Why a discrepancy between sticker payload & actual weight?

[myredracer]

Just got a "new" 2012 GMC Sierra 2500 CC. Just ran through a hwy truck scale today. The door jamb sticker says payload capacity of 2922 lbs but when I subtract the actual weight from the GVWR, I get 1674 lbs. Just added a canopy/cap and am guessing it weighs around 200 lbs so that would account for a bit of the difference.

Same thing on our old F250. It had a sticker payload cap. of 2800 lbs (approx., going by memory) and an actual of 1800 (again,approx. by memory).

Is it because the vehicle manufacturers use a stripped out reg. cab model for GVWR? The crew cab and 4x4 driveline stuff will add quite a bit of wt. Maybe that's the answer??

Our TT has a TW of 950 lbs. So the Sierra is okay there, but what if we had 4 adults, the dog and a bunch of cr@p in the bed? We'd be over the GVWR...

[ls1mike]

mapguy wrote:
Washington State highway scales are calibrated, certified, and documented on a regular basis due to the nature of their use in interstate commerce and commercial vehicle enforcement. What good is an overweight ticket if the apparatus used to determine the weight was undocumented...…

No I totally agree, it was just the place I worked had it done monthly by the company who installed the scale. Truck weights on our scale very rarely matched what the state scales said. Never made any sense to me. Trucks hauled industrial gasses. I was a plant operator, so I had to load the trailers.

I remember weighing my Bonneville and Trans Am on the scales at work and they were pretty accurate. The Bonney being 3800lbs with a few tank of gas and the WS6 bein 3680 with a full tank and me in it.

Never had them on a State Scale.

[ls1mike]

How heavy is a Canopy? Just wondering. The fiberglass ones look pretty beefy.
I had one but sold it as it was pain for me to get the bikes in an out of the truck.

[Grit_dog]

Myredracer, unless you can’t sleep at night over this, I wouldn’t spend 2minutes worrying about how much weight the bedliner, mud in the wheel wells and 5 year old Cheetos under the back seat weigh.

These are pointless and futile discussions that are spawned by people who mostly are “experts” compliments of the Internet and not experience or training.

[mich800]

Considering the OP purchased it used and it is 7ish years old, there could be many non stock or added after the factory differences. Tires, wheels, mud, undercoating, hitch, etc. Does it add up to that weight I don't know but much time has elapsed from when it rolled of the line in pristine condition.

[BFL13]

Spud1957, yes the OP has a gasser. There is a mystery how he and his canopy and some firewood weigh 1248 lbs, so you and the other guys are right that the numbers don't quite make sense. He must have more aftermarket things he has not accounted for/mentioned. I know my 8ft basic canopy weighs more than 200lbs. Takes four guys to get it up on the rails.

[spud1957]

BFL13 wrote:

myredracer wrote:
Just got a "new" 2012 GMC Sierra 2500 CC. Just ran through a hwy truck scale today. The door jamb sticker says payload capacity of 2922 lbs but when I subtract the actual weight from the GVWR, I get 1674 lbs. Just added a canopy/cap and am guessing it weighs around 200 lbs so that would account for a bit of the difference.

Same thing on our old F250. It had a sticker payload cap. of 2800 lbs (approx., going by memory) and an actual of 1800 (again,approx. by memory).

Is it because the vehicle manufacturers use a stripped out reg. cab model for GVWR? The crew cab and 4x4 driveline stuff will add quite a bit of wt. Maybe that's the answer??

Our TT has a TW of 950 lbs. So the Sierra is okay there, but what if we had 4 adults, the dog and a bunch of cr@p in the bed? We'd be over the GVWR...

Your weights look about right for that truck.

The 9500 GVWR is the same for all versions of that truck. BUT different versions weigh more than others. So what they can carry varies.

A Diesel with the heavier transmission weighs about 1,100 lbs more than the gas engine with the lighter transmission, and 4x4 adds about 400 lbs to the truck's weight. CC, long box, all adds weight. That all comes off the 9500.

That is why a Diesel 4x4 2500HD has hardly any cargo capacity compared with a gasser 2 WD, and why you get all this trouble with them trying to tow a 5er, where the pin weight can put them way over their ratings.

"Payload" is not a good word to use with GM trucks. They have "cargo capacity" (for in the box) and passenger weight to add up. In the 2003s they allowed 150 lbs per person in the cab, so a five seater would be 750 lbs for that. A full tank of gas was assumed, so you don't count that. Check in the glove box for your cargo weight rating and add 150 lbs per seat for what you are "allowed" to hit the GVWR.

You can use some of the passenger allowance as "cargo" in the box, but IMO there is something not quite right about that, since they make a fuss about centre of gravity location for a slide-in camper as the cargo in the box, and all that. The truck doesn't seem to care 🙂 .

For comparison with a 2003 2500HD ext cab long box 2WD gasser, at 9200 GVWR, it weighs about 6,000 lbs empty, has 5 seats (750 lbs) and cargo 2,750 (for in the box) so "payload" is about 3,500.

Same truck with Diesel and 4x4 would be 1,100 + 400 less capacity, so "payload" would be 2,000 and take 750 off that for what can go in the box-- 1,250 lbs! Not much there for pin weight and a hitch .

So the OP's truck seems about right.

You have to pick the right truck for the job between what it can pull and what it can carry. Diesels can pull more but can't carry as much.

