ZanderMan
Weekender RV’er
Needs monitoring
Posts: 63
|
Post by ZanderMan on May 22, 2020 10:03:17 GMT -5
We are just getting started with the RV life and wanted to know if anyone has compiled the weights of various "stuff" that they bring with them. I'm into ultralite backpacking, so we do odd things like cut half the handles off our toothbrushes to shave ounces. I'm planning to start a spreadsheet with things like: - Water (fresh, black, grey)
- Here I think that you basically start the trip with only fresh water (in my case 38 gals), and it goes to either gray or black from there vs. all full at the same time. - Food
- Reduce canned goods (heavy) and stick with items sold in foil or plastic packaging (think tuna packets vs canned tuna), use plastic storage containers
- My wife and I like our bourbon and wine, so I'm considering pouring those into stable plastic containers and ditching the glass bottles.
- We don't drink sodas but I do like my beer so will be buying only in cans.
- We will probably carry along a couple 2.5 gallon water jugs, so that's 5x8.34 = 42 lbs right there. - Clothes
- I really don't think this will be a big contributor, especially if we are traveling during the summer months - Outdoor furniture / recreation
- Camp chairs / grills
- Bicycles
- Entertainment/work devices (again not all that heavy but it adds up)
- Laptops / iPads - Misc
- We will have a 13' awning, but I'm wondering if a pop-up tent with screens may be a useful thing at a campsite, particularly if it's buggy.
- Tools (I like to be self-sufficient when it comes to repairs so I'm thinking I want a fairly robust set of tools with me which could be heavy)
- LP tank (30lbs full?)
The SL169VRK has NCC of 625 lbs, so I'm wondering if this is limiting in any way.
Thanks for any insights or personal experience. Let me know if there's anything major I missed. I do have a spreadsheet I got from somewhere that allows you to input GVWR, GCVWR, Payload, towing capacity, etc that sanity checks your setup.
Steve
|
|
ZanderMan
Weekender RV’er
Needs monitoring
Posts: 63
|
Post by ZanderMan on May 22, 2020 10:54:53 GMT -5
|
|
ZanderMan
Weekender RV’er
Needs monitoring
Posts: 63
|
Post by ZanderMan on May 22, 2020 18:26:18 GMT -5
Sooo... newb mistake? Don’t travel with a full tank of water if you know where your next hook-up is?
|
|
|
|
Post by jetzen on May 22, 2020 19:00:56 GMT -5
Hi Zanderman,
I am pretty much a fulltimer, here is my advice to.you. Start early before your trip load your tow vehicle and trailer with how and what you think you will.need for your trip. Hook the trailer up to the tow vehicle and go.hit the scales. Any truck stop with a CAT scale will work. Weigh the entire rig then park the trailer and go weigh the tow vehicle. This will tell You if you are in compliance with your GVW, GCWR and the trailer axle weight rating. Then you can add or subtract cargo from there. Or shift cargo to balance the load.
I'm glad to see you are thinking but.....
NO SPREAD SHEET TAKES THE PLACE OF WEIGHING YOUR RIG. Relying on a computer generated scenario is dangerous and just plain stupid.
11-16 gallons of water should be all you need in your fresh holding tank, 6 for the hot water tank and the 5-10 in the holding tank. with a 2 gallon fresh drinkable for kitchen use between stops. Filling water from a hose bib will flow at approximately 3 gal/min from a 1/2" hose.
I have been doing this rv thing for a long time almost 45 years. I was a newbie once also. Take it from an oldtimer, don't take chances. Things happen way too fast at 65mph.
|
|
ZanderMan
Weekender RV’er
Needs monitoring
Posts: 63
|
Post by ZanderMan on May 23, 2020 8:02:08 GMT -5
Thanks, jetzen! Definitely will be heading to the scales. I need to weigh my stock 4Runner with no passengers or gear (full tank of gas tho) to get a baseline, and will also weigh the trailer before putting ANYTHING in it for that baseline. My 4Runner is only rated for 5,000 lbs so trying to stay as close to 4,000 lbs as possible on the trailer. Thanks for the guidance on water, makes sense. Spreadsheet is only to figure out ballpark numbers, but based on actual weights of stuff I plan to pack in. Like it said, I’m a backpacker so I know how many ounces each item I’m putting in my pack weighs but I also take a final weight when it’s all in. I need to find some scales around here that I can access, the only ones I know of are at our county dump but not sure if they’ll let me do drive-bys. Here to learn and be safe, appreciate all the advice! |
|
|
|
Post by wireman134 on May 23, 2020 20:57:29 GMT -5
Your 4 Runner will most likely be over it's GVWR way before you hit that 5,000lb. max tow. Payload capacity of your tow vehicle is the one you have to watch.
|
|
ZanderMan
Weekender RV’er
Needs monitoring
Posts: 63
|
Post by ZanderMan on May 23, 2020 21:35:38 GMT -5
Your 4 Runner will most likely be over it's GVWR way before you hit that 5,000lb. max tow. Payload capacity of your tow vehicle is the one you have to watch.
