GCWR ratings & limitations

[Dave&Ginny]

In the trucking world......you have to get the rig within the proper weight before it's moved (with the exception of refrigerated food).

It would be a hassle for everyone with RVs but I think they should spot check them. This sure would wake up some of the manufactures and save some folks a whole lot of heartache. While at a RV show, I saw a few RVs with the carrying capacity of only 1000lbs. Not to mention the 1/2 or 3/4 ton trucks pulling too large of trailers.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

In the trucking world......you have to get the rig within the proper weight before it's moved (with the exception of refrigerated food).

It would be a hassle for everyone with RVs but I think they should spot check them. This sure would wake up some of the manufactures and save some folks a whole lot of heartache. While at a RV show, I saw a few RVs with the carrying capacity of only 1000lbs. Not to mention the 1/2 or 3/4 ton trucks pulling too large of trailers.

Dave here they seem to be getting the really overweight rigs off the road. It amazing what some people will try to carry or tow

[atom ant]

Man would that ruin a vacation!

I know some of the guys I would triple tow with were concerned if they got stopped and they were over length they would have to break them up and leave one till you could come back and get it, or call a friend, but where do you go to find a bigger truck? Call a transporter?

[Terry and Nina]

Originally Posted by rskeans

I have a '14 RAM CC DRW 6.7L 4x4. We just sold our truck camper 'cause the DW wants her 5er again. Looking seriously at the 36RL.

I live in CA but the unit will be registered in AZ. Have a house there also. The RAM is very heavy due to a 70 gal replacement fuel tank, xtra overload springs, and 5th wheel tool box.

In CA I have to get a Class A endorsement on my DL for anything over 15000#. It's actually worse in AZ since they require that the GVWR of the Truck and 5ver be added to not exceed 26000# or else a true CDL is required. It is conceivable that my GCW could exceed 26,000 with the RW 36RL.

My question is what kind of problems, if any, have the users had with any on the road weigh stations or traffic stops where the officer checks the GVWR of both the tow vehicle and the RV.

Hi,
In Arizona, if you are a pulling a vehicle combination that is more than twenty-six thousand pounds gross vehicle weight rating and that is designed and exclusively used for private pleasure, including vehicles commonly called motor homes, pickup trucks with campers, travel trailers, boat trailers and horse trailers used exclusively to transport personal possessions or persons for noncommercial purposes, a CDL license is not required. A regular drivers license is good.
Section 28-3102 of AZ revised statues
http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument....28&DocType=ARS

I hope this helps.

[JerryL]

^ Many people get confused on the private, and "for hire" numbers. For private, recreational use, I don't think a federal CDL license is ever required. As a rule of thumb, if you aren't hauling as a business, and only for recreational use, you are good to go with a normal license.

[JerryL]

Originally Posted by rskeans

I have a '14 RAM CC DRW 6.7L 4x4. We just sold our truck camper 'cause the DW wants her 5er again. Looking seriously at the 36RL.

I live in CA but the unit will be registered in AZ. Have a house there also. The RAM is very heavy due to a 70 gal replacement fuel tank, xtra overload springs, and 5th wheel tool box.

In CA I have to get a Class A endorsement on my DL for anything over 15000#. It's actually worse in AZ since they require that the GVWR of the Truck and 5ver be added to not exceed 26000# or else a true CDL is required. It is conceivable that my GCW could exceed 26,000 with the RW 36RL.

My question is what kind of problems, if any, have the users had with any on the road weigh stations or traffic stops where the officer checks the GVWR of both the tow vehicle and the RV.

According to this CA. handbook, I don't think you need a CDL for private, recreational use. It looks like a normal noncommercial license is good to go. It appears that you will need a Class A, non commercial license. I don't think that's a CDL

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/dl648/dl648.pdf

[rskeans]

Originally Posted by JerryL

According to this CA. handbook, I don't think you need a CDL for private, recreational use. It looks like a normal noncommercial license is good to go. It appears that you will need a Class A, non commercial license. I don't think that's a CDL

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/dl648/dl648.pdf

I was hoping you were correct. But, Pg 3 defines a Basic class C license as being able to tow a 5 wheel not to exceed 15000 lbs. Pg 2 defines a Non-Commercial Class A as being able to tow over 15000 lbs. The Non-Commercial Class A is just an endorsement on the normal Class C, but does require a driving test with the towed vehicle. It's a PITA!

I use a CA license, but the 5ver will be stored and licensed in AZ. I'll have to haul it to CA to get my endorsement. The CA border towns don't offer the driving test. But I've identified a small DMV in a small town that does offer the Class A test. It's about a 350 mile drive from our AZ house.

We'll just make a social thing out of it. My Wife's cousin lives in the town and we'll have a visit.

