Quote:
Originally Posted by the4scotts
So does this mean that if we plan to tow a vehicle do we need to make sure we are light enough in the mh itself to come in under the combined weight. Or is it just not possible for us tow a vehicle?
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The short answers are yes and yes it should be possible but.....
I know this is a bit long, but I have posted this before & I think it will help you. I'm not addressing your tires per se but once you understand this weight thing, you'll have the knowledge to buy the proper tires, and how to air them up properly to carry—
your—load and load your MH properly. Just apply these principals to your situation.
I know for me—when I first began trying to figure this all out—it was difficult to understand how all this weight stuff works by reading a whole bunch of short tips from 50 people. It was hard to connect all the dots so that I understood it all.
• You have your basic MH weight as it stands unloaded when you bought it. And then you put
all your stuff in it. Then add people, pets, water, fuel and everything else as you are going to travel with. You can keep doing all that until you max out your weight and achieve your GVWR. Your "Gross Vehicle Weight Ratio" is the MAX you can "CARRY" on board OR on the chassis.
• Now, concerning the tow vehicle and what you put in it. Your toad has a factory weight too—BUT—make sure it has everything in it too. When you go to the weigh station, you'll have the toad hooked up to your MH. When you weigh, you'll be weighing everything including the toad....like, the tow hitch, maybe an additional braking system in the toad, the toad itself, it's fuel, spare tire, maybe extra camping gear, etc. The MH, the toad and everything concerning your toad is your GCWR - Gross "Combined" Weight Ratio.
So for example our MH:
• Our MH has a GVWR of 22K - so that means I can load the MH/chassis up to 22K max amount and also making sure I don't overload the front & rear axles doing it.
• Our GCWR is 26K, so that means, if I max out my GVWR at 22K, I can only tow 4K max, "EVEN THOUGH MY HITCH AND MY MH IS RATED FOR 5K". So, if I want to tow a 5K toad, I'll have to shed 1,000lbs off my GVWR, instead of maxing it out at 22K. In other words, I'll have to get my MH/chassis weight down to 21K to tow that 5K toad.
• The next thing to watch for is that while your loading up your MH and then go weigh it, make sure you don't exceed your front and rear axle weights. This is why you want a 4 corner weigh. That will accurately show you your total axle weight, how the weight is distributed throughout your MH and will inform you how you'll have to adjust and redistribute your weight so that your axles are not over loaded and whether your side to side weight is heavy on one side. Then, once you've distributed your weight and got your final weight, THEN you'll know what max you can tow. This weight info will also be valuable on how to inflate your tires to the proper PSI to carry that weight.
Now for me, I always like to be a little more conservative and not max out everything just because it's capable. It's easier on the entire drive train, better MPG's, better braking (especially down hills) climb better, hopefully run cooler etc. We are preparing to FT soon and we're working through all these issues as we speak. Our goal is to try to run 80%-85% of GVWR or around 21,500lbs. max and we chose a Ford Fiesta as our toad which will have a total loaded weight of somewhere around 2,800lbs. So at the end of the day "rolling down the road" we're shooting for around 24,500 or so which will be 1,500lbs. UNDER our GCWR.
Having this information will equip you to know what type of tires you need—and their load rating—to carry that weight. You'll have several people recommend tires that will do this for your MH. Once you figure all this out for your scenario you'll KNOW where you stand and you've taken the precautions to be as safe as possible not only for you but those driving around you.
Hope this helps.