Thanks for the link, that’s what I’ve been keeping an eye on as well. I still need to hit the scales for a ‘curb weight’ of my 4Runner with a full tank of gas. My 4Runner is not built up at all... the only thing I’ve added is a front skid plate - 20lbs? But that is “low/front” weight, not up top/rear. Trying to keep the trailer at 80% of max tow. Will be interesting to see what the heavyweights are after water and propane. 4Runner GVWR is 6300 lbs ‘Occupant and cargo’ limit is 1165 lbs. So maybe ‘curb weight’ is assumed to be 5,135? (vs 4750 of the 4Runner Trail edition) I know the full-time AWD does add weight to the Limited and so cargo limit is reduced somewhat. Anyway, I’m just tossing these numbers around in my head until I can actually take delivery and get to some scales. |
|
ZanderMan
Weekender RV’er
Needs monitoring
Posts: 63
|
Post by ZanderMan on May 29, 2020 20:27:22 GMT -5
Picked up the 169 today.
Went to the scales before and after.
Before: 4Runner front axle - 2760, rear axle - 2500, total 5260 (2 passengers, full tank of gas, about 100 lbs of junk in the trunk)
After: 4Runner front axle - 2780, rear axle - 2820, trailer axle 3500, total 9100
Difference - 3840
I was also down about 9 gals of gas or 54 lbs on rear axle so 3840+54 = 3894 lbs
Towing capacity is 5,000 but want to stay as close to 4,000 as possible with the trailer. NCC of the trailer is shown as 605 lbs.
|
|
|
|
Post by wireman134 on Jun 1, 2020 19:18:43 GMT -5
3,500lb. on trailer axle plus 340lb. tongue weight equals 3,840lbs. empty I assume. Tongue weight is calculated by subtracting tow vehicle axle weights without trailer hitched from with trailer hitched. 605lb. CC added to the 3,840lbs. should give you GVWR of trailer 4,445lb. Load that trailer up you should get a WD hitch like the EAZ-Lift here www.amazon.com/dp/B005SB6RSU/ref=twister_B006W8NIFI?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 It will work well for up to 600lb. tongue weight which you will be close to 500lbs. loaded to camp. |
|
ZanderMan
Weekender RV’er
Needs monitoring
Posts: 63
|
Post by ZanderMan on Jun 2, 2020 8:15:58 GMT -5
3,500lb. on trailer axle plus 340lb. tongue weight equals 3,840lbs. empty I assume. Tongue weight is calculated by subtracting tow vehicle axle weights without trailer hitched from with trailer hitched. 605lb. CC added to the 3,840lbs. should give you GVWR of trailer 4,445lb. Load that trailer up you should get a WD hitch like the EAZ-Lift here www.amazon.com/dp/B005SB6RSU/ref=twister_B006W8NIFI?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 It will work well for up to 600lb. tongue weight which you will be close to 500lbs. loaded to camp. Thanks wireman134 . Yeah I have a Fastway e2 WDH (600 lb rating) with square trunnions and so far am impressed with the heftiness of it. I've taken a couple passes across the CAT scales, so the difference in the tow vehicle drive axle weights at this stage is 320 lbs (2820-2500), but yes the trailer has not been stocked. If anything, I'll move weight to the drive axle of the 4Runner before I get close to my GVWR rating on the trailer, as I have more cargo margin on the 4Runner than the trailer. The 4Runner is a little short on HP... I need to keep it out of OD to keep the tranny temps below 220F and am thinking of adding a B&M cooler. I've also heard good results from a Manguson supercharger which is bolt-on HP. Not ready to give up on the 4Runner just yet, and moving up to a Sequoia V8 or Tundra V8 will cost more than a supercharger. |
|
ZanderMan
Weekender RV’er
Needs monitoring
Posts: 63
|
Post by ZanderMan on Jul 5, 2020 23:04:01 GMT -5
Latest CAT scale weights with a more representative load:
Front axle: 2700
Drive axle: 2960
Trailer axle: 3940
Total: 9600 lbs
Pretty happy so far.
