GCWR

[Rheevs]

How many of you actually know what your GCW (gross combination weight)is? Also how many run over the GCWR (gross combination weight rating). I just weighed my MH and toad and I am just 300# under with full water and fuel.The Subaru only weighs 3000# and I see coaches similar to ours pulling much larger vehicles. Also has anyone been stopped to be weighed by state patrol or gotten a ticket for being overweight.

[mpierce]

Executive wrote:
I do and never do. As a LEO I was assigned commercial truck duty and yes, we weighed and cited motor homes as well as commercial trucks. Weight is weight, as is safety. Overweight vehicles tear up many of the roads, especially local ones that aren't designed for the weight placed on them..they are also a hazard to themselves and all those around them as to handling and stopping......Dennis

I have a question for you, as ex- wt police! I run a small trucking company too, so am well aware of wt. limits.

Did you enforce the per axle wts. allowed by the state? i.e., 20k# single axle, 34k tandem, as allowed in most states?

Or, as the OP's question here, did you look, and enforce the axle and gross wts. as the MFG. listed?

ie, if the mfg allowed 18k on a single rear axle MH, would you cite them for overweight if they weighted 19k? Assuming your state allowed 20k?

I have NEVER had one look at my mfg plate. They ONLY have enforced the STATES limits, NOT the mfg.'s.

[John_S_]

Well there are coaches out there with plenty of CCC. I have over 7000 pounds. Loaded for travel with full tanks I weigh in at 39000 pounds. I can add another 3k at least. My limiting factor is the front axle. I also have a 10k tow rating on top. The newer Foretravels have 18k tow ratings.

[Golden_HVAC]

The police have to suspect that you are doing something illegal before they can legally stop you and ask any questions. That said, if you are in a wreck, it might be standard practice to get the weight of all vehicles involved, and note that on the accident report. Along with towed vehicle braking system information.

I know one California accident that resulted in a ticket. The owner of a F-250 was towing a really heavy fifth wheel, and it crashed. The insurance company wanted to 'step aside' - a legal term to not cover a accident involving a overloaded vehicle, or say drunk driving, or something that is excluded from your insurance policy. However the insurance did have to pay the claim, because they insured both truck and trailer.

The CHP found that the weight of the truck and trailer exceeded the Ford towing ability for that truck.

Have fun camping!

Fred.

[msturtz]

rk911 wrote:

dahkota wrote:
We know ours (26K). Our towed weighs 3856 lbs. We are under our GCWR and under our GVW.

Is your Winne on the 22K chassis or the 24K? You have too much weight in the coach - at least 700 lbs. Note on the 22K chassis, the GCWR is 26K (4K difference with a 5K hitch).

Our A is 2.5' shorter than yours on the 22K chassis - we have 3500 lbs of cargo capacity. With our extra batteries, solar panels, 2/3 water (60G), and full gas, loaded for fulltiming, we are under GVW by about 600 lbs.

that may be true but you may be overweight on one axle. do not assume.

yes that is true. I check my axle weight too. Corner weight is harder to get.

[msturtz]

After a bad experience purchasing a coach we deliberately chose to demand the dealer get a certified scale weight with full tanks and fuel in the contract. The reason for this is I want to know what the unit weighs before I shell out my hard earned money. The weight stickers on motorhomes are frequently fudged. I also contact the state and ask for a copy of the MSO (Manufacturer's Statement of Origin)to verify any liens, title defects, or discrepancies are present. I had a unit that the MSO stated the unit was over 5K over the GVWR at shipment. Now the MSO was incorrect however it is still a problem because the title was also incorrect as a result.

[dahkota]

rk911 wrote:

dahkota wrote:
We know ours (26K). Our towed weighs 3856 lbs. We are under our GCWR and under our GVW.

Is your Winne on the 22K chassis or the 24K? You have too much weight in the coach - at least 700 lbs. Note on the 22K chassis, the GCWR is 26K (4K difference with a 5K hitch).

Our A is 2.5' shorter than yours on the 22K chassis - we have 3500 lbs of cargo capacity. With our extra batteries, solar panels, 2/3 water (60G), and full gas, loaded for fulltiming, we are under GVW by about 600 lbs.

that may be true but you may be overweight on one axle. do not assume.

We aren't and we haven't.

[Rheevs]

Ductape wrote:
It's a common newbie mistake to buy RV's without adequate CCC. As for us, we weigh every rig, and always have. Adequate weight rating was a factor in our purchase decision. We have over 2k reserve GVWR with full tanks, and 2,680# reserve GCWR with a heavy 4x4 toad.

If we had purchased a similar unit with 2,500 less GVWR, we would be maxed out or overloaded.

