Average cargo load for retired couple fulltiming?

[janegowest]

We are shopping for fifth wheels and are learning to gauge soooo many factors!!!

How much do people carry on average, so that we can determine if a 5er is capable of hauling our stuff?

Thanks for your help in advance!

[janegowest]

Yes, I have been having a great desire to cull everything out of my life that is not absolutely necessary!

The totes sound like a great idea!

[N7SJN]

Jane, I bought several "totes" (plastic boxes) and I loaded everything in the boxes, weighed them and went from there. It's difficult to estimate what your "supplies" will weigh.

[AF_ENG_RETD]

janegowest you have many things to consider.
1. What type of Rving fully serviced CGs or dry camping. CGs mean traveling with mostly empty water , gray and black tanks and fewer support items for dry camping.
2. The locations that you plan on staying, hot, cold or varying seasons. For example if you winter in Texas or Florida and summer in the north then the clothing range will be reduced.
3.If you are going to travel past an area going north and south or east and west each year then you could get a small storage unit and pick one set of clothing and leave another set. hobby items at the same time.
4. You may come to realise that (as we found out) you are carrying a lot of stuff that you don't use. If you have not used it for a long time why are you carrying it. With the military we moved every couple of years. At moving time if the box had not been opened then it was left behind.

Hope that you enjoy your 2 or more years of full timing.

[janegowest]

dahkota wrote:
The CCC in our class A is 3475 lbs.
We have @400 lbs. in fresh water, 300 lbs. in solar/wiring/extra batteries, 325 lbs. in people, and 50 lbs. in add-ons (tow hitch). This leaves us 2400 lbs. of CCC. At last weigh we were 200 lbs. under GVWR, or carrying about 2200 lbs of cargo. We full time.

Thank you, that is very helpful!

[janegowest]

PghBob wrote:
Jane: It would apply to just sitting to some degree. The reason is the OCCC is determined by the amount of weight the suspension of the RV can safely handle. So, your tires, axles, springs, etc. are all designed for a certain weight limit. This would apply if just sitting. But, I believe, you are much less likely to blow a tire or have an axle snap while sitting vs. going down the highway.

So, if are maxed out, and we have visitors weighing a total of 400+ lbs, that could stress the rig's frame?

[dahkota]

The CCC in our class A is 3475 lbs.
We have @400 lbs. in fresh water, 300 lbs. in solar/wiring/extra batteries, 325 lbs. in people, and 50 lbs. in add-ons (tow hitch). This leaves us 2400 lbs. of CCC. At last weigh we were 200 lbs. under GVWR, or carrying about 2200 lbs of cargo. We full time.

[PghBob]

Jane: It would apply to just sitting to some degree. The reason is the OCCC is determined by the amount of weight the suspension of the RV can safely handle. So, your tires, axles, springs, etc. are all designed for a certain weight limit. This would apply if just sitting. But, I believe, you are much less likely to blow a tire or have an axle snap while sitting vs. going down the highway.

[janegowest]

Thank you! So now I am looking at a 5er with 2,726 lbs CCC as per the "yellow sticker." I think that just MIGHT work for 2 of us? I will need to add a small fridge, sewing machine, and I make soap and beauty products, so will be carrying a good bit of oils with us.

Tell me....does this CCC apply to being towed only, or does it also apply to sitting on a property to be lived in for a year?

[quoyfab]

A few things I haven't seen mentioned

1) Mfrs. weight disclosure may or may not be accurate.
The dry weight is commonly higher due to dealer spec add-ons.
Common add-ons vary by region/dealer. i.e 13.5 vs 15K BTU AC.


2) If you dry camp a lot, allow for on board water.

Those are a few things that can chew up your Cargo Carrying Capacity very fast.

[2gypsies1]

Keep in mind that if you buy a shorter RV the carrying capacity will not be great. It's very doable to full-time in a short RV but you have to make adjustments in what you carry and how 'close' you want to be to each other. 🙂 Also think of a week of rain!

[4X4Dodger]

I don;t know what you all are hauling around with you but I struggled to get more than 600 pounds into my TT which can take much much more than that. And this is for Two people and two dogs.

And are we just unusually frugal? No we took everything we wanted and have NOT collected anything along the way in fact we have gotten rid of some things.

I really believe that people honestly over estimate the weight of what they are taking. I weighed every thing that went into the trailer. Kept a record and tallied it up at the end.

Keep in mind that I took real China and glassware and an entire set of Stainless steel cookware as well as a Cast Iron Dutch Oven. I took the vast majority of my bakeware and kitchen utensils. I took summer and winter clothes including about 4 coats and two hats. (that was just for me)

IE we didnt skimp.

And we still have storage space that is under-utilized.

[K_Charles]

janegowest wrote:

K Charles wrote:
We only go a few months at a time and could never live with only 1500 lbs of stuff.

So, how many pounds would you allow for in a 5er, in terms of CCC?

We had a TT with only about 1600 CCC and didn't care for it. We were over a little every time we checked. I think 1500 lb for each of us is a better number

[janegowest]

Thx, PghBob. I see what is happening with the CCCs.

We have been to a show...and saw many models that were very tempting, but not applicable to us, since we are buying used and most of what we saw were rigs longer than 35'.

[PghBob]

Jane: This is a bit of apples to oranges comparison. We own a 27 foot Class C, and a number of our friends with the same rig full-time or near full-time with their units. The OCCC of our rig is 2900 pounds. In the Class C world, most use the Ford chassis, and the GVWR of the E450 is 15500 pounds. The weight of the "box" the various manufacturers place on the chassis determines the amount of weight of people and stuff you can carry. So, generally speaking, the longer the Class C the heavier it weighs and the less OCCC you have. Things like slide outs further reduce the amount of OCCC you have, and options like automatic leveling systems reduce the amount of OCCC as well. Remember, it is not the space you have, but the weight of your family and stuff that matters. Generally applying this info to your situation might mean a smaller fiver with fewer slides and or options.

As you found to your surprise, size, floor plans, and "goodies" can reduce OCCC to a serious point. An example, we checked out a Class A gasser at a RV show, and it would have been overweight with the four adult members of our family on board without anything! True story, not fantasy.

If you haven't done it yet, give some consideration going to a large RV show (without your checkbook) where you can compare the different units in person, first hand. Don't get hooked on a dealer. Look for weight stickers for each unit, and DO NOT depend on dealer reps to know or accurately provide the weight info.

Best wishes on your search.