Determining the vehicle weight when shopping for a new TV

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by MarkEHansen

I'm trying to determine how to figure the weight of a prospective truck so I can determine it's limits for towing. I don't know which truck/trailer at this point.

I can't help much with the math stuff (I played football and number crunching wasn't required) BUT I can tell you that if you listen to everyone here who will give differing opinions and divide the total by the number of opinions you will probably still be confused. Best to ask an RV salesman... that way you can tow the Queen Mary with a 1/2 ton. There are sooooo many towing guides out there; all with different numbers that you can just search till you find one that tells you what you want.

I will agree that the sturdiest TV you can find will likely be the best choice but then you have to pay for this TV and not the folks telling you to drop a zillion bucks for the dually so just keep in mind the wallet and if you are married, the missus cause it ain't always easy to justify a new one ton. I have a 96 F250 for that reason (I could pay cash for the clunker!) and I then bought a teeny tiny 5ver I could afford for cash so camping is still a hobby and not a major line item payment.

[Frank G]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

I can't help much with the math stuff (I played football and number crunching wasn't required) BUT I can tell you that if you listen to everyone here who will give differing opinions and divide the total by the number of opinions you will probably still be confused. Best to ask an RV salesman... that way you can tow the Queen Mary with a 1/2 ton. There are sooooo many towing guides out there; all with different numbers that you can just search till you find one that tells you what you want.

I will agree that the sturdiest TV you can find will likely be the best choice but then you have to pay for this TV and not the folks telling you to drop a zillion bucks for the dually so just keep in mind the wallet and if you are married, the missus cause it ain't always easy to justify a new one ton. I have a 96 F250 for that reason (I could pay cash for the clunker!) and I then bought a teeny tiny 5ver I could afford for cash so camping is still a hobby and not a major line item payment.

That is a 5 Star post!

[Javi]

These are the two sitckers you are looking for...


P.S. see my pm

[Javi]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

I can't help much with the math stuff (I played football and number crunching wasn't required) BUT I can tell you that if you listen to everyone here who will give differing opinions and divide the total by the number of opinions you will probably still be confused. Best to ask an RV salesman... that way you can tow the Queen Mary with a 1/2 ton. There are sooooo many towing guides out there; all with different numbers that you can just search till you find one that tells you what you want.

I will agree that the sturdiest TV you can find will likely be the best choice but then you have to pay for this TV and not the folks telling you to drop a zillion bucks for the dually so just keep in mind the wallet and if you are married, the missus cause it ain't always easy to justify a new one ton. I have a 96 F250 for that reason (I could pay cash for the clunker!) and I then bought a teeny tiny 5ver I could afford for cash so camping is still a hobby and not a major line item payment.

Don't know what you consider a fortune.... But I paid $38,000 out the door for my '15 F350 Dually at Covert Ford in Hutto, TX... including spray-in bed liner and OEM 5th wheel hitch installed... brand new with 28 miles on it.. But being cheap, I don't buy all them gee jaws a lot of folks consider must haves...

OH yeah... "0% interest"

[spade117]

Originally Posted by MarkEHansen

However, your pictures show that the gross vehicle weight is the sum of the net/dry weight of the truck + cargo + people + hitch weight. My question is how do I get the vehicle net/dry weight?

Not sure why the curb weight of tow vehicle matters so much to you, but usually the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) minus payload equals curb weight.

GVWR-Payload(sticker)=Curb Weight

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Javi

Don't know what you consider a fortune.... But I paid $38,000 out the door for my '15 F350 Dually at Covert Ford in Hutto, TX... including spray-in bed liner and OEM 5th wheel hitch installed... brand new with 28 miles on it.. But being cheap, I don't buy all them gee jaws a lot of folks consider must haves...

OH yeah... "0% interest"

My ol' F250 would be pretty much maxed out trying to pull your bigger 5ver but I suspect I could (I know it would be a tad oversized for my truck). That is why I bought a 7K lb 5ver (dry) at 27'. I paid $1700 for my old truck and only use it for towing. I put new heavy duty shocks, new brakes with new rotors in front, new vacuum lines, a few gaskets, new 10 ply tires and probably a few other things. PO already had put in a new A/C compressor and radiator. I spent a lot of time when I first got the truck as the PO had first tried to used some radiator stop leak which is about the most stupid product ever sold. FLUSHED AND FLUSHED and all is clear now. I have spent a couple thousand doing what was needed to be 100 percent as reliable as possible. Truck pulls strong and runs good. I personally would NEVER spend $38K on any vehicle as I am cheap and btw, have the XLT model!

