Host Cascade and suitable truck

[maxum1989]

I have another thread going talking about the door pillar sticker on a 2015 GMC 3500 hd dually I went and looked at. Door pillar sticker says cargo and passengers shouldn't go over 4887 pounds. I drove this truck today. Its an awesome truck.

I saw the new Cascade camper from Host at the recent Seattle Rv show and fell in love. I contacted Host about this new Cascade camper and optioned the way I would like, it comes in at about 3750 pounds. I actually didn't pick many extra options. This weight is without propane 100 lbs, batteries 120lbs or water 200ish (not full). So before I put any supplies or myself in the truck I'm down to just over 700 pounds. A truck camper this size with as much storage as it has tends to have a lot of things put into it so I'm thinking that 700 pounds isn't going to cut it.

So before a bunch of you say the truck will handle it no problem, I agree, I think it would. The problem is I'm from B.C. where they can and do at times take the truck weight rating seriously. To be fair, I have never seen any of these enforcement setups anywhere in my travels, but they still concern me a little. With this potential enforcement issue in my mind while I try and match a truck to this Cascade camper, I'm trying my best to stay within the trucks weight rating. I think I would own this setup for a very long time so I would like to get it right.

In the other thread, someone eluded to the fact that Ram and Ford have higher weight ratings on their 3500 dually trucks. Can someone with a truck from either of those manufacturers in the 2014 to current year confirm this? I'm hoping for a payload in the 5400 pound area or higher so I can load the camper any way I like for any given trip without concern.

[wnjj]

Kayteg1 wrote:
When I admire wnjj's effort to make members to understand the issue,
I still think estimating 150 lb of Americans passengers is underestimate.

I don’t know. It’s not that far off considering most often only 2 of the up to 6 seats are adults.

[Kayteg1]

When I admire wnjj's effort to make members to understand the issue,
I still think estimating 150 lb of Americans passengers is underestimate.

[wnjj]

Here's where the camper-specific cargo weight rating comes from:
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1996-02-14/html/96-3178.htm

(bold emphasis added)

DOT NHTSA 49 CFR wrote:
Sec. 575.103 Truck-camper loading.

(a) Scope. This section requires manufacturers of slide-in campers
to affix to each camper a label that contains information relating to
identification and proper loading of the camper and to provide more
detailed loading information in the owner's manual. This section also
requires manufacturers of trucks that would accommodate slide-in
campers to specify the cargo weight ratings and the longitudinal limits
within which the center of gravity for the cargo weight rating should
be located.
(b) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to provide information
that can be used to reduce overloading and improper load placement in
truck-camper combinations and unsafe truck- camper matching in order to
prevent accidents resulting from the adverse effects of these
conditions on vehicle steering and braking.
(c) Application. This section applies to slide-in campers and to
trucks that are capable of accommodating slide-in campers.
(d) Definitions. Camper means a structure designed to be mounted in
the cargo area of a truck, or attached to an incomplete vehicle with
motive power, for the purpose of providing shelter for persons.
Cargo Weight Rating means the value specified by the manufacturer
as the cargo-carrying capacity, in pounds or kilograms, of a vehicle,
exclusive of the weight of occupants in designated seating positions,
computed as 150 pounds or 68 kilograms times the number of designated
seating positions.

[Bedlam]

When you buy a particular class of vehicle, it is capped to a GVWR due to the class in which it is sold. This does not directly reflect the capacity of the components used. You can even get an identical vehicle with downgraded GVWR so that it will fall under a lower class on regulatory paper yet is materially only differentiated by that tag.

For someone that does not want to do the research, going by the door jam is a safe bet. For those willing to check component ratings, you have latitude beyond that label. I knew what my F250 could do with the right upgrades when I had my Arctic Fox, but I also knew it could not do my Host.

[wnjj]

GeoBoy wrote:
Wow! The reasoning that go into how one can justify overloading their vehicle.

