I'm Overweight

[Graniteman]

The GVWR on my coach is 31,000#. I filled her up with fuel, propane, and a 1/2 tank of freash water. Both waste tanks were empty. With me in the coach I went across the CAT scales at 32,200. I really don't have anywhere to shed weight. Just a few necessities in the basement and cookware in the cabinets. The worst part is I know when we load the DW, DD and clothes I will be adding approximately another 400#.

Any one else have this issue? What was Gulfstream thinking?

[MaverickBBD]

Originally Posted by Graniteman

The GVWR on my coach is 31,000#.

Any one else have this issue? What was Gulfstream thinking?

There in lies the question. Take solace in knowing they are not the only manufacturer to do this.

[CLIFFTALL]

Originally Posted by Graniteman

The GVWR on my coach is 31,000#. I filled her up with fuel, propane, and a 1/2 tank of freash water. Both waste tanks were empty. With me in the coach I went across the CAT scales at 32,200. I really don't have anywhere to shed weight. Just a few necessities in the basement and cookware in the cabinets. The worst part is I know when we load the DW, DD and clothes I will be adding approximately another 400#.

Any one else have this issue? What was Gulfstream thinking?

In a bedroom closet there should be a sheet pasted to the wall with all the specs. What does it say your CCC should be?

[wb7auk]

Something is wrong your coach is at max with ever thing empty or almost.
Either the 31,000 is wrong for GVWR or the scale weight was in error.
I would recheck the GVWR and weight again.

[clubmed98]

Not unusual for manufacturer to mess up on weight. Blue bird is involved in suits with owners and company buyers over coaches built with front axle that was overloaded with nothing in coach...but if after re weighing you still are over weight you may find chassis builder has an update/recall to put bigger tires on to solve issue. the 98 newmar dutch star had a spartan recall that upgraded tires from 255 to 275 and added about 2-3,000 gvw. In this case the axles were actually rated high enough but the tires were the limiting factor...

[Cruzer]

Not unusual at all. However, it may be worse than you think.

Most single rear axle pushers concentrate most of their weight on the rear axle while the steer axle isn't loaded that heavily. This means that instead of being overloaded by 1,200 lbs, you may in fact be within toleranace on the front axle but 2-3,000 lbs over on the drive axle.

Unfortunately many coaches are this way. Suspension and axles have a bit of toleranace in them and given the occaisional use of an RV it's probably not as serious as you might think. However, tires do not have a safety factor built into them. You should weigh each axle individually and then check the tire manufacturers online inflation charts to ensure that you have enough air in those tires. If they won't go that high I would consider replacing those tires with a larger tire or something with a higher load (ply) rating that will handle that weight.

Note that in some cases, the only difference between a 31K RV and a 32K RV was the tires that they put on them. The axles were identical.

[ahicks]

I might be tempted to run the coach across a second (different) set of scales before getting too concerned?

[Cruzer]

I would. I'd also get separate readings on both axles.

[Mekanic]

Originally Posted by Cruzer

I would. I'd also get separate readings on both axles.

/\ /\ This is a good idea.

And

Originally Posted by Graniteman

.......
Any one else have this issue? What was Gulfstream thinking?

Profits above all else, no matter what thier "mission statment" says ... just like every other private company.

[powerboatr]

empirical data is the only thing to beleive

find the tag and get the real gvwr and ccc based on what the assembler choose at the time of build.

everything does have a safety factor. even tires
but that does not mean to run around over weight
when in doubt ask the assembler for their numbers and then go from there
I do find it hard to beleive that full fuel and propane and 1/2 water is putting you over weight....but it does happen

[Mr_D]

Our DSDP had an advertised NCC of 5,300#'s so I wasn't worried about the weights when we ordered it, luckily we left stuff like the real tile floors and washer/dryer off the options list.
It had a CCC of 663#'s and ALL of that was on the rear axle and the front was 50#'s overweight before we loaded anything or got aboard when the fuel and propane tanks were full.
After some talks with Newmar and and evaluation at Hendersons they decided to put a 13,200# axle under it, but that only had a 45° wheel cut and the OEM 12,000# axle was 50°. I found that the 14,600# axle was not much more cost and had a 55° wheel cut so I requested it be installed. Which is what they had done.
While on the rack at Spartan they inspected the rig and wondered why Newmar had downrated the rear axle to 19,000#'s as there was no reason to. With the new front axle and wheels (not new tires) I could go to 13,600#'s on the front.
Last year I put new tires on and went with 305/70's on the front and kept the rear 275/70's and added new Alcoa wheels. That raised my GVWR to 33,600 over the old 31,000. And it's nice knowing the rear axle is actually a 20,000# so that COULD add another 1,000#'s, not legally but still nice to know.

[Old Trucker]

Originally Posted by Graniteman

The GVWR on my coach is 31,000#. I filled her up with fuel, propane, and a 1/2 tank of freash water. Both waste tanks were empty. With me in the coach I went across the CAT scales at 32,200. I really don't have anywhere to shed weight. Just a few necessities in the basement and cookware in the cabinets. The worst part is I know when we load the DW, DD and clothes I will be adding approximately another 400#.

Any one else have this issue? What was Gulfstream thinking?

Hi Graniteman,

Looks like you have had several very good suggestions on your problem; I am a retired cross country, small truck fleet owner. I would agree that something looks wrong. We have a 99 Alpine Coach 36 ft diesel pusher. I am told this is an upscale coach)Empty weight per mfgr is only 23,020. I weighed it on a Cat scale looded up to be gone 3 months, but all wet tanks were winterized and empty. full of propane, 1/2 tank of fuel, weighed just over 25,000, with a 2000 Cheve Malibu attached only weighed 28,100. Our coach is also rated at 31,000#. Suggestions have been made to weigh each axel seperatly. Cat scales use 3 seperate platforms, so it is very simple to seperate axel weights.

It seems thar RV'ers are always concerned about weight. If it would give you any peace of mind, tires, axels, springs, and air bags are always engineered for more than the published weight rating, usually at least 10% or more.

Several people have made good suggestions in my opinion. On trucks (18wheelers) in most states are allowed 12,000 front axel, 34,000 read tandem axels, and the same on a close tandem trailer. that totals 80,000#. Maybe you have a caterpiller D-7 bull dozer to load, your gross weight maybe much closer to 90,000#, but all componets seem to handle it quite well. Hope I have been some help, old trucker

[Graniteman]

Thanks everyone. I was able to get seperate axle readings I believe I was over 200# on the front axle with the rest on the rear. I will search for the CCC sticker this weekend. I don't recall seeing one in the closet. It is cedar lined is there somewhere else I should search?

I will also try to hit a different CAT scale. There are two close to where I live. Thanks old trucker. My Dad has run heavy from time to time over the years. I knew 18 wheelers were built to take some abuse, but I wasn't sure about RVs. Typically I wouldn't get too worried but when I have the family onboard I get a little more cautious.

I'll let everyone know what I make out, thanks again.

[bldrbob]

Another suggestion if you weigh again.After getting separate axel weights get a second weight with either the left or right wheels off the scale. Then you can deduct and figure the 4 corner weights.