Went to the scales...

[LiteFoot]

Hi everyone,

I went to the Cat scales this morning just to make sure everything was within specifications on our setup. Loaded up the wife and kids and most everything else we would normally take camping so we would get a fairly accurate assessment. Main thing that was different was that the camper battery was in the truck bed for both runs and the Equalizer hitch was in the bed for the "truck only" weigh in. (I'm forgetful). So take that into consideration when viewing. Details:

2010 Silverado Crew Cab Z71 weight limits:
- Front/Rear GAWR: 3,950/3,950 lbs
- GVWR: 7,000 lbs
- Factory curb weight: 5,427
- Payload: 1,873
- Towing capacity: 9,600

As weighed with wife, 2 kids, half tank of gas:
- Front axle: 3,460
- Rear axle: 2,500
- Total: 5,960......w/o the battery & hitch closer to 5,800lbs

As weighed with 2012 Cougar Xlite 29rev
- Front axle: 3,160
- Rear axle: 3,580
- Trailer axle: 6,360
- Total: 13,100

Factory Trailer Specs
- Dry weight: 6,795
- Tongue: 755
- As weighed: 7,140

Anyone see any issues? Evidently the dealer set up the WDH a little light in the front so I'm going to change some things there. But, looks like GAWR is OK, GVWR is OK, and we have ~300 lbs of payload left. (assuming that battery is 60 lbs). Am I reading all the numbers right? First time I've ever done this! Thanks

Ryan

[hankpage]

Looks good but I would like your wife to talk to mine about how your trailer is ready for a trip with only around 300 lbs of "Stuff". Heck my tools and beer weigh more than that and then there is all of her "Necessities". Travel safely, Hank

[LiteFoot]

Hi Hank,

We don't put a lot of stuff in the camper honestly. I've often wondered how people put 1,000-1,500 lbs worth of stuff in their camper. Nothing wrong with it, we just don't have that much to put in there. With that said, this weigh in was probably 200lbs light as we didn't load up food, drinks, or clothes. Did load up all the tools, towels, dishes, wood, etc.

Ryan

[SlowPoke]

Hey Ryan, I plan to take my setup to the local scales as well. Probably loaded on the way to Myrtle Beach end of March. Is there a fee to weigh? Never been to one nor weighed anything at one, so a quick verbal walkthrough would be great if you don't mind??

Much appreciated!

Steve

[labs4life]

Originally Posted by SlowPoke

Hey Ryan, I plan to take my setup to the local scales as well. Probably loaded on the way to Myrtle Beach end of March. Is there a fee to weigh? Never been to one nor weighed anything at one, so a quick verbal walkthrough would be great if you don't mind??

Much appreciated!

Steve

Most of the CAT scales are $9.50 first weigh and $1.00 reweigh.

[SlowPoke]

Thanks for the info labs4life!

[LiteFoot]

My local CAT scales were $10 for first weigh, $2 for re-weigh. All you do is pull up on the scale, make sure each axle is on the appropriate scale(you will see what I mean), press the call button. The person inside will ask "weigh or re-weigh" and then ask for your Rig#. I just use 2010 as my Rig#. They will then tell you to drive around and pick up your weight sheet. Easy as pie.

Ryan

[SlowPoke]

Sounds EZ enuff. Much appreciated, we'll give it a whirl next month, and I'll post results too.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by LiteFoot

Hi Hank,

We don't put a lot of stuff in the camper honestly. I've often wondered how people put 1,000-1,500 lbs worth of stuff in their camper. Nothing wrong with it, we just don't have that much to put in there. With that said, this weigh in was probably 200lbs light as we didn't load up food, drinks, or clothes. Did load up all the tools, towels, dishes, wood, etc.

Ryan

It is real easy, cooking equipment, clothes, chairs, propane, bedding, food, etc...

You did have the trailer loaded as it would be ready to camp, it really adds up.

This is best done when heading out on a trip.

That said you still have always to go to be pushing the limits.

[Festus2]

x2 I think you will be surprised just how quickly the weight adds up. I don't think you have factored in 2 full propane tanks, 6 gals of water in the HW tank (plus any other water in your FW tank), hitch weight, food, clothes and the list goes on.

300 pounds is a very, very conservative estimate. I think you can count on at least twice that amount.

[LiteFoot]

Originally Posted by Festus2

x2 I think you will be surprised just how quickly the weight adds up. I don't think you have factored in 2 full propane tanks, 6 gals of water in the HW tank (plus any other water in your FW tank), hitch weight, food, clothes and the list goes on.

300 pounds is a very, very conservative estimate. I think you can count on at least twice that amount.

