How is RV dry weight calculated?

At Heartland Manufacturing each trailer is weighted as it comes off the assembly line. Don't know about other brands but I suspect it is the same.

Some claim the weights are not very accurate so be sure to get the important number
The loaded for travel weight

It would be very interesting for you and your friend to get your trailers weighed to find out for sure how close they are.

It may be that the factory installed different axles and wheels on the two units. While you are weighing them it would be a good idea to look at what the tires are spec to carry to be sure they are not overloaded.

Dry weights are calculated with blue smoke and mirrors. They do not exist in the real world. That RV will never ever see it's "Dry" weight again once it rolls off the end of the assembly line and off of the scale. Anyone who quotes you dry weights, especially dry tongue weights, is not your friend and is probably looking to hurt you. Dry weights are a a joke and the joke will be on you. About as relevant as asking a person what they weighed when they were born. :S

dbbls wrote:
At Heartland Manufacturing each trailer is weighted as it comes off the assembly line. Don't know about other brands but I suspect it is the same.

Heartland does weigh theirs as they come off the line. They also put a sticker that lets you know what is included. For example, mine includes a full fresh water tank but not the grey or black tank

dbbls wrote:
At Heartland Manufacturing each trailer is weighted as it comes off the assembly line. Don't know about other brands but I suspect it is the same.

Heartland does weigh theirs as they come off the line. They also put a sticker that lets you know what is included. For example, mine includes a full fresh water tank but not the grey or black tank

JJensen79 wrote:
The reason I ask this question is because one of my friends got an identical trailer, same model, only a couple of different options. His has the microwave in the outside kitchen and mine has a television.
I was helping him get it all set up and happened to look at the yellow tag in door of his TT and his reads 6832lbs. Mine reads 7623.
If everything else is identical why the 800lb difference?

I learned a long time ago not to trust the weight stickers on motorhomes and to have the unit weighed to get the correct empty weight. when my buddy...who owned a TT at the time...was preparing to buy a new-to-him truck I asked if the truck was rated at towing his TT. he said that it was and pointed to the weight sticker on the TT. I urged him to ignore the sticker and have it weighed. he did and found that the TT was too heavy for the truck.

the moral of the story is not to trust sales critters or weight stickers and to insist on having the unit weighed before buying and as a condition of the sale.

Are we talking about dry weights or shipped weights? They are two different things. Dry weight is quite simply the weight of a base trailer with no options, no propane. Read the manufacturers literature, anything listed as options is not included in the dry weight. When we bought our first HTT we were given a sheet with the option list and the weights of each option.

Shipped weight is the weight of the trailer out the door at the factory. That includes includes any factory installed options. Also, it wouldn't surprise me that components brands/models get changed in manufacturing, things like axles, building materials, etc.

Justin,

Truth.... My rig was "re-stickered" 3 times in its first year
by the factory. "Typos" ...hmmm. My take-home lesson... the
only weights that matter are related to what you get unloaded
and loaded at your local scales. Trust but verify.

As to your original post... the definition of "dry weight" seems
to vary by manufacturer.

Charles