|
|
|
|
Post by gabebillings on Aug 19, 2020 17:32:05 GMT -5
I hadn't ever really thought much about the various weight capactities until we started looking at RVs and I began reading things online. We currently have a small 6 x 10 cargo trailer we use to schlep around our camping stuff and I realized pretty quickly that it's super easy to overload your vehicle. I've got a Ram 1500 with maybe 1,750 cargo capacity. But I've got running boards, and a Diamondback bed cap AND interior truck box with stuff in it. Throw a couple of coolers in the back, and the maybe 300 lb tongue of the trailer and we're probably already pushing it. The last trip I decided we should take a second car and offload a couple of people from the truck for good measure.
Now I've got a bigger Stratus SR231VRB and a whole new host of weight issues. So there's the truck GCWR, individual axle ratings, the hitch rating, the towing capacity, the trailer GVWR, the CVWR of truck and trailer... Am I forgetting anything? I don't think I'm going to be over when I get everything weighed, but I don't think I'm at the point where I can just load stuff willy nilly. I haven't put any water into the trailer yet. I'm unsure where the tanks are, and how that's going to change things.
I did get an Equalizer WDH, so that's going to help.
|
|
ZanderMan
Weekender RV’er
Needs monitoring
Posts: 63
|
Post by ZanderMan on Aug 20, 2020 8:50:09 GMT -5
I hadn't ever really thought much about the various weight capactities until we started looking at RVs and I began reading things online. We currently have a small 6 x 10 cargo trailer we use to schlep around our camping stuff and I realized pretty quickly that it's super easy to overload your vehicle. I've got a Ram 1500 with maybe 1,750 cargo capacity. But I've got running boards, and a Diamondback bed cap AND interior truck box with stuff in it. Throw a couple of coolers in the back, and the maybe 300 lb tongue of the trailer and we're probably already pushing it. The last trip I decided we should take a second car and offload a couple of people from the truck for good measure. Now I've got a bigger Stratus SR231VRB and a whole new host of weight issues. So there's the truck GCWR, individual axle ratings, the hitch rating, the towing capacity, the trailer GVWR, the CVWR of truck and trailer... Am I forgetting anything? I don't think I'm going to be over when I get everything weighed, but I don't think I'm at the point where I can just load stuff willy nilly. I haven't put any water into the trailer yet. I'm unsure where the tanks are, and how that's going to change things. I did get an Equalizer WDH, so that's going to help. Water in your tanks is a conundrum. Some folks like to carry lots of fresh water in case they need to unexpectedly boondock (?). Leaving some water in your grey and black tanks while towing is good for sloshing things around and keeping the inside of the tank clean (added after dumping, of course), even adding ice to aid in the "scrubbing action". But, at 8.4 lbs per gallon of water, it adds up pretty fast, and like you mentioned the location of your tanks makes a big difference on axle vs hitch weight. The best advice is to keep your hitch weight above 300 lbs to prevent sway and keep weight low in the TT while towing to prevent raising your center of gravity. On our next trip, we are going to unload all the dishes from the rear of our TT (low and high cabinets) and place them in the storage area under our dinette bench seats which is directly over the axle. This will keep the rear weight from lightening our hitch weight and also lower our center of gravity closer to the axles. Not only that but if we have an unexpected sudden stop, the dishes are safer under the bench. Yes, we put Velcro straps across the doors while towing but if you can be safer, why not? May be overthinking it, but if it makes me more confident in my towing then it is not wasted effort. Obviously weight is just one factor in safe towing, lots of other things to consider. |
|
|
|
Post by gabebillings on Sept 2, 2020 16:16:25 GMT -5
I finally got my trailer down to the scales and spent an hour or so messing around with it. This wasn't a giant truck scale that'd let me weight everything at once. It was big enough I could get both truck axles on at once, but that was it. So I did individual axles, then the trailer. Then I unhitched the trailer and did just the truck alone. I hope this logic is sound. If both axles of truck is A, both axles of trailer is B, and truck unhitched is C, then A-C should be the trailer tongue weight. And (A-C) + B should be the total weight of the trailer. While all the weights are up there, everything seems to be within ranges. Front and rear axles, plus truck GVWR are under limits, with about 560 lbs to spare. This is with me in the truck but not the wife. Plus there'd probably be a few things in the bed, but not much. Trailer came out to 6500 lbs with barely 2/3rds of a load of water. Aside from adding some food and our clothes, which I'm pretty sure would be under 100 lbs, everything is in the trailer that we'd ever take with us. So that still leaves 500 lbs of wiggle room there, too. One of the things I'm a little confused about is the water capacities. On the Venture site they list this trailer as have a 51 gallon fresh water capacity. This is a 2021 model, but I wouldn't expect things would change drastically from one year to the next. The sticker on the inside of my door says 'A full load of water is 332 lbs of cargo at 8.3 lbs/gal'. 