Please Explain the Yellow Sticker

[SknirB]

Im feeling somewhat paranoid now about weights and if im exceding limits on the tongue and the trailer in general. And hitch weight. I was looking at the sticker today on the side of the camper - trying to figure things out and for the life of me I dont understand it. I took a picture of it - can someone explain it to me?










So the GVWR of the trailer is 6000#. But the yellow sticker says 5877# Dry weight. Isnt the dry weight the GVWR? And it says do not exceed 81# of cargo....but a tank of water = 300#. is that not considered cargo? I think for my family of 5 our food probably weighs more than 81#s lol. So what is the deal here? Thinkin im way way way over weight here and now im wondering if my 800-1200# WD hitch is enough...or am i not understanding how this all works.

Thanks for all the info folks....feeling foolish taking this camper out without understanding how everything works - nice to have a place to come to and ask questions

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by SknirB

So the GVWR of the trailer is 6000#. But the yellow sticker says 5877# Dry weight. Isnt the dry weight the GVWR? And it says do not exceed 81# of cargo....but a tank of water = 300#. is that not considered cargo? I think for my family of 5 our food probably weighs more than 81#s lol. So what is the deal here? Thinkin im way way way over weight here and now im wondering if my 800-1200# WD hitch is enough...or am i not understanding how this all works.

Thanks for all the info folks....feeling foolish taking this camper out without understanding how everything works - nice to have a place to come to and ask questions

first, what model do you have? i can't find the 300BHDS you mention in the first post, on Coachmen's website.
since you don't mention the year, i'm assuming it's new.
Triguy mentioned a 310BHDS, which is the only one on the website that is close to the model number you posted.
that trailer has a GVWR of 9900lbs. and a fictional "dry" weight of 6890lbs., which doesn't jive with your numbers.

and NO, dry weight is not the GVWR.

first, factory dry weight is the weight of the stripped-down version of the trailer.

then you have to add the weight of all the typical "options that all trailers have, such as: oven, microwave, awning, spare tire, a/c and so on.
that weight delivered to the dealer is the UVW, which doesn't include battery, water, propane or cargo. this should be the weight on the yellow sticker, which isn't readable in your picture.

the GVWR is the maximum the trailer can weigh period.

[Herk7769]

Moved the inquiry to a new thread because it was a separate question and might benefit from a new forum.

[DonG]

My guess is that the sticker is simply wrong.
What exact make, model and year of camper do you have?

[camper_Lucy]

SknirB, we need a little more information here to really help you. What year, model, and brand of unit are we talking about?

The Yellow sticker is the actual dry weight of your unit as the unit came off the factory line, the last step is they weigh the unit to produce the sticker. (this sticker should not be wrong).

The Dry weight you see in the specs are estimates do not rely on that number for anything. (lets forget this number).

The GVWR is the total allowable weight the unit can carry including itself, based on the lowest common denominator part(s) (usually the axles).

So, having a yellow sticker of 5877 and a GVWR of 6000 seems off to me, most units allow for a difference of at least a 1000 lbs, that is why we need more info to help you. Your GVWR should be higher.

[lbrjet]

Your axle rating is 5400 lbs which is about right for a 6K GVWR. They may have put on the wrong axles. The axle and tire ratings determine the GVWR.

[boubou]

The sticker HAS to be wrong. Check with your dealer.

[boubou]

Originally Posted by camper_Lucy

SknirB, we need a little more information here to really help you. What year, model, and brand of unit are we talking about?

The Yellow sticker is the actual dry weight of your unit as the unit came off the factory line, the last step is they weigh the unit to produce the sticker. (this sticker should not be wrong).

The Dry weight you see in the specs are estimates do not rely on that number for anything. (lets forget this number).

The GVWR is the total allowable weight the unit can carry including itself, based on the lowest common denominator part(s) (usually the axles).