There are also ratings for the front, in case of snow plowing, and for the rear. Adding them puts you over the GVWR. Once over the GVWR you have to decide what to do. "Weight police" will say do something, and the other guys will say ratings are BS, so just carry on. GM does not tell you what the "margin" is that you can go over before something breaks. So you are on your own for that.

The OP’s truck is a gas!!!

[blt2ski]

Grit,
I'll agree with what you said. My 88 K3500 w/8600 gvwr was about 5600 iirc. BB,auto, Scottsdale mid level trim. 96 K3500 CC 9200 gvwr, 6.5td, 5 sp manual about everything but leather buckets, needed front bench so all four kiddo's and spouse could ride in cab. Iirc about 6800 lbs sitting their from factory.
Reality, ALL of my trucks have ladder/lumber racks, sometimes a cross
Bed tool box, another 250-500 lbs added to base truck weight with out me.
Some folks don't realize, power windows add 30-35 lbs per door! BB gas 300-400 lbs, diesel 600-1000 lbs, cruise, a pound! 🙂
So it does not do anyone any good to compare brochure weights. But I have found ALL the trucks I've mentioned, to be with in 20 or 40 lbs of factory listed for those trucks as built with options. This is ONLY using DOT or quarry scales. I do find the Kenmore I think Cadman these days scale to be a constant 200 or so lbs on light side.
Marty

[MetalGator]

BillyBob Jim wrote:
What's funny is no matter what scale I use to weigh my empty beer cans prior to driving them down there, they always weigh 10%-15% less on the scrap yards scale........Strange.

That happens to you too?!?! 🙂

[BFL13]

The sales people don't help. They like to say "towing capacity", but fail to say that is the rating for the receiver 12 or 13K, but that does not mean you can pull that much. They "forget" to mention your Combined weight rating and anything about also carrying weight in the box while pulling. (so they make amazing claims for how big a 5er it can do)

Numbers are much better with the newer trucks, but ours is 16,000 lbs combined for pulling. The receiver can do 12K. So the salesidiot says it can tow 12,000 lbs, but that would mean the truck only weighs 4,000 lbs. What a farce. 😞

[BillyBob_Jim]

mapguy wrote:
Washington State highway scales are calibrated, certified, and documented on a regular basis due to the nature of their use in interstate commerce and commercial vehicle enforcement. What good is an overweight ticket if the apparatus used to determine the weight was undocumented...…

They're calibrated around here also, including the ones at the local scrap yard. What's funny is no matter what scale I use to weigh my empty beer cans prior to driving them down there, they always weigh 10%-15% less on the scrap yards scale........Strange.

[myredracer]

According to the RPO codes I looked up, the Sierra has a heavy duty towing option and also an offroad option. Not sure exactly what is all included in the towing option other than the 2.5" class V receiver. There is a skid plate type protection that runs from front to back underneath. May take that off and gain 100 lbs or so. Also is supposed to have a 10 gal. natural gas tank but can't see it unless it's behind the metal cover over the gas tank. Tires are OEM size on steel rims.

BFL13 wrote:

Your weights look about right for that truck.

The 9500 GVWR is the same for all versions of that truck. BUT different versions weigh more than others. So what they can carry varies.

Thanks for all your info.! That's basically what I was wondering and makes sense.

Good point on the running boards. It doesn't have any on it at the moment but a pair came with the truck and I have to clean them up and mount them. They're pretty light though.

Just think of all the truck owners who are towing TTs that are at the edge of payload capacity based on the door jamb sticker and may have actual payload capacity a lot less than what they believe they have. I've posted in the past that it's a good idea to run a truck through a scale to see if or how much lower the actual payload cap. might be and some just laugh and don't believe it.

Regardless, on the Sierra we're still fine and normally it's only the two of us, the dog and some basic camping stuff in the back that isn't very heavy like recliners, firewood and pop-up canopy.

[BFL13]

OP says 9500 and 2922 so truck weighs 6578 with full tank without any passengers or cargo. My 6000 plus cc vs ext cab and the 4 x4, plus his heavier frame to get that 9500 vs 9200, would be about 6578, so that works.

Scale is 7826 so minus 6578 = 1248 being carried. OP says just him and the canopy. Don't know about 2012s but my 2003, you can go with wider (heavier) tires but need wider (and so heavier) wheels. Perhaps OP has that done. Belly bars? Running board bars? The canopy probably weighs more than the OP thinks too. Hitch in the receiver?

[Grit_dog]

Marty, your GM is about as different as it could be from my reds truck.
The argument is still a valid one that 3/4 tons don’t really have much payload or cargo capacity left after adding 2 more doors, a Diesel engine, bigger trans and a topper.
Hence the age old argument about the gvw rating and it’s validity compare to the trucks design.
That said, this exact same “debate” is currently ongoing in several threads and 1000s across the interwebs. Fact is, there’s no right answer for everyone at the same time and people’s knowledge, perception or perception of their knowledge or others will always differ.

[blt2ski]

Hmmmmm
My gm weighs 4800, with 3800 lbs to door sticker. All my printed info from gm equals that. I'm a the base 3 option rwd reg cab.
I know two others that have or had 05 diesel crew can duallies. One was 7200 empty, mine 7300, 3rd 7600+ lbs. Lightest a reasonably stripped 2 wd, mine semi nice 4wd, heaviest a leather pkg 4wd.

Options due remove from max given payload, cargo capacity etc.

Marty