Overweight

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herekittykitty

herekittykitty

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 26, 2013
Posts
443
Location
Birch Bay, WA
I apologize ahead of time because I know weight has been discussed ad nauseum...somewhere on these forums. But it just became personal today and I'm not sure what to do about it.

Finally got to take the rig through a weigh station and the front axle weighed 4,050 (vehicle tag says max GAWR for front is 5,000), but the back weighed an astounding 11,000 pounds! Sticker says max rear is 9,600.

I have a scooter on the back which weighs about 100 pounds; nothing I can do about that. I've gone through the heaviest things I could think of over that back axle and can trim off app. 430 pounds (so no more traveling with a full fresh tank unless I'm doing one-night stops).

Where do I trim off another (almost) 1,000 pounds?? It's just me and my cat, and I don't haul a bunch of junk with me.

FWIW, the fridge is over the front axle.

Also, does the weight matter when parked? Because I only move every 3 weeks or so, and then, only 100 miles per day.
 
What are pulling and what tow vehicle do you have? 1100 lbs sounds like your GVWR , GVWRR should be around 5500 judging  from  the GVWFRt. With more information  would help with your weight issues.
 
Winnebago MH. No tow vehicle and no toad.

All I can tell you is what the sticker on the door says, which is GAWR for front is 5,000, and GAWR for the rear is 9,600.
 
What kind of rig do you have? And what are the weight ratings on the tire side walls? Sitting still in an RV park doesn't make much difference to weight ratings, but as soon as you put it in drive it does.
 
The numbers look typical for a Class C - a van chassis just doesn't have much capacity left once the RV body is added. Leaving the cat behind won't help much, so there probably isn't a whole lot that can be done.  :'(  Except buy a different RV.

You are not unique. People nearly always underestimate, or totally fail to consider, what they will be carrying in their RV.

Not really a problem when sitting, though the suspension is still somewhat overstressed. Since you don't bounce around much when parked, you are probably within acceptable limits when not moving.
 
I'd consider moving that scooter to the front. It won't make a thousand lbs difference, but it will be well over a hundred lbs due to the mechanical advantage of that long overhang.

Ernie
 
"Moving the scooter" makes so much sense.
In reality, that's unlikely to happen, because I have no idea how that works.

Previous owners installed an upgraded hitch, then we bought, and husband installed, the carrier for the scooter and put it on the hitch. Carrier has a ramp because I cannot dead-lift 100 pounds. (Husband stayed behind, as we're separating.)

This is kind-of morphing into another thread, but, where is there a place on the front to mount a cycle carrier? (Ford E450)

On the topic of weight, if the previous owners happened to also upgrade the tires, will that change the rear axle rating? I'm going out now to see what the tires say.
 
the scooter is 100#?

I don't think you mentioned what sort of scooter..... I'm picturing a Vespa sort of thing, and I would think that would be a bit more than 100 pounds....

As an alternative to moving the scooter to the front
which i assume would mean a front mount hitch and move the scooter rack forward...

I think what I might explore, is getting a very small trailer.
Trailers will add some tongue weight, but most of the scooter's weight would be on the trailer's axle.
You might also be able to shed some stuff out of the MH to the trailer as well....
It opens up other cans of worms, but maybe something to explore...
 
One more comment...
not saying it's right or safe or anything like that

But I'll bet that a huge number of RV's on the road, as well as pickups towing all sorts of trailers.... not only travel trailers but farm equipment, boats, and all sorts of things.... are running everyday all around us overweight just like you are now.... for years and nobody ever knows since so many folks never check their weight.

I think RVers are about the only recreational demographic that routinely checks weights and thinks about this stuff..... & I would bet that not many of us do.
 
blw2 said:
But I'll bet that a huge number of RV's on the road, as well as pickups towing all sorts of trailers.... not only travel trailers but farm equipment, boats, and all sorts of things.... are running everyday all around us overweight just like you are now.... for years and nobody ever knows since so many folks never check their weight.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I've also thought about that as well.
We had a ladder at home with a stated max weight of 300 lbs. At the time, my husband weighed about 330, and used it routinely.

I'm sure everything sold in this country with a stated weight rating has a fudge factor included. Wouldn't make much legal sense to quote a weight rating at which the product would fail - right then and there - if it were exceeded by any amount.

Oh, and that was a great idea about the small trailer, though the whole reason it's a mounted scooter and not a toad in the first place was that I absolutely refuse to tow anything (backing up and all... I'm just not that talented). But it does give me something else to think about, and other ideas.

I don't know for certain what the scooter weighs (it's more like an e-bike w/o pedals), but I do know that the one I had intended to take with me had a curb weight of 235 and I didn't feel I could control it, whereas I can control this one.

In any event, it's being replaced by another e-bike next week that I know weighs 125 pounds.
 
Okay, more info. (Actually had to call Michelin because I thought at first these tires might be on the recall list!)

Each tire's weight rating is 2,679 lbs = 10,716 lbs on the rear axle.
That will make a difference, no?
 
herekittykitty said:
Okay, more info. (Actually had to call Michelin because I thought at first these tires might be on the recall list!)

Each tire's weight rating is 2,679 lbs = 10,716 lbs on the rear axle.
That will make a difference, no?
Click to expand...

That doesn't change the GAWR, so no, it doesn't make a difference.
 
I asked because tires and wheels are often the lowest common denominator when figuring weight carrying ability. If your tires are over weight for the amount of weight that you are carrying on the rear axle, then I would be even more concerned. If you could get the rear axle weight down to what the max carrying capacity of the tires is, your safety factor would be better.  A rear axle that is over weight may stress the brakes, or the transmission and differential, and wear them out prematurely.  A tire over loaded has a higher probability of blowing out. 
 
Thanks very much for all the info!

After realizing where my rear axle actually is (from inside the "house") and weighing some things, I've discovered just how incredibly much canned goods weigh. I don't need everything I have, and the rest I do need (cases of cat food), can be put over the front axle instead.

That's #1.
#2 is: Never drive with a full fresh tank!
#3 is: Move some of the heavier things forward while traveling.

I am going to weigh each axle again when I move next week and see what that does.

And if all else fails, I'll find out what it costs to have someone mount the bike carrier to the front of the chassis.
 
Get the actual weight of the scooter and measure from the center of the rear wheel to the center of the carrier.  The scooter weight times the length is the amount of weight the scooter is adding to the rear axle.  When I had a class C, the distance from the rear wheel center to the ball hitch was just short of 9 feet so that 100# scooter would have looked like over 900# to me.  Just a thought.
 
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