So, having a yellow sticker of 5877 and a GVWR of 6000 seems off to me, most units allow for a difference of at least a 1000 lbs, that is why we need more info to help you. Your GVWR should be higher.

I was given a new sticker last week to replace the previously posted sticker for tire pressure. They had put the wrong one on. So yes, the sticker could be wrong

[camper_Lucy]

Boubou, that I believe, but that's not the yellow sticker. the tire pressure stickers get put on on the line not at the scale like the yellow one. It is possible to have incorrect stickers, but the yellow one is produced at the scale for each unit, the others are not, to determine if those are wrong we need more info from the OP on the unit.

[cyclepuck]

After looking around looks like sticker is wrong. All the ones I seen said 5718 dry weight 614 tongue weight and most are saying 1819 cargo weight but a few said 1219.

[DonG]

Man, if they put two 2700-lb axles under a 6000 lb camper, someone needs to have their arses kicked!
And the GVW is EXACTLY 6000 lbs? That seems odd as well.

[lbrjet]

Look at just about any FR trailer and the sum of axle ratings are less than the GVWR. They subtract the tongue weight not carried by the axles when determining the GVWR. And on a fiver it could be a lot different due to higher pin weights.

[DonG]

The OP's trailer is a bumper hitch.

[SknirB]

Originally Posted by DonG

My guess is that the sticker is simply wrong.
What exact make, model and year of camper do you have?

The trailer is a 2010 Forest River, Coachman Freedom Express FET300BHS. According to the stickers on the side. I am in Northern Alberta Canada so im not sure if Forest River made canadian Specific models. More pictures below should help

[SknirB]

Originally Posted by bikendan

first, what model do you have? i can't find the 300BHDS you mention in the first post, on Coachmen's website.
since you don't mention the year, i'm assuming it's new.
Triguy mentioned a 310BHDS, which is the only one on the website that is close to the model number you posted.
that trailer has a GVWR of 9900lbs. and a fictional "dry" weight of 6890lbs., which doesn't jive with your numbers.

and NO, dry weight is not the GVWR.

first, factory dry weight is the weight of the stripped-down version of the trailer.

then you have to add the weight of all the typical "options that all trailers have, such as: oven, microwave, awning, spare tire, a/c and so on.
that weight delivered to the dealer is the UVW, which doesn't include battery, water, propane or cargo. this should be the weight on the yellow sticker, which isn't readable in your picture.

the GVWR is the maximum the trailer can weigh period.

Here is a closer up pic of the yellow sticker....hopefully it is readable now.

[DonG]

Checked a few of the same camper on the interweb, and it looks like you should have 3500 lb axles, which would give you around 2000 lbs of cargo capacity.
To ease your mind, just crawl under the camper and look at the axles tubes. The weight rating should be either on a sticker, or stamped right into the tube. If they are rated for 3500 lbs, the GVWR sticker is wrong, and you are good to go.
Let us kow what you find!

[MtnGuy]

I could not find any Coachmen information online, but I did find this: 2010 Coachmen Freedom Express 300BHS Trailer : Reviews, Prices and Specs : RV Guide

According to that, you should have (2) 3500 lb. axles on that trailer. You might want to crawl underneath that puppy so see if there is any identification on the axles.

It has been posted here previously that Forest River put the wrong stickers on the side of a trailer. I think Forest River sent the correct stickers to the owners to replace the incorrect stickers.

This might be a boo-boo that Coachmen needs to correct, either by replacing your axles with the heavier units if they are indeed too lite for the trailer, , or replace the sticker if that is incorrect.

Looks like DonG posted while I was composing. Both replies are similar.

[MtnGuy]

Here ya go.....the brochere on the 300BHS: http://www.rvusa.com/specbase/pictur...ssbrochure.pdf

[DonG]

You know, something bothered me about the OP's GVWR sticker, and it just dawned on me, it says that his camper has 3 axles!
Talk about a messed up deal.

[cstover]

I would say something is amiss. The math does not add up to what the stickers say.