How Much Cargo Weight??

four22 wrote:
How much cargo weight should I figure for a family of 4? Loaded (minus water) but with tools and the like...

Depends on the length of the TT. Longer = more stuff added. Is this just the weight of the cargo and misc. "stuff" that you will be placing in the TT or are you talking about a final scaled weight on top of the factory UVW figure? If you bought a new TT and ordered any options, that will add to the UVW. Propane tanks and battery will add to the UVW. Any modifications or upgrades you do will add to the UVW. Holding tank contents (8.34 lbs/USG) will add to the UVW.

I wanted to determine an accurate weight of everything that would be added to the factory UVW so when I picked up our new 29' TT (in sig. below), I went straight to a scale on the way home. The trailer was 190 lbs more than the UVW which would be due to options such as solid surface countertop, electric awning and electric stab. jacks. and a few more. Wt. of one battery and two propane tanks was not included (approx. 165 lbs).

Then I weighed each and every mod and upgrade I did - shocks, Dexter equalizers, WDH snap-up brackets, water filtration, 2nd TV and some others and the total came to 119 lbs.

Then I went to a scale after the trailer was fully loaded for camping for the two of us for a weekend trip- sewer stuff, chocks, BBQ, kitchen stuff (dishes, cutlery, toaster, food, etc.), clothing, bathroom stuff, couple dozen bottled water, books & DVDs, some tools, etc., etc. The weight of all the cargo added to the TT came to 555 lbs.

So, the total of everything added on top of the factory UVW came to 1029 lbs. The wt. of the cargo was 555 lbs. These weight are very important in our case. Our GVWR is 6800 lbs and when we add 1029 lbs to the 5237 lb UVW, we end up with 534 lbs remaining before we hit the GVWR. If we had more than a couple of the holding tanks full, we'd be over our GVWR - not good. The "advertised" factory CCC is 1563 lbs but is in fact is only 1208 lbs which is rather low.

Going to a scale after you are fully loaded is one of the best things you can do to know where you stand on actual weights vs. factory figures so you will know for sure if you are overloading the frame, axles and/or tires and how much more you can add if needed. Many will claim the weight of cargo you add is in the order of 1500 lbs and higher. If they are indeed only talking about cargo, I just don't understand how they can add 1,000 lbs more cargo weight that we do unless they are including full holding tanks or maybe they have a humongous battery bank, a rolling tool chest or an awful lot of cases of beer.