Forum Discussion

myredracer's avatar
myredracer
Explorer II
Jun 25, 2019

Why a discrepancy between sticker payload & actual weight?

Just got a "new" 2012 GMC Sierra 2500 CC. Just ran through a hwy truck scale today. The door jamb sticker says payload capacity of 2922 lbs but when I subtract the actual weight from the GVWR, I get 1674 lbs. Just added a canopy/cap and am guessing it weighs around 200 lbs so that would account for a bit of the difference.

Same thing on our old F250. It had a sticker payload cap. of 2800 lbs (approx., going by memory) and an actual of 1800 (again,approx. by memory).

Is it because the vehicle manufacturers use a stripped out reg. cab model for GVWR? The crew cab and 4x4 driveline stuff will add quite a bit of wt. Maybe that's the answer??

Our TT has a TW of 950 lbs. So the Sierra is okay there, but what if we had 4 adults, the dog and a bunch of cr@p in the bed? We'd be over the GVWR...
Tow Vehicles
  • spud1957's avatar
    spud1957
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2019
    myredracer wrote:
    Just got a "new" 2012 GMC Sierra 2500 CC. Just ran through a hwy truck scale today. The door jamb sticker says payload capacity of 2922 lbs but when I subtract the actual weight from the GVWR, I get 1674 lbs. Just added a canopy/cap and am guessing it weighs around 200 lbs so that would account for a bit of the difference.

    Same thing on our old F250. It had a sticker payload cap. of 2800 lbs (approx., going by memory) and an actual of 1800 (again,approx. by memory).

    Is it because the vehicle manufacturers use a stripped out reg. cab model for GVWR? The crew cab and 4x4 driveline stuff will add quite a bit of wt. Maybe that's the answer??

    Our TT has a TW of 950 lbs. So the Sierra is okay there, but what if we had 4 adults, the dog and a bunch of cr@p in the bed? We'd be over the GVWR...


    Something doesn't add up.

    What did the scale say you weighed?

    The payload sticker is simple. GVWR of said vehicle minus the curb weight of the same vehicle.

    Highway truck scale? Not your best choice. Cat scales would be better.
  • myredracer's avatar
    myredracer
    Explorer II
    Jun 25, 2019
    spud1957 wrote:
    myredracer wrote:
    Just got a "new" 2012 GMC Sierra 2500 CC. Just ran through a hwy truck scale today. The door jamb sticker says payload capacity of 2922 lbs but when I subtract the actual weight from the GVWR, I get 1674 lbs. Just added a canopy/cap and am guessing it weighs around 200 lbs so that would account for a bit of the difference.

    Same thing on our old F250. It had a sticker payload cap. of 2800 lbs (approx., going by memory) and an actual of 1800 (again,approx. by memory).

    Is it because the vehicle manufacturers use a stripped out reg. cab model for GVWR? The crew cab and 4x4 driveline stuff will add quite a bit of wt. Maybe that's the answer??

    Our TT has a TW of 950 lbs. So the Sierra is okay there, but what if we had 4 adults, the dog and a bunch of cr@p in the bed? We'd be over the GVWR...


    Something doesn't add up.

    What did the scale say you weighed?

    The payload sticker is simple. GVWR of said vehicle minus the curb weight of the same vehicle.

    Highway truck scale? Not your best choice. Cat scales would be better.
    I just happened to be going across the border today to pick up a parcel and there's a truck weigh scale right there so I did a quick in and out.

    Yeah, pretty easy to calculate. I've weighed before on this same scale and compared it to a scale at a grain elevator on the same day and got the same result and also at another hwy scale on the WA state side on another day and all 3 were the same.

    The scale total today was 3550 kg, 7826 lbs and the GVWR is 9500 lbs.

    I might need to double check the weight another day at a CAT or other hwy scale. Haven't weighed the TT for a few years and could do with another weigh-in at a CAT scale somewhere anyway.

    I weighed our F250 quite a few times and always got the same discrepancy.
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Jun 25, 2019
    Payload s per the Yellow Data Sticker pertains to that specific vehicle as it left factory

    GVWR minus UVW = cargo carrying capacity (payload)\

    Does NOT account for any dealer added accessories, options, components
  • ktmrfs's avatar
    ktmrfs
    Explorer II
    Jun 26, 2019
    Old-Biscuit wrote:
    Payload s per the Yellow Data Sticker pertains to that specific vehicle as it left factory

    GVWR minus UVW = cargo carrying capacity (payload)\

    Does NOT account for any dealer added accessories, options, components


    I believe it also doesn't account for fuel or driver/passenger weights. It does account for all factory installed accessories and options.
  • ktmrfs's avatar
    ktmrfs
    Explorer II
    Jun 26, 2019
    myredracer wrote:
    spud1957 wrote:
    myredracer wrote:
    Just got a "new" 2012 GMC Sierra 2500 CC. Just ran through a hwy truck scale today. The door jamb sticker says payload capacity of 2922 lbs but when I subtract the actual weight from the GVWR, I get 1674 lbs. Just added a canopy/cap and am guessing it weighs around 200 lbs so that would account for a bit of the difference.