[rskeans]

Originally Posted by Terry and Nina

Hi,
In Arizona, if you are a pulling a vehicle combination that is more than twenty-six thousand pounds gross vehicle weight rating and that is designed and exclusively used for private pleasure, including vehicles commonly called motor homes, pickup trucks with campers, travel trailers, boat trailers and horse trailers used exclusively to transport personal possessions or persons for noncommercial purposes, a CDL license is not required. A regular drivers license is good.
Section 28-3102 of AZ revised statues
http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument....28&DocType=ARS

I hope this helps.

That does help! I just missed the RV exemption section.

[JerryL]

Originally Posted by rskeans

I was hoping you were correct. But, Pg 3 defines a Basic class C license as being able to tow a 5 wheel not to exceed 15000 lbs. Pg 2 defines a Non-Commercial Class A as being able to tow over 15000 lbs. The Non-Commercial Class A is just an endorsement on the normal Class C, but does require a driving test with the towed vehicle. It's a PITA!

I use a CA license, but the 5ver will be stored and licensed in AZ. I'll have to haul it to CA to get my endorsement. The CA border towns don't offer the driving test. But I've identified a small DMV in a small town that does offer the Class A test. It's about a 350 mile drive from our AZ house.

We'll just make a social thing out of it. My Wife's cousin lives in the town and we'll have a visit.

Is your towed RW going to be over 15,000? That doesn't include your truck.

[rskeans]

Originally Posted by JerryL

Is your towed RW going to be over 15,000? That doesn't include your truck.

How So?? My truck is rated to tow 29000# with a GCVWR of 37500#. The RW will only weigh 16500#. How are you able to tow your 36RL with only a RAM 3500 DRW 6.7 Cummins?

[JerryL]

Originally Posted by rskeans

How So?? My truck is rated to tow 29000# with a GCVWR of 37500#. The RW will only weigh 16500#. How are you able to tow your 36RL with only a RAM 3500 DRW 6.7 Cummins?

You said a normal Class C license can tow under 15,000. I don't think any RW made weighs 15,000, according to website dry weights, plus knowing how much weight is usually added to an RV after dry weight. Where do you get that your RW will weigh 16,500?

My trailer towing capacity is 16,790. My RW, according to website, 12,7something, dry. With propane, washer/dryer, and my stuff, I will probably be right at 15,000.

Truck 7800
Trailer 15000
Total 22,800
My GCWR 25,000 (2200# under)
RW reported 36rl pin wgt. 27-2800
Actual wgt. around 4-4500 lbs.
Truck pin weight rating, around 5900 lbs
I'm still under.


If you own a place in AZ, do all licensing in AZ, and just tow to CA. As with my Harley, when traveling through CA, I don't have to abide by resident CA epa rules.

[rskeans]

Originally Posted by JerryL

You said a normal Class C license can tow under 15,000. I don't think any RW made weighs 15,000, according to website dry weights, plus knowing how much weight is usually added to an RV after dry weight. Where do you get that your RW will weigh 16,500?

My trailer towing capacity is 16,790. My RW, according to website, 12,7something, dry. With propane, washer/dryer, and my stuff, I will probably be right at 15,000.

Truck 7800
Trailer 15000
Total 22,800
My GCWR 25,000 (2200# under)
RW reported 36rl pin wgt. 27-2800
Actual wgt. around 4-4500 lbs.
Truck pin weight rating, around 5900 lbs
I'm still under.


If you own a place in AZ, do all licensing in AZ, and just tow to CA. As with my Harley, when traveling through CA, I don't have to abide by resident CA epa rules.

You said the key word. Dry Weight. One never uses the dry weight. You always use the GVW which in both our cases is 16,500#. When was the last time you towed totally empty with no manufactures options installed in the trailer.

I cannot license in AZ when the principle residence is in CA. I can use my AZ ID card to register the RW in AZ though. At the moment I have our RZR (Street Legal), two vehicle trailers and the Sea-Doo registered in AZ.

A couple site members have similar setups as both you and I. One had a combined weight of 26,300 and the other 26,500. You might be surprised to see your real weight when pulling through a truck scale at a truck stop. I'm also a little surprised that your truck weight is so little. My shipping weight out of Mexico was 8211. I didn't see any elaboration of your truck configuration like 4x4? CC? When you get a chance, pull through a truck scale. It'll cost about $10.

[piper guy]

Just a FWIW comment. My Dually is 9160 lbs with full fuel and 1 person. Loaded to tow I'm probably another 300 or so. Pin weight on my 36RL is 3560 without a generator. When we were weighed at Mor/Ryde halfway thru a month long trip, the coach was 16'400. Dry weight on my coach as shipped was 13,794. We put 8k axles under it 'cause I know I'm gonna be over 17k before we're done .....