[SummitPond]

Originally Posted by Javi

These are the two sitckers you are looking for...
P.S. see my pm

Javi (and others) - as a matter of education for me, why is it important to hide the VIN?

What can someone do with it if they have it? After all, it is displayed in the front window of the vehicle. I have followed convention as demonstrated in this forum and when I did post something that showed the VIN I blanked it out also. I'm just curious as to the possible dangers of broadcasting this number.

Thanks.

Ken

[ctbruce]

This is one of the best videos on your questions out there. I hope it helps.
https://rvsafety.com/rv-educat...on/...ks-to-trailers

Here is a second one as well. Also very good and helpful.
https://youtu.be/qwFLOBrADBs

[notanlines]

The first video won’t fly, but the second is a very good listen!
The first link might not be current.

[ctbruce]

https://rvsafety.com/rv-education/ma...ks-to-trailers

This one will work now.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by SummitPond

Javi (and others) - as a matter of education for me, why is it important to hide the VIN?
...
Ken

Any "internet crook" who has your complete VIN (and access to look up the registration for that vehicle) can obtain your private information such as address, employment, insurance company, lien status of the vehicle, bank, etc. With that information, should you make an "innocent post" that you're going to be at "XYZ campground for Christmas" and wonder if anyone else has been there, then anyone monitoring your posts and armed with that information could, at their leisure, empty your home while you're away, knowing that you won't be home until the day you posted as the last day of your "Christmas vacation"....

Seem "far-fetched" ??? It happens every day. Go to the bottom of this forum "home page" and click on the tab: CURRENT ACTIVE USERS. Right now there are 414 users. 41 are members and 373 are guests. If you click on those "guests" you'll see that they range from Google Spiders (that's where your ads come from when you use the internet) to unknown monitors from Russia, China, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Germany, Nigeria and a host of other locations. I assure you, nobody from China, Russia, Iran or Nigeria is interested in a furnace problem with a Keystone trailer. They are on this site monitoring it for "slip-ups" in people who post private information that they can "use later for personal gain".....

Marking out the VIN, not posting your phone number, address, credit card number, etc are all "best practices" in keeping yourself safe from "internet crooks"......

CAUTION IS WARRANTED on any public site where private information can be posted and stolen by unknown crooks.....

[Logan X]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Any "internet crook" who has your complete VIN (and access to look up the registration for that vehicle) can obtain your private information such as address, employment, insurance company, lien status of the vehicle, bank, etc. With that information, should you make an "innocent post" that you're going to be at "XYZ campground for Christmas" and wonder if anyone else has been there, then anyone monitoring your posts and armed with that information could, at their leisure, empty your home while you're away, knowing that you won't be home until the day you posted as the last day of your "Christmas vacation"....

Seem "far-fetched" ??? It happens every day. Go to the bottom of this forum "home page" and click on the tab: CURRENT ACTIVE USERS. Right now there are 414 users. 41 are members and 373 are guests. If you click on those "guests" you'll see that they range from Google Spiders (that's where your ads come from when you use the internet) to unknown monitors from Russia, China, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Germany, Nigeria and a host of other locations. I assure you, nobody from China, Russia, Iran or Nigeria is interested in a furnace problem with a Keystone trailer. They are on this site monitoring it for "slip-ups" in people who post private information that they can "use later for personal gain".....

Marking out the VIN, not posting your phone number, address, credit card number, etc are all "best practices" in keeping yourself safe from "internet crooks"......

CAUTION IS WARRANTED on any public site where private information can be posted and stolen by unknown crooks.....

This is very good information, thank you.

[Gegrad]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Marking out the VIN, not posting your phone number, address, credit card number, etc are all "best practices" in keeping yourself safe from "internet crooks"......

John- You are correct, but just by posting your first name and city, an "internet crook" could easily go to your county tax assessor's site, look up all the "John's" in the county and go through them, cross referencing the addresses (and we know you have a house, not an apartment, so that narrows it) with Google Earth to find the aerial image with the pole barn to find your address. Point is, it would be time consuming, but a determined individual could still easily find you, even without addresses or VINs present. Just my 2 cents.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Gegrad

John- You are correct, but just by posting your first name and city, an "internet crook" could easily go to your county tax assessor's site, look up all the "John's" in the county and go through them, cross referencing the addresses (and we know you have a house, not an apartment, so that narrows it) with Google Earth to find the aerial image with the pole barn to find your address. Point is, it would be time consuming, but a determined individual could still easily find you, even without addresses or VINs present. Just my 2 cents.