    Same thing on our old F250. It had a sticker payload cap. of 2800 lbs (approx., going by memory) and an actual of 1800 (again,approx. by memory).

    Is it because the vehicle manufacturers use a stripped out reg. cab model for GVWR? The crew cab and 4x4 driveline stuff will add quite a bit of wt. Maybe that's the answer??

    Our TT has a TW of 950 lbs. So the Sierra is okay there, but what if we had 4 adults, the dog and a bunch of cr@p in the bed? We'd be over the GVWR...


    Something doesn't add up.

    What did the scale say you weighed?

    The payload sticker is simple. GVWR of said vehicle minus the curb weight of the same vehicle.

    Highway truck scale? Not your best choice. Cat scales would be better.
    I just happened to be going across the border today to pick up a parcel and there's a truck weigh scale right there so I did a quick in and out.

    Yeah, pretty easy to calculate. I've weighed before on this same scale and compared it to a scale at a grain elevator on the same day and got the same result and also at another hwy scale on the WA state side on another day and all 3 were the same.

    The scale total today was 3550 kg, 7826 lbs and the GVWR is 9500 lbs.

    I might need to double check the weight another day at a CAT or other hwy scale. Haven't weighed the TT for a few years and could do with another weigh-in at a CAT scale somewhere anyway.

    I weighed our F250 quite a few times and always got the same discrepancy.


    Two things:

    If the truck is a diesel CC 4x4 I don't believe an empty weight of 6570, maybe on a gas 2wd, but not a cc diesel 4x4 GM 2500.

    Our 2015 GMC Denali CC SB 4x4 duramax is 7400 empty by weight and by the sticker our 2004 was about 400lbs less add a canopy hitch and your at 7700 or so on 2015, 7300 on a 2004. course the 04 had a 9500GVWR while the 2015 has 10000GVWR so the payload is about the same.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Jun 26, 2019
    Your truck is packing some lead for being a gasser if it weighs 7800lbs empty (my Mega cab diesel came out of the dump empty at 7800lbs and it's much heavier than a Chevy cc gasser by a bunch) and your gvw is even lower than the newer 10klb 2500s.
    You can do one of 2 things.
    1. Worry about it. There are plenty of fools/tools on this forum to help you worry about it fwiw.
    2. Believe the door sticker allows you 2900lbs and call er a day. 3000lb "factory" payload is a good round safe number for a 3/4 ton truck.

    And don't worry about hauling anything that you hauled with your old Ford previously.
  • ls1mike's avatar
    ls1mike
    Explorer II
    Jun 26, 2019
    Man my truck is light. I scaled it with myself and full tank of gas. 4 door long bed 2WD 6.0/4L80E no options was just at 6000lbs. It is a 9200lbs gross weight truck.

    That seems really heavy for gasser. Is it fully loaded?

    I re-read your post...

    I don't know about the Washington State Scales. I worked for a company were we filled liquid trucks on a scale that was calibrated monthly and we had to load the trucks light as the scales always weighed them more here on the I-5 Corridor in Wa.
    I was based out of Puyallup and our trucks routinely went to Canada. It wasn't by much but some tankers we loaded 5000 to 7000 lbs less to be legal. We were 80,000 lbs rigs. I could be wrong but we saw it happen a bunch of times.

    I see no issue going with what the payload says on your truck.
  • myredracer's avatar
    myredracer
    Explorer II
    Jun 26, 2019
    ls1mike wrote:


    That seems really heavy for gasser. Is it fully loaded?

    No, just me, 1/2 a tank of gas and a few pieces of firewood. It's a crew cab, is 4x4 and now has the canopy. That's all I can think that might account for extra weight above a base model.
  • zcookiemonstar's avatar
    zcookiemonstar
    Explorer
    Jun 26, 2019
    Some mfg's do not include everything when they do their numbers. For some you have to ad the weight of things like the spare tire, tow hitch, jack and even the rear bumper. You also have to ad in your weight the weight of your cap fuel and everything you have in the truck. Since your truck is a 2012 it may not even have the original tires if the new ones are bigger or higher load rating there will be more weight there too.

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