Ready to start (almost) full timing - cargo/towing weight questions

My husband and I leave on September 10 to head out west for about 9-10 months. It is our first really big trip and we are so excited!

We have a 2017 37' Winnebago Sunova, and tow a Chrysler 200. There is a 4,000 lb difference between the GVWR (22,000) and the GCWR (26,000) on the RV.

I know from reading the forum that we should be concerned about weights, but I honestly have no idea what we should be weighing. Do we weigh any water in our tanks, gas in the gas tank, etc? Does the weight of the car that we are towing (approx. 3,500 lbs) have to be accounted for somewhere?

It has an 80 gallon gas tank, and 83 gallon freshwater capacity. There are 2 grey water tanks for a total of 91 gallons, and 2 black tanks for a total of 74 gallons.

Thanks in advance for the wealth of information you guys have
Kristin

Welcome to the forum!

All weight are to be added. Your MH and car combined weigh should not exceed your GCWR. You need to find a certified scale and weight both together. You need to decide how much water do you need from one stay to the next and put that amount.  This would be one of my suggestions to control the weight.  I also ask myself if what I am taking with me is really necessary to take with me or can get it while on the road.  I observed that most people carry stuff that goes unused, unnecessary weigh in my opinion. This affect handling and mileage.

Congrats on the new coach. 

The GCWR is the total of what the coach is designed to haul and tow....so, yes, the weight of the car you tow should be included in your considerations.  Most gas class A motorhomes have a max towing capacity of around 5,000 lbs but it seems yours is rated for a max of 4,000.

Water, fuel and everything you add to the coach, including you and your fellow travelers, obviously contribute to the actual weight.  The most practical thing to do is to load the coach for the way you intend to travel (clothes, food, tools, lawn chairs, etc.) and however much fresh water you want to routinely haul, full fuel tank, full LP tank.  Hook up the car and head to the nearest truck scales.  That will give you individual axle weights on the coach and the weight of your car.  The total of the coach and the toad should not exceed the GCWR.  If you are overweight (you need to know the front vs. rear axle weight ratings for your coach), you will have to decide what to shed to stay within the GVWR/GCWR.  Full timers sometimes try to haul a lot of stuff so maintaining safe weights can be a challenge.

Some folks don't worry about this stuff.  They just load the coach and go.  However, your best and safest bet is to weigh your rig and go from there.

Wishing you many happy miles.

Everything except the car is weighed and compared to the 22,000 lb GVWR. The coach plus the car is weighed against the 26,000 lb GCWR.

Don't worry too much - just get it loaded up and head to the scales to see what the total is. For the intial weigh-in I would carry maybe 1/4-3/8 tank of fresh water. That's plenty for travel and emergencies. You can decide later if you want to carry more, e.g. if you plan to camp for a few days at a site that has no water available.

Looks like a trip to the weigh station is added to the pre-trip list! Thanks everyone for helping me understand how it all works.

See you on the road!

So where you going out west? Is this your first trip out there? Do you need recommendations?

We are heading south from Maryland, with stops in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia to visit family for a few days at each stop. Then we head to Alabama with a stop for 5 days at Gunter Hill Campground, then on to New Orleans at Ponchartrain Landing for 5 days. After that, we start heading west through Texas, with no definitive stops until we get to southern California where 3 of our kids and 3 grandkids live.

We would love suggestions from New Orleans to Southern California. We have a Thousand Trails membership, so would like to use their campgrounds if feasible. We are open to any suggestions for other places to stay for a few days on the way. We have plenty of tank capacity and a generator so we don't need full hook ups for every stop and would love to try camping somewhere other than an RV park for a few days. We would like to stay in the warm weather as much as possible. I have neurological damage from a stroke and cold weather causes extreme pain due to the lesion on my central nervous system. Hence the RV so we can follow the sun

My husband loves fishing and golf so we always look for places where those are an option. I have limited mobility from the stroke, but can get out to take driving tours and see the sights as long as there is not much walking. So no hiking for us

Once we are in Southern California we plan to take short trips from that area all winter long, and then once it starts to get too hot there (maybe June?) head north a little and make our way back to the East Coast to spend August and September at home, visit family here, and get ready to do it all again!

I love reading about everyone's travels, and how helpful this forum can be. We have been planning this for about 2 years, and I can't believe we are less than a month from hitting the road!

Kristin

I suggest after leaving New Orleans, make these stops in Texas. Galveston Island, Port Aransas, South Padre Island, all were great locations to experience the Gull.