Question about towing and GVWR

[Tgunter5]

Here is something to keep in mind : TW on a TT can vary a LOT in the course of a trip. Fresh water moves from its tank to the black/grey tanks. Food gets eaten and leaves the pantry/fridge ending up in the black tank. Propane gets consumed and disappears. Clean clothes become soiled and change locations....etc. And everyone loads their TT different, and has different usage patterns. .

I am not suprised at all by the different numbers reported.... In fact it is what I expect.

Thats good news for me! I was racking my brain trying to understand how/where I messed up when weight everything... Thanks for the input!!!!

[Chewwi]

Here is something to keep in mind : TW on a TT can vary a LOT in the course of a trip. Fresh water moves from its tank to the black/grey tanks. Food gets eaten and leaves the pantry/fridge ending up in the black tank. Propane gets consumed and disappears. Clean clothes become soiled and change locations....etc. And everyone loads their TT different, and has different usage patterns. .

I am not suprised at all by the different numbers reported.... In fact it is what I expect.

Issue was not tongue weight variance over the course of a trip. Tgunter5’s tongue weight varied by well over 300 lbs by just changing his tow vehicle with very little change in trailer weight. His previous tongue weight was also inconsistent with his trailers overall weight unless the trailers added contents were loaded on the hitch ball. I may be wrong but I assume the Catscale weights being reported were for similarly loaded RVs, otherwise we’re talking apples and oranges.

[huntindog]

Issue was not tongue weight variance over the course of a trip. Tgunter5’s tongue weight varied by well over 300 lbs by just changing his tow vehicle with very little change in trailer weight. His previous tongue weight was also inconsistent with his trailers overall weight unless the trailers added contents were loaded on the hitch ball. I may be wrong but I assume the Catscale weights being reported were for similarly loaded RVs, otherwise we’re talking apples and oranges.

I understand that... I was just pointing out how easily TW can change. He got two different weighs lord knows how far apart.. It is unlikely that the TT was loaded exactly the same both times.
It is kind of like getting a negative result for a Covid test.. All that means is that at the time the test was taken, you were Covid free.... In fact by the time you get the results, you may not be. In either case, it is just a snapshot in time.

Also, this is a reason I frown on cutting it close on a lashup. People all of the time reporting being within 50-100# of their max, but they DID have it weighed so they KNOW they are good.

When all they really know is that they were good that one time on the scales

[Tgunter5]

Issue was not tongue weight variance over the course of a trip. Tgunter5’s tongue weight varied by well over 300 lbs by just changing his tow vehicle with very little change in trailer weight. His previous tongue weight was also inconsistent with his trailers overall weight unless the trailers added contents were loaded on the hitch ball. I may be wrong but I assume the Catscale weights being reported were for similarly loaded RVs, otherwise we’re talking apples and oranges.

Here are the actual weight tickets. Thanks for taking the time to interpret these numbers. In the end, it may be a lost cause but the Sierra is my current TV so that's what's most important to me. I do acknowledge that I may have, or rather most likely made an error that I cannot explain.

[Tgunter5]

Here is the last one....

[huntindog]

Hello!

We're looking to upgrade our camper, just need a bit more space than we currently have. We're looking at purchasing a Grand Design 2600RB.

Tow vehicle:
2018 RAM 1500
Curb Weight: 5378.50
GVWR: 6900
GCVWR: 13,800
Towing Capacity: 7990
Payload: 1200


The GD 2600RB is:
UVW: 5795
GVWR: 7850
Hitch: 594


So I know the GVWR is pushing our limits of what we can tow, which with that comes safety concerns. The issue I'm having trouble getting a straight answer on is does the GVWR matter if we're not loading it up 100%. We know from our current camper that we added about 431lbs of cargo (CAT scale pre-trip minus the UVW of our current TT).

With that being considered rounding up to 500LBs, even 600lbs for error puts us at 6,395 lbs. Which is 1,595 lbs below our towing capacity.

The easy answer is get a 250 or 2500. Unfortunately just not in the cards at this moment. We just got the 1500 last year and then the camper. At the time with the market it was hard to find trucks and campers due to demand (more people camping due to COVID). We camped nearly every weekend last year and learned we need a bit more space and function.

All that to say I understand the point of the GVWR, but if we're not planning to load up, does it really matter in this case?
Open to any additional feedback.

Thanks in Advance!

More space almost always means more stuff.
There is little point in a unit with a lot of storage, if you are limited by weight of actally be able to use said storage.

[Chewwi]

Tgunter5

Weighing on different days could have introduced something different between weighs such as passenger, fuel quantity, or stuff in the bed of the tow vehicle.

What is also interesting is there was only 20 lbs difference between the total weight of both Silverado’s axles and RV with or
w/o weight distribution and they were weighed on the same day. There is 220 lbs of difference between the total weight of your Sierra’s axles and the RVs with and w/o weight distribution weighed on different days.

Your Sierra will suit you nicely. I would also prefer a 2500 even though I’m well within my limits, but my wife couldn’t stand having to climb in and out of the taller vehicle.

[jleonard]

Wow! 1,140 lbs tongue weight with trailer weight of only 6,480 lbs. That’s right at 17.5%. Is that with a WD hitch properly set up?

Your loaded trailer weight is close to ours but the tongue weight is almost 300 lbs. heavier. We don’t travel with fresh water in the tank but do keep about 5 gals in the black tank. Our pass thru storage area is close to full, but not much heavy stuff. We also tend to throw the last minute travel items on the floor in the shower. Hard to understand why our tongue weights are so different.

I think the hitch is set up ok according to wheel well measurements. Front up 1/4 ", rear down 2 ".
Without the bars the TW was 1300.
I still don't know why it's so heavy except that the RB design has very little storage behind the axles.

[NB Canada]

I think the hitch is set up ok according to wheel well measurements. Front up 1/4 ", rear down 2 ".
Without the bars the TW was 1300.
I still don't know why it's so heavy except that the RB design has very little storage behind the axles.

Those are the measurements with the wdh?
Down 2 inches in the rear and UP in the front?

I wouldn’t call that setup okay


2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew

[Chewwi]

I think the hitch is set up ok according to wheel well measurements. Front up 1/4 ", rear down 2 ".
Without the bars the TW was 1300.
I still don't know why it's so heavy except that the RB design has very little storage behind the axles.

@jleonard, Curious to see your Catscale weigh tickets if they are available. As Huntindog pointed out, tongue weight doesn’t change with weight distribution. The axle weights do change. Something appears to be wrong with the way you calculated your tongue weight. My guess is the 1140 lbs reported tongue weight is the difference between drive axle weight with and w/o weight distribution.

Not sure about your truck, but GM says measure front end height without RV. Measure again with RV but no weight distribution. Adjust weght distribution to get front end height as close to halfway between the two. BlueOx instructions are different but provides similar result. Ideally, both the RV and tow vehicle appear to be riding “level” when properly set up.