How important is it to adhere to the GVWR for an RV?
March 19, 2015 4:08 PM Subscribe
Next week, I'm leaving for a year-long RV trip across the United States. My class C motorhome has a GVWR of 14,050 pounds. Today, I had it weighed at a certified scale. My load right now is 14,750 pounds, which means I'm 700 pounds over the recommended limit. My question: Just how critical is it really to stay under the GVWR? I've heard some folks say they travel at 10% over and don't worry about it. Some even do 20%. I tend to be a worrier, though, and so I want to get as close to the 14,050 as possible. But cutting 700 pounds? I'm not sure how I'm going to do that. I'd love to get feedback from folks with actual experience. Is the GVWR something I should adhere to rigidly? Or should I relax and accept a little bit of lee-way?
Response by poster: Our grey and black tanks are empty, but I think we have some fresh water on board. I'll have to check. (We didn't add any ourselves, but there may have been some there when we bought the vehicle.) I plan to dump that as part of our "load lightening" campaign...
posted by jdroth at 5:02 PM on March 19, 2015
posted by jdroth at 5:02 PM on March 19, 2015
This isn't answerable in the abstract. Some RVs are built on heavier duty chassis and with better components, others are not. You will almost certainly get better answers on a brand-specific forum where people will know details about brake component options and other year and model differences.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:03 PM on March 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 5:03 PM on March 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
I know you said US but if you have any plans to head north at any point be aware BC if they catch you will ticket you and force you to either come under weight or get towed to somewhere you can get under weight before you can drive anymore. During the holidaying season CVSE will set up portable scales next to highways and weigh every RV that passes by.
posted by Mitheral at 8:42 PM on March 19, 2015
posted by Mitheral at 8:42 PM on March 19, 2015
BTW this is an extremely common problem. I'd say the majority of motorhomes, and class C versions especially, have barely any cargo mass available once the curb weigh is subtracted from the gross vehicle weight. Some have been over weight from the factory. One thing to do is completely empty the unit and see what it weighs in that state. Then you can decide what to add back in.
If your trip is going to be restricted to improved roads you may be able to ditch significant weight by not packing spares. Your spare tire is up to 70lbs, no spare oil, minimal tools rather than a full kit. Water is 8lbs a gallon so ya make sure your tanks are empty. Use a 6lb propane tank instead of a 20-30lb tank (saves both fuel weight and tank weight). Plastic dishes are way lighter than china or steel. If you have an unneeded bolt on trailer hitch get it removed.
posted by Mitheral at 8:57 PM on March 19, 2015
If your trip is going to be restricted to improved roads you may be able to ditch significant weight by not packing spares. Your spare tire is up to 70lbs, no spare oil, minimal tools rather than a full kit. Water is 8lbs a gallon so ya make sure your tanks are empty. Use a 6lb propane tank instead of a 20-30lb tank (saves both fuel weight and tank weight). Plastic dishes are way lighter than china or steel. If you have an unneeded bolt on trailer hitch get it removed.
posted by Mitheral at 8:57 PM on March 19, 2015
Just as bit of advice, from someone whose driven several thousand miles in an at-or-above GVWR converted city bus in which the chassis and drivetrain could definitely take the load without trying too hard since it was overbuilt as hell...
Are you going up or down any steep grades? through passes? The hardest parts of the trip were ascending, which was pushing the drivetrain very hard(wide open throttle, engine temp went up a bit, trans temp went up, couldn't go faster than maybe 40mph) and more dangerously/importantly descending.
Does it have an engine/jake brake/"retarded" or "haul mode" switch(this is what it's called on ford trucks/ford based vehicles, idk on others)? You could completely wreck your brakes, not be able to slow down, and you know die going downhill over the rated weight. Some RVs don't even up-spec the brakes from the vehicle they were based on and are already pushing it.
Driving down the mountains in a bus with a jake brake was scary every time i've done it. It was still a fest of pumping the brakes to get back down to speed when it slowly built up again, nearly overheating the transmission the second time when we were very loaded down, and just general sketchiness.
On a reread, i see that it's a class c. Diesel? Gas? is there an engine brake? What chassis is it based on? I'd look it up based on the chassis and see what that typically rates at. The manufacturer/coachbuilder of the RV may very well have de-rated it for various(tax? state requirements? i'm foggy on this) reasons. The only thing i know about that is what the guy who i got my bus from said.
You might have headroom that was taken out for regulatory reasons, you might already be pushing it/over for real.
I've done this, but i don't know if i'd do it again. I didn't know we were doing this until... we had already left in my friends bus. It kinda sucked.
Also worth noting, have you weighed it? Or did you just calculator it. You may very well be more than 700 over, or under, or who knows.
posted by emptythought at 10:09 PM on March 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Are you going up or down any steep grades? through passes? The hardest parts of the trip were ascending, which was pushing the drivetrain very hard(wide open throttle, engine temp went up a bit, trans temp went up, couldn't go faster than maybe 40mph) and more dangerously/importantly descending.
Does it have an engine/jake brake/"retarded" or "haul mode" switch(this is what it's called on ford trucks/ford based vehicles, idk on others)? You could completely wreck your brakes, not be able to slow down, and you know die going downhill over the rated weight. Some RVs don't even up-spec the brakes from the vehicle they were based on and are already pushing it.
Driving down the mountains in a bus with a jake brake was scary every time i've done it. It was still a fest of pumping the brakes to get back down to speed when it slowly built up again, nearly overheating the transmission the second time when we were very loaded down, and just general sketchiness.
On a reread, i see that it's a class c. Diesel? Gas? is there an engine brake? What chassis is it based on? I'd look it up based on the chassis and see what that typically rates at. The manufacturer/coachbuilder of the RV may very well have de-rated it for various(tax? state requirements? i'm foggy on this) reasons. The only thing i know about that is what the guy who i got my bus from said.
You might have headroom that was taken out for regulatory reasons, you might already be pushing it/over for real.
I've done this, but i don't know if i'd do it again. I didn't know we were doing this until... we had already left in my friends bus. It kinda sucked.
Also worth noting, have you weighed it? Or did you just calculator it. You may very well be more than 700 over, or under, or who knows.
posted by emptythought at 10:09 PM on March 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by notned at 5:00 PM on March 19, 2015