Newbie, looking at 28-30' rigs

4kidsand2dogs wrote:
How much does a friggin 32' rig weigh? I'm looking at the numbers and all the manufacturer gives you is the weight restrictions, not the dry weight or GVW. Without weighing (something you would do after purchase) how are you suppose to do the math ahead of time?

Every motorized RV (the past 15 years at least) had a sticker somewhere inside that detailed how much it weighed and how much it could carry. Initially, this was by industry (RVIA) standards, and detailed the components of the load, including an allowance for carrying enough people to fill the beds. Sometime after 2004 the DOT got involved, changed the rules about what goes on the sticker, made no allowance for people, just let the buyer figure out load as people plus cargo.

You have to look at the sticker in the individual motorhome (Winnebago liked to put in a bedroom closet, I've seen in inside other cabinets for other brands). Sometimes an RV manufacturer will brochure an "empty weight" which is truly empty without options, but that is almost useless because nobody buys the stripped down RV.

Options include stuff like spare tires, house batteries, generators, TV sets, entertainment systems, air conditioners (one or more), water filters, winterization kits, dual pane windows, waste tank heating systems, awnings, ladders, trailer hitches. 25 pounds here, 400 pounds there, these things add up and start cutting into your carrying capacity.

Thus most of the more honest manufacturers do not put a bogus empty weight in a brochure, the problem you are likely struggling with, because you want to make your choices from a brochure carrying capacity. That just doesn't work, unless you know exactly what the options are, and how much each adds to the weight.

While it is a good idea to weigh after purchase (actually a better idea to weigh after you load it) the weight sticker somewhere in each individual RV gives you a pretty good idea of your starting point for load planning. Currently, motorized RV have to be weighed before leaving the factory (DOT rules) and the weight sticker has to be consistent with weighing result.

Because you are four kids and two dogs, and are looking at the maximum size C that can be built on a E-series or Express chassis, is why i recommended looking at A gassers in the same length range. The van chassis is marginal at this size, while a 16,000 to 18,000 bare chassis has capacity to spare (until you get longer and start adding more slideouts).

The other option, which includes some C's with over the cab bunk rooms, would be the Super-C category built on Class 5 (or larger) cab-chassis, with capacities in the 16,000 to 19,000 pound range. But you specified a length, most Super-C's are much longer, and if you are not careful with your shopping, you will find that 36-38 foot Super-C motorhomes can be as marginal on load capacity as 30-32 C's on Class 4 van chassis. Manufacturers are building as much house as the truck can carry, because that's what the buyers buy,.