OK, I'm thoroughly confused by your comment. I was simply explaining how the manufacturer arrives at the numbers on YOUR sticker. What does that have to do with justifying anything? No reasoning here, just facts.

The fact is, your truck is rated to carry 5,813 lbs. That can be 5,813 of people and cargo or 4,913 lbs of camper and six 150 lb people or even a 5600 lb camper and a 213 lb driver. Your truck only sees the total and that's rated at 5813 lbs.

I thought I was being helpful. Whatever.

[GeoBoy]

wnjj wrote:

GeoBoy wrote:

wnjj wrote:

GeoBoy wrote:
When a manufacturer states the maximum payload it doesn’t take into consideration that the load is going to be 12’ to 13’ tall. On my truck the maximum payload is 5,813 lbs., but the maximum truck camper payload is listed at 4,913 lbs..

That difference is usually due to the camper rating assuming 150lbs in each seating position where payload does not. Does your truck have 6 seats?

Payload is payload! It doesn’t care if there are people or not, it is the total sum of whatever is in or on the truck.

Yes, but the "camper payload" is listed with the assumption of all seats occupied. It's effectively the "leftover" payload. The "max payload" is everything that goes into the truck, including people. There's a reason they are 900 lbs apart, and it has nothing to do with accounting for tall loads.

I'm pretty sure kaydeejay worked in the industry: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28410883/gotomsg/28411123.cfm#28411123

Wow! The reasoning that go into how one can justify overloading their vehicle.

[wnjj]

GeoBoy wrote:

wnjj wrote:

GeoBoy wrote:
When a manufacturer states the maximum payload it doesn’t take into consideration that the load is going to be 12’ to 13’ tall. On my truck the maximum payload is 5,813 lbs., but the maximum truck camper payload is listed at 4,913 lbs..

That difference is usually due to the camper rating assuming 150lbs in each seating position where payload does not. Does your truck have 6 seats?

Payload is payload! It doesn’t care if there are people or not, it is the total sum of whatever is in or on the truck.

Yes, but the "camper payload" is listed with the assumption of all seats occupied. It's effectively the "leftover" payload. The "max payload" is everything that goes into the truck, including people. There's a reason they are 900 lbs apart, and it has nothing to do with accounting for tall loads.

I'm pretty sure kaydeejay worked in the industry: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28410883/gotomsg/28411123.cfm#28411123

[billyray50]

Grit dog wrote:
Somebody please nominate this thread for cluster f ck of the month!

LOL!! Yeah lets close this one out!!

[jimh406]

Grit dog, I think you just did. 😉

[Grit_dog]

Somebody please nominate this thread for cluster f ck of the month!

[Kayteg1]

My dogs refuse to pay 😉
But regardless wnjj made a good point how the camper rating is calculated and it is getting washed out by "normal" forum whining.

[jimh406]

Kayteg1 wrote:
Jim, do you charge your family or other passengers for riding with you?

Yes, I'm a Uber truck. No ... not really. How about you?

Here's another definition though since you seemed to miss the ;. https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/topics/2016/16_TruckPayload_SB_v5.pdf There are more definitions than these in this pdf, btw.

Payload
– Maximum payload is defined as the weight of all
passengers, optional and aftermarket equipment,
and cargo
– Net payload is defined as the weight that can be
placed in the truck after subtracting for driver,
passengers, and optional and aftermarket equipment

Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW): The weight of the
vehicle including driver, passengers, optional and
aftermarket equipment, and all cargo

[Kayteg1]

Jim, do you charge your family or other passengers for riding with you?

[jimh406]

Kayteg1, if you are going to quote google definitions, you probably should include all of it. 🙂 In this case, you left out the text in bold.

pay·load

1.the part of a vehicle's load, especially an aircraft's, from which revenue is derived; passengers and cargo.
equipment, personnel, or satellites carried by a spacecraft.
COMPUTING
the actual information or message in transmitted data, as opposed to automatically generated metadata.
2.an explosive warhead carried by a missile.
COMPUTING
the effects of a virus on a computer system.