Not a Newbie I'm just impulse buyer even worse :S

[wa8yxm]

26000 pounds and far as I know (Have crossed a few scales) I'm under it.

[Ductape]

It's a common newbie mistake to buy RV's without adequate CCC. As for us, we weigh every rig, and always have. Adequate weight rating was a factor in our purchase decision. We have over 2k reserve GVWR with full tanks, and 2,680# reserve GCWR with a heavy 4x4 toad.

If we had purchased a similar unit with 2,500 less GVWR, we would be maxed out or overloaded.

[Rheevs]

It is frustrating looking at the different manufactures specs for there coaches. trying to find the dry curb weight or CCW is next to impossible. I do see that if I would have been a more diligent shopper when I bought the Adventurer 35P, I could have upgraded to 24,000# / 30,000#. I may be looking to upgrade to a DP but I will be doing all my homework and no BS sales pitches. we really like our coach but would like to get a Chevy Colorado for a toad.

[msturtz]

Rheevs wrote:
My coach has a GVWR = 22,000# and GCWR = 26,000#
I just weighed at Cat scale fully loaded water, propane and fuel
steer axle = 6,860#
drive axle = 15,529#
GVW = 22,389# (389# over)
toad = 3,340#
GCW = 25,720# (280# Under)
Okay so I am over a little on the coach we don't carry a whole lot of extras. I also don't need to carry 640# of water. My point is I think there are a lot of coaches out there running well over weight.you can't get a much lighter toad than the Subaru Crosstrek. I Would like to get a toad about a 1000# heavier so I started looking at specs on various coaches it seems to me that you would be hard pressed to stay under weight.Even coaches with higher GVWR and GCWR also have a lot higher dry curb weight.

That's why we purchased a Thor Palazzo 33.3 DP. It has similar pricing to high end gas Class A motorhomes but has a very low curb weight. It also has a 10K hitch. Interestingly enough it is built on a Freightliner XCS chassis. That Chassis has a 10.5K front axle rating and a 17.5K rear axle rating and a 33K GCWR. However in the 33.2 an 33.3 models Thor only used an Allison MH 2100 transmission with a MAX GVWR of 26 and GCWR of 30K. So Freightliner de-rated the chassis to 26K / 30K. Here is where it gets interesting, it has a ship weight of about 21K which leaves about 5K in GVWR and 9K in GCWR. With full tanks, fresh, grey, and black water, propane, and fuel the coach weighs about 23.5K still leaving a lot for headroom because most people won't travel with full grey and black tanks. So, if you don't put too much into the unit you still can tow a very large toad such as a Tahoe or Suburban. For a coach in the price of a gasser with the fuel economy of a SUV it can be a good option.

[Trumpet_Player]

Executive wrote:
I do and never do. As a LEO I was assigned commercial truck duty and yes, we weighed and cited motor homes as well as commercial trucks. Weight is weight, as is safety. Overweight vehicles tear up many of the roads, especially local ones that aren't designed for the weight placed on them..they are also a hazard to themselves and all those around them as to handling and stopping......Dennis

AMEN!!! Could not have said it better myself.

Safe travels.

Larry

[Rheevs]

My coach has a GVWR = 22,000# and GCWR = 26,000#
I just weighed at Cat scale fully loaded water, propane and fuel
steer axle = 6,860#
drive axle = 15,529#
GVW = 22,389# (389# over)
toad = 3,340#
GCW = 25,720# (280# Under)
Okay so I am over a little on the coach we don't carry a whole lot of extras. I also don't need to carry 640# of water. My point is I think there are a lot of coaches out there running well over weight.you can't get a much lighter toad than the Subaru Crosstrek. I Would like to get a toad about a 1000# heavier so I started looking at specs on various coaches it seems to me that you would be hard pressed to stay under weight.Even coaches with higher GVWR and GCWR also have a lot higher dry curb weight.

[Executive45]

I do and never do. As a LEO I was assigned commercial truck duty and yes, we weighed and cited motor homes as well as commercial trucks. Weight is weight, as is safety. Overweight vehicles tear up many of the roads, especially local ones that aren't designed for the weight placed on them..they are also a hazard to themselves and all those around them as to handling and stopping......Dennis

[wallynm]

WE now our Combined Gross Vehicle Weight rating, Gross Vehicle weight Rating, Dry weight rating, loaded weight, weight loading at each wheel location, Hitch weight rating, and hitch ball weight weight rating, axle weight rating and loaded FROG weight when attached to the MH.

We never violate any of weight ratings!!!

We inflate tires based on corner weights and axle loading and always run a Tire Pressure Monitoring System.

I agree that many are over loaded and do not even know it or care.

Excessive weight leads to excessive tire heat which leads to tire failure.