[JerryL]

Originally Posted by rskeans

You said the key word. Dry Weight. One never uses the dry weight. You always use the GVW which in both our cases is 16,500#. When was the last time you towed totally empty with no manufactures options installed in the trailer.

I cannot license in AZ when the principle residence is in CA. I can use my AZ ID card to register the RW in AZ though. At the moment I have our RZR (Street Legal), two vehicle trailers and the Sea-Doo registered in AZ.

A couple site members have similar setups as both you and I. One had a combined weight of 26,300 and the other 26,500. You might be surprised to see your real weight when pulling through a truck scale at a truck stop. I'm also a little surprised that your truck weight is so little. My shipping weight out of Mexico was 8211. I didn't see any elaboration of your truck configuration like 4x4? CC? When you get a chance, pull through a truck scale. It'll cost about $10.

It's not GVW, it's GVWR. Gross vehicle weight rating.
. That's not the weight of our trailers, that's the max our trailers are rated for. You use dry weight, plus any weight you add to the trailer, i.e., washer/dryer, extra options, food, propane, extra AC, water in tanks. I find it hard to believe that most here add an additional 3500+ pounds, to get up to the rated max of 16,500. CA might use your GVWR as a licensing issue, but on the road, law enforcement use scales, not numbers on stickers. I just guessed at my trucks weight, going by other actual truck weights of my previous Rams. It probably is around 8K, considering this is a crew cab, and my others were quad cab. You can see that I figured with options and extra weight added to my trailer, I went to 15,000 as my trailer weight in my figures for my truck and trailer.

[Oriana]

[QUOTE=JerryL;36114]I find it hard to believe that most here add an additional 3500+ pounds, to get up to the rated max of 16,500. QUOTE]

Our coach left the factory at 13,452 lbs and with "E" ties the GVWR is only 16,000 lbs. Changing to "G" tires doesn't change the sticker. Therefore, we can only add 2,548 lbs. Last time I weighed we were 15,500, but are now about 15,800 lbs and that is with no fluids, W/D, genny and minimal stuff.

If you have a W/D, genny, and carry water you will be close to or more likely over 16,500 lbs. You can read older posts that quote weights over 17,000 lbs, but they have 8K axles.

[piper guy]

As Andy said above - forget the "brochure weight". You have to go by what is on the weight sticker on the inside cabinet and also on the driver side of the coach. Most 36 RW's will be in the upper 13's to lower 14's shipping weight dry. It's very easy to put 1500-200 lbs on board. As a for instance , I find my RL tows much better with 30-40 gals of water in the freshwater tank. GVW for me is not an issue as the Dually and the IS and G tires can handle it. Water is 10 lbs/ gal. I also haven't weighed it separately going in but I know I've got at least 300-400 lbs of stuff in the basement. Then you add the toolbox, the 40 propane tanks, stuff in the closets etc. like I said, when we were weighed at MorRyde we were 16400.

[rob_fla]

We have not weighted our FL yet, but our FL shows a shipped "Dry" weight of 14,040 lbs..

Our last 5th Wheel had a "Dry" shipped weight of 12,981 lbs. and a as towed weight of 15,700 lbs. with a GVWR of 15,950 lbs..

We do not have a generator but we do have a stackable W/D and since we fulltime we carry more stuff than a weekend user would.

2700 lbs. of stuff is somewhat typical for a fulltimer, but 2700 lbs. of stuff will put our RW 38FL at its max GVWR since the carrying capacity on our RW is less than our last 5th Wheel.

Guess we will see when we get it weighted.

[Dave&Ginny]

All of the holding tanks in my RL are in front of the axle which add pin weight. They are in this order from the front......fresh....black.....grey....galley. The water heater is in there too and with 12 gallons, that alone adds 100 pounds. These girls are heavy in the front but they sure pull good. Come to think about it, heavy in the front.........girls.....mmmmm. I like these Redwoods!

[atom ant]

Originally Posted by JerryL

My trailer towing capacity is 16,790. My RW, according to website, 12,7something, dry. With propane, washer/dryer, and my stuff, I will probably be right at 15,000.

Jerry, you must really plan on packing light! That's over a ton less than us at 17,222 lbs. Our Redwood certified dry weight stamped in the coat closet is 13,785 lbs out the door.

The rest of your figures look pretty close, but I think you are shy on anticipated Gross weight.

[rskeans]

Originally Posted by JerryL

It's not GVW, it's GVWR. Gross vehicle weight rating.
That's not the weight of our trailers, that's the max our trailers are rated for.

Whatever Jerry. Other Poster's have provided real world weights, not hypothetical weights based upon false assumptions. Do yourself a favor and get your real numbers at a truck scale. At the moment it seems that you have the lightest 36RL and truck ever produced. I for one am listening to the 'Real World' numbers posted by others and am planning accordingly.