Which is all the more reason to be vigilant with what is posted on an open forum. Remember, right now, 423 people viewing the forum, 40 members and 383 "unknown guests"..... I trust (for the most part) those 40 members. It's the 383 other "monitors of the forum" that I'm unsure of..... YMMV

[Gegrad]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Which is all the more reason to be vigilant with what is posted on an open forum. Remember, right now, 423 people viewing the forum, 40 members and 383 "unknown guests"..... I trust (for the most part) those 40 members. It's the 383 other "monitors of the forum" that I'm unsure of..... YMMV

Yep, agreed 100%

[SummitPond]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Any "internet crook" who has your complete VIN ....

John

That is fascinating information to know. I wouldn't have guessed. One really has to be cautious about everything these days.

As for viewers, I never thought about clicking on that link - in fact, I didn't even know it was a link.

Thanks for the info.

Ken

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by SummitPond

John

That is fascinating information to know. I wouldn't have guessed. One really has to be cautious about everything these days.

As for viewers, I never thought about clicking on that link - in fact, I didn't even know it was a link.

Thanks for the info.

Ken

We are in a "lull period" right now, but routinely we have about 8-20 new members join the forum daily. In the past, we've intercepted and banned a large number (sometimes up to 3 or 4 a day) with IP addresses that originated in Pakistan, China, North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and various other countries where people typically have no interest in RVing. With the new "IP shadowing technology" the really knowledgeable hackers no longer use IP's that can be traced to their physical location. They "assume an IP identity" in New York, Charleston or any other location in the US or Canada and "shadow" the forum without us being able to readily or easily detect where they are really located.

So, as careful as we are to protect your identity and your information, several times a week, moderators will "edit out personal information" from posts (usually phone numbers and addresses in the classified section) to eliminate as much "data theft" as we can. Even then, it still happens and I've no doubt that of the "unknown guests" currently on the forum, some of them are monitoring everything posted with the hope of finding something "useful".....

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

We are in a "lull period" right now, but routinely we have about 8-20 new members join the forum daily. In the past, we've intercepted and banned a large number (sometimes up to 3 or 4 a day) with IP addresses that originated in Pakistan, China, North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and various other countries where people typically have no interest in RVing. With the new "IP shadowing technology" the really knowledgeable hackers no longer use IP's that can be traced to their physical location. They "assume an IP identity" in New York, Charleston or any other location in the US or Canada and "shadow" the forum without us being able to readily or easily detect where they are really located.

So, as careful as we are to protect your identity and your information, several times a week, moderators will "edit out personal information" from posts (usually phone numbers and addresses in the classified section) to eliminate as much "data theft" as we can. Even then, it still happens and I've no doubt that of the "unknown guests" currently on the forum, some of them are monitoring everything posted with the hope of finding something "useful".....

Thanks to you John and the other moderators for trying to "take care of us". I was on the "front end" of technology and a lead tech person.....in 1979. It was great. Things have changed so drastically it is unbelievable.

I'm not sure how we fix what is happening but I guess the best we can do is try to be aware. The problems we have on the web are mirrored with the problems we have with unwanted calls to our cells, home phones etc. We now get calls daily from "local" land lines, cell numbers that appear to be someone we might know....not hardly. They come from all over the country/world. They "spoof" numbers. It should be, and I think is, illegal, but I've not come up with a way to zap these "terrorists". One day.....

[Gegrad]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

We are in a "lull period" right now, but routinely we have about 8-20 new members join the forum daily. In the past, we've intercepted and banned a large number (sometimes up to 3 or 4 a day) with IP addresses that originated in Pakistan, China, North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and various other countries where people typically have no interest in RVing. With the new "IP shadowing technology" the really knowledgeable hackers no longer use IP's that can be traced to their physical location. They "assume an IP identity" in New York, Charleston or any other location in the US or Canada and "shadow" the forum without us being able to readily or easily detect where they are really located.

So, as careful as we are to protect your identity and your information, several times a week, moderators will "edit out personal information" from posts (usually phone numbers and addresses in the classified section) to eliminate as much "data theft" as we can. Even then, it still happens and I've no doubt that of the "unknown guests" currently on the forum, some of them are monitoring everything posted with the hope of finding something "useful".....

Wow, thanks for giving us some "behind the scenes" information as to what goes into maintaining the site. I had not thought that much about all of the work conducted by the mods!

[Logan X]

Yes, thank you to everyone who works on the site to keep it running smoothly and protect everyone!