332/8.3 is 40. So I'm not sure which number to believe. I guess it is what it is, it'd just be nice to know. I'm assuming the fresh water tank is in the front, since the pump is right above that, and the drain is under that portion of the trailer. I'm also guessing the black and gray tanks are back behind the wheels since that's where the bathroom is, as well as the black/gray drain. On our first outing this last weekend we brought the water since the campsite hadn't mentioned anything aside from the electrical hookup. Turns out they had water, too. So we didn't worry too much about how much water we used. We went through everything in the fresh tank before switching over to their hookup. When we left gray said it was full, and black said 2/3rds. I don't know exactly where the sensors are, but I'm guessing there's some room between empty and 1/3 and between full and the tank actually being full. Whatever the case, that was probably like 400 lbs of weight that shifted from close to the tongue to behind the wheels. It wasn't terrible, but it definitely drove a little different. Sway was more apparent. I'm looking forward to going on some trips without boondocking so I can drive it with mostly empty tanks.   |
|
ZanderMan
Weekender RV’er
Needs monitoring
Posts: 63
|
Post by ZanderMan on Sept 4, 2020 11:54:45 GMT -5
I finally got my trailer down to the scales and spent an hour or so messing around with it. This wasn't a giant truck scale that'd let me weight everything at once. It was big enough I could get both truck axles on at once, but that was it. So I did individual axles, then the trailer. Then I unhitched the trailer and did just the truck alone. I hope this logic is sound. If both axles of truck is A, both axles of trailer is B, and truck unhitched is C, then A-C should be the trailer tongue weight. And (A-C) + B should be the total weight of the trailer. While all the weights are up there, everything seems to be within ranges. Front and rear axles, plus truck GVWR are under limits, with about 560 lbs to spare. This is with me in the truck but not the wife. Plus there'd probably be a few things in the bed, but not much. Trailer came out to 6500 lbs with barely 2/3rds of a load of water. Aside from adding some food and our clothes, which I'm pretty sure would be under 100 lbs, everything is in the trailer that we'd ever take with us. So that still leaves 500 lbs of wiggle room there, too. One of the things I'm a little confused about is the water capacities. On the Venture site they list this trailer as have a 51 gallon fresh water capacity. This is a 2021 model, but I wouldn't expect things would change drastically from one year to the next. The sticker on the inside of my door says 'A full load of water is 332 lbs of cargo at 8.3 lbs/gal'. 332/8.3 is 40. So I'm not sure which number to believe. I guess it is what it is, it'd just be nice to know. I'm assuming the fresh water tank is in the front, since the pump is right above that, and the drain is under that portion of the trailer. I'm also guessing the black and gray tanks are back behind the wheels since that's where the bathroom is, as well as the black/gray drain. On our first outing this last weekend we brought the water since the campsite hadn't mentioned anything aside from the electrical hookup. Turns out they had water, too. So we didn't worry too much about how much water we used. We went through everything in the fresh tank before switching over to their hookup. When we left gray said it was full, and black said 2/3rds. I don't know exactly where the sensors are, but I'm guessing there's some room between empty and 1/3 and between full and the tank actually being full. Whatever the case, that was probably like 400 lbs of weight that shifted from close to the tongue to behind the wheels. It wasn't terrible, but it definitely drove a little different. Sway was more apparent. I'm looking forward to going on some trips without boondocking so I can drive it with mostly empty tanks. Good analysis, Gabe! Yeah weight would shift off the tongue as you use fresh water, so if you wanted to over-analyze you could do all those weights on your way back from a trip but your paper analysis will probably suffice. For my fresh water, I time how long it takes my hose at the house to fill up a 5 gal bucket then use that “timing” measurement to estimate how many gallons I’m putting in my fresh water tank at home. I’ve never filled my fresh water tank, as we haven’t needed to boon-dock yet. |
|