Festus,

The only thing this weight didn't include was food, clothing, and drinks. Off the top of my head it also includes a drill, wooden blocks, chocks, bedding, dishes, pillows, 2 chairs, Equalizer tool, electric griddle, hoses, lynx levelers, etc. I don't travel with water in my FW tank. What else do folks take along? Do people take >200 lbs of food, drinks, and clothing? I guess a lot of folks take bikes too.

Ryan

[JRTJH]

Our Springdale 242 weighs 6240 from the factory, the first time we weighed it "ready for camping" was about 3 weeks after we bought it. Total trailer weight disconnected from the truck with front landing gear and both axles on the same scale was 7326 lbs. That figures up to 1086 lbs of camping gear, propane, supplies, clothing, tools, food, beer (I think a 12 pack) and other miscellaneous things. It adds up quickly.

[Festus2]

Ryan -
When we got our Cougar, I took the trouble of weighing everything BEFORE it went into the RV and into the bed of our truck. Our total weight was almost identical to JRTJH's figure of 1086 lbs. I use 1000 lbs as the additional weight - yours may be different but our 2 6v batteries, 2 full propane tanks, and HW tank water weigh about 250 lbs. This figure doesn't include anything else.

But you are correct in that different people take different amounts of "stuff" with them. Some folks camp with kids and they need all sorts of stuff. Weights vary from camper to camper. Some folks travel light others take everything - including the kitchen sink with them.

[LiteFoot]

Yeah, who knows. We've been camping 3x as the camper sits so I guess we just don't take a lot.

Ryan

[JRTJH]

We've been camping over 40 years and have a "kind of routine" of what we take and what we do. In all honesty, when we bought this RV, all the "stuff" out of the Holiday Rambler and the motorhome was in boxes in the pole barn. We went through the boxes, cleaned up most of the stuff and it went in approximately the same storage spaces on this RV as it all came from on the others.

Most new campers take what they think they need, then as trips progress and they have a breakdown, they add a few tools, spend a rainy weekend in the trailer and add more games and books, have a flat and add a compressor, have to run buy a new hose because the campground faucet is too far away, so add an extra one, aren't sure the regulator is working properly, so buy a new one and keep the old as a spare. The list goes on and on.

So, I can understand the "light packing" for someone new to RVing, but I'm pretty sure that as the trips tick off the "camping meter" the weight of the RV will increase pretty much just like as the "years tick by" the waist and behind get a little heavier with each year.....

[LiteFoot]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

We've been camping over 40 years and have a "kind of routine" of what we take and what we do. In all honesty, when we bought this RV, all the "stuff" out of the Holiday Rambler and the motorhome was in boxes in the pole barn. We went through the boxes, cleaned up most of the stuff and it went in approximately the same storage spaces on this RV as it all came from on the others.

Most new campers take what they think they need, then as trips progress and they have a breakdown, they add a few tools, spend a rainy weekend in the trailer and add more games and books, have a flat and add a compressor, have to run buy a new hose because the campground faucet is too far away, so add an extra one, aren't sure the regulator is working properly, so buy a new one and keep the old as a spare. The list goes on and on.

So, I can understand the "light packing" for someone new to RVing, but I'm pretty sure that as the trips tick off the "camping meter" the weight of the RV will increase pretty much just like as the "years tick by" the waist and behind get a little heavier with each year.....

LOL...I hear you on the waist getting a little heavier. I think a big part of it is we had a pop-up before this camper and they are notorious for lacking storage space. So, we just haven't adjusted to all the storage possibilities yet. Give me a year and I will have a generator and 1,000 other things in there.

Ryan

[byrdr1]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

We've been camping over 40 years and have a "kind of routine" of what we take and what we do. In all honesty, when we bought this RV, all the "stuff" out of the Holiday Rambler and the motorhome was in boxes in the pole barn. We went through the boxes, cleaned up most of the stuff and it went in approximately the same storage spaces on this RV as it all came from on the others.

Most new campers take what they think they need, then as trips progress and they have a breakdown, they add a few tools, spend a rainy weekend in the trailer and add more games and books, have a flat and add a compressor, have to run buy a new hose because the campground faucet is too far away, so add an extra one, aren't sure the regulator is working properly, so buy a new one and keep the old as a spare. The list goes on and on.

So, I can understand the "light packing" for someone new to RVing, but I'm pretty sure that as the trips tick off the "camping meter" the weight of the RV will increase pretty much just like as the "years tick by" the waist and behind get a little heavier with each year.....

I feel the same way about it.
When we traded the TT for the 5er, we emptied the TT at the house my wife was like "good gosh!" when we reloaded about half the stuff never made back into the 5er. I even had to add on to my storage building to help with the extras Rv stuff not using it any more(not really?).

[eartha]

We try to stay as lite as we can. At the end of the season we take everything out to see if there is anything we haven't used for the last year. We evaluate these things to eather keep or store. Works for us.It is surprising to see how much you don't use. Happy Camping