Weight Question

[tgboyd]

I weighed my rig yesterday. Unfortunately I couldn't weigh the truck first. The scale was a four section CAT scale set up to weigh 18 wheelers. The truck portion of the weight was 10,960 pounds and the Cyclone's 3 axles weighed 10,460 pounds. The Cyclone from the factory had a sticker weight of 11,450 pounds and I imagine I have 800 pounds of "stuff" in the trailer.

The total weight was 21,420 and if you subtract my estimated trailer weight it would put the truck at 9170 pounds (which would only be 30 pounds below max) but the total was 10,960 on the truck tires. Am I missing something here? Bottom line it appears the weight on the tires is 1760 pounds over the truck's limit.

Can anyone help with this before I spend loads of money on a new 2008 Ford F450.

Thanks, Tom

 

[ct0218]

Tongue weight! For most of these large fifth wheels a dually is needed, safer also. Not happy with your GMC?

 

[Loco]

Weight of rigs

We have a 3795 pulled with a 2006 F-350 DW 4 door 4x4 Tow package 4:30 rear and we are pushing the limit on this rig when loaded. We carried one harley, all the camping gear clothing,food, dog ,cat,two kids,two adults, no water, full gas tank for gen set. The whole rig weighed in @ 24,400lbs on the scales Total weight. The trailer was mark at 11,000 lbs from the factory. But the trailer has a true weight empty of 12,330 lbs.

 

[Forrest Fetherolf]

Weight of Rigs

Do not forget that RV manufacturers are sales people without direct contact with the buyers because dealers are in between. They all want to get their product sold, and in my short life of 64 years, what they say isn't always what you get stuck with.
Don't rely on the sticker weight because you don't know what is included or excluded to come up with their weight. Some include propane and fresh water, etc. The only to way to satisfy your need to know is to load the truck with everyone and everything including full of fuel. Weigh both truck axles and then hook up the rig loaded with everything you need and weigh all axles on a multi-axle scale. Price $17.00
Don't feel alone, most all rigs 34' or more and even shorter toy haulers will probably over gross most any tow vehicle under a 4500 series. GMC and Chevy GVW is 9200 lbs whether a 2500HD or 3500, regardless the type and number of wheels on the ground. Dual wheels can handle more weight, but it will not increase your GVW. With 3300 lbs (Duramax with Allison) on the front axle, you will really exceeded the trucks GVW. The maximum combined weight for a Chevy or GMC with duramax and allison is 23200. The truck probably won't break in the middle but the big concern is...... will the brakes stop that puppy. The other awful thought.....is the Highway Patrol looking? If they start to express concern, then we all will be looking for the perfect 4500.

 

[ct0218]

Do not forget that RV manufacturers are sales people without direct contact with the buyers because dealers are in between. They all want to get their product sold, and in my short life of 64 years, what they say isn't always what you get stuck with.
Don't rely on the sticker weight because you don't know what is included or excluded to come up with their weight. Some include propane and fresh water, etc. The only to way to satisfy your need to know is to load the truck with everyone and everything including full of fuel. Weigh both truck axles and then hook up the rig loaded with everything you need and weigh all axles on a multi-axle scale. Price $17.00
Don't feel alone, most all rigs 34' or more and even shorter toy haulers will probably over gross most any tow vehicle under a 4500 series. GMC and Chevy GVW is 9200 lbs whether a 2500HD or 3500, regardless the type and number of wheels on the ground. Dual wheels can handle more weight, but it will not increase your GVW. With 3300 lbs (Duramax with Allison) on the front axle, you will really exceeded the trucks GVW. The maximum combined weight for a Chevy or GMC with duramax and allison is 23200. The truck probably won't break in the middle but the big concern is...... will the brakes stop that puppy. The other awful thought.....is the Highway Patrol looking? If they start to express concern, then we all will be looking for the perfect 4500.

Close, but a little off on your numbers. A 2500 has a GVWR of 9200 lbs, a 3500 has 11,400 lbs. The other two wheels do carry more weight, why else would they have them. The front GAWR on my truck is 4800 lbs, the rear 8550 lbs. The GCWR is correct at 23,200. Six wheels do not increase the GCWR, but it does increase the GVWR. They are entirely different ratings but a lot of people confuse the two.

 

[tgboyd]

Thanks everyone. Appreciate the input.

Tom

 

[Goldenwingers]

Tom, to really know what you have you will have to weigh the truck without the trailer attached. It needs to be full of fuel and the passengers and equipment that you normally carry. More precise weight would be to have it packed just like it was on the last weighing. Now add the weight of the steering axle and the drive axle together to get the gross weight of the truck. Now take the weigh ticket you have with the trailer attached and add together the weights of the steering axle and the drive axle then subtract from that total the combined weights of the steering and drive axle with no trailer attached and this will give you the pin weight of the trailer. You can then add the pin weight to the axle weight of the trailer on your first weigh ticket to get a gross weight for the trailer. You should now have all the true weights of your rig and not have to rely on estimated weights from the factory as many of these can be far from the real weight you are working with. I hope this has made it more clear to you but if not I will be glad to elaborate further or if I have made an error maybe someone will correct it .

Don

 

[svd]

Actually, dual wheels doesn't necessarily mean more load capacity. The January Trailer Life magazine has a 2007 towing guide that states "Most people assume that a dually pickup will have a higher tow rating than a single rear wheel unit, but this is not correct. In many cases the GCWR is limited by factors other than the number of rear wheels and does not change, and in those cases the weight of the wider axle, bigger brakes and two more tires and wheels is subtracted from the GCWR. The dually no doubt provides a more stable towing platform for the heavier trailers, although not always with the highest tow rating."

I know my 2001 F-350 SRW is rated higher than DRW. Without question, braking and stability would be better with the dually.

 

[mufflerman]

Payload capacity & tow rating are different, A chevy dually DOES have a higher payload than a chevy swr by 2200 lbs, and I believe a higher combined weight rating (truck & trailer) of 1500 lbs, less approx. 640 lbs for dually parts.

 

[tdharley]

From the Chevy web site:​

3500 DURAMAX 6.6L V8 Turbo WITH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

Model-3500 SRW 4x4 Crew Cab Max. trailer weight-14,700 Axle-3.73 GCWR-22,000
Model-3500 DRW 4x4 Crew Cab Max. trailer weight-16,000 Axle-3.73 GCWR-23,500

Dually does matter