E450 gvwr/gcwr

[rrawood]

This may have been discussed before, so I apologize in advance.

Looking at the Ford website, they show that the E450 cutaway with the 6.8L, has a GCWR of 22,000 with a GVWR of 14,500.

Looking at the Fleetwood site, the GVWR is the same, however, the GCWR is at 19,500. What gives? I guess I should stay on the safe side and go with what Fleetwood states for their complete package... But, why the difference in numbers?

[Midniteoyl]

The rear axle is rated for 22K.. the Federal Legal limit is 20K...

[rrawood]

So if the rear axle is under reported, does that mean that the actual cargo carrying capacity is also under reported?

[The Shadow]

The rear axle is NOT rated for 22,000.

The GVWR is 14,500. Rear axle is 9,500 lbs and front is 5,000. For 2011 the GCWR was bumped from 20,000 to 22,000. So it can tow more IF you have a stronger receiver. Most manufacturers (well, all of them) only put a 5,000 lb rated receiver on Class C's. If you put on a receiver that could handle 7500 lbs then you could tow 7500 lbs (keeping in mind hitch weight if it is a trailer rather than a vehicle four down).

One has to be careful though and not assume that all 2011 Class C's on Ford's E450 will have a GCWR of 22,000. Ours is rated for 22,000 but some of the earlier builds used the 2010 E450 since the 2011 was not out yet. They have a GCWR of 20,000.

Hope that helps. You will find discussion on this a year ago when we got ours and posted the change on this forum.

Don

[JimM68]

Always use the motorhome manufacturers ratings, which I would hope also take into account the strength of any frame extensions.

[The Shadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrawood This may have been discussed before, so I apologize in advance. Looking at the Ford website, they show that the E450 cutaway with the 6.8L, has a GCWR of 22,000 with a GVWR of 14,500. Looking at the Fleetwood site, the GVWR is the same, however, the GCWR is at 19,500. What gives? I guess I should stay on the safe side and go with what Fleetwood states for their complete package... But, why the difference in numbers?

I should also have mentioned that Fleetwoow, Jayco and others have used the GVWR + hitch capacity for the GCWR. As I noted, to go beyond that means upgrading the hitch. On the other hand you cannot add hitch capacity to GVWR and assume that is you GCWR or use the hitch rating as the weight you can tow. For example, our previous MH was a Jayco Super C with a 10,000 lb hitch. GVWR was 19.500 and GCWR was 26,000. If you were loaded to the GVWR then you would be limited to 6,500 for four down towing. If you were to tow a trailer the weight placed on the receiver would have to be factored in to the Weight of the MH.

As pointed out frame extensions (added to the end of the frame rails) have to be considered - and same thing for wheelbase extensions where they cut and add to the frame rails and increase the length of the drive shaft. Sadly, virtually every MH manufacturer buys only one wheelbase length and then has to cut and insert when making longer WB models. Mor-Ryde does this work for several of the MH manufactuerers and Ford has set standards they must follow to retain the warranty. This may mean that putting on a higher rated receiver is not possible if a frame extension is not strong enough.

[rrawood]

My particular model is a 2012 Fleetwood, with a late 2011 chassis. From what I read on the Fleetwood website, the GAWR is 9,500 Rear and 5,000 for a total GVWR of 14,500. I am sure it has been discussed, but you can get up to the GVWR quickly when you see how much these beasts weigh coming from the factory before you even load the family into it.

[The Shadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrawood My particular model is a 2012 Fleetwood, with a late 2011 chassis. From what I read on the Fleetwood website, the GAWR is 9,500 Rear and 5,000 for a total GVWR of 14,500. I am sure it has been discussed, but you can get up to the GVWR quickly when you see how much these beasts weigh coming from the factory before you even load the family into it.

Depends a lot on the length and number of slides. We are 27 ft 10 inches and one shallow slide. From my calculations is will be very difficult for us to get up to 14,500. Now, if you have 32 ft and 3 slides, that is a different story entirely. Over the past decade we've seen some C's with very very limited weight capacity. Same with some A's and DPs. One fellow on RV.net took delivery of a Newmar DP and the front axle was overweight without his wife or anything in the front compartment freezer. The axle had to be bumped by 2,000 lbs by Newmar. In our previous MH - the Kodiak, we had lots of extra capacity. On one occasion when weighed on the way to Florida for the winter with as full a load as we were ever going to carry, we were over 1500 lbs under our GVWR. My own preference is to have a good cushion but as I mentioned, with 3 slides (and one of them huge) and 32 ft, the 14,500 gets gobbled up quickly like you stated.