truck cargo capacity is 1440 lbs. but two adults and a dog plus the cap and wd hitch used about 800 lbs. add the 500 lbs tongue weight and not much left. :E

Ditto on my trailer the 2700 lbs. of cargo weight fills up fast when you add clothing, food, tool box, toys, fuel, water and etc.

I am not sure how firm the numbers are and there are veterans on this board that have a far better feel; but being relatively new at TT hauling I tend towards staying under the allowable limits.

That's how people come home with HD trucks or really small trailers.

Campsask wrote:
Well we would not be traveling with water tanks full. We would fill up when we get to site. So most of our weight would come from Clothes, food, bottled water, fishing stuff, life jackets, campfire stuff, bikes etc.

You don't have to carry all of that in the trailer.. Well, I guess if you can't carry it in the tow vehicle...

It's amazing to me how many folks don't carry water with them... ;) Yet, they will stop and fill up somewhere along the way... Well, okay, if that works for you... ;) Not sure what the difference is, but there you go.. :) I'm sure it's just me... :)

Good luck with it all.. Yes, the weight adds up fast!

Mitch