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Old 09-30-2013, 11:33 AM   #1
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Weights & truth in advertising

Yes, I'm a little obsessive about weighing. Not because I think I'm over- partly because I'm curious and this is like a new toy/game for me. But mostly, I like to be able to validate the statements that I (and others) make on the board.

I've now weighed my camper in 3 different states:
  1. At the start of the season- fairly minimal for what we typically run with
  2. At the middle of the season and just prior to a 3-week trip (with an extra adult, at that)- this is the heaviest that we'll likely ever be
  3. Completely empty & awaiting a trip back to the factory- this is as close to the day we brought her home as realistically possible

That third one is what I want to talk about. I weighed with my fresh and hot water tanks completely empty, waste tanks as empty as they get (just a couple of gallons of water + chemicals) and all storage, cabinets, drawers, etc. completely empty. Here's what I found:
  1. Dry weight:
  2. Dry pin/hitch weight:
  3. And now, reality:
    • My camper's weight: 13,860 - 14,820 lbs.
    • My pin/hitch weight: 2,300 - 2,540 lbs. (16.6% - 17.1%)

All told, the advertising was fairly close to my real "dry" weights. The discrepancy between the advertised dry weight and the yellow sticker weight would likely be the upgrades that we bought on the camper (solid surface counters, electric stabilizer jacks, sofa in-place of a bunk, etc.). I think 400 pounds can be accounted for pretty easily.

I'm impressed that the yellow sticker is so close to accurate. It's 200 pounds different- but I don't know if they include full propane in their estimate and, of course, I'm carrying a little bit of water in each black tank. I think it's close enough for government work.

The dry hitch weights shock me- they're almost identical. If I had to guess, it would have to be due to the extra weight in the bunkhouse (airbed/sofa vs. bed) and water back in those waste water tanks (there are 2 tanks behind the axles). You can see that the percentage of hitch weight actually decreases in my empty camper.

And then the reality weights need the caveat that this is my reality. My wife and I are known to pack heavy.
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Old 09-30-2013, 11:36 AM   #2
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I *am* a little sad, though- I don't really see any reason to weigh again after this.
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Old 09-30-2013, 11:42 AM   #3
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Yes, you are getting compulsive. Not because you weighed yourself again but because you unloaded everything. The way you pack, that must have taken days.

I'm glad you threw in the caveat. You have some people out there thinking you won't have any fun on your trip if you don't load you camper down to its GVWR

Seriously, I think you have found yourself a nice hobby and I must admit your the reason I went I had myself weighed.
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Old 09-30-2013, 11:46 AM   #4
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LOL- I guess, let me be clear: I did not empty the camper because I'm that obsessive. I'm much lazier than I am obsessive. I had to empty it for it to make a trip back to the factory for some warranty work.

Hey now, according to my heaviest weight- we can still add 1,005 pounds to hit the camper's GVWR!
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Old 09-30-2013, 11:49 AM   #5
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I'm glad to hear that. I was starting to get a little concerned...

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Old 09-30-2013, 12:36 PM   #6
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I have a similar condition as you do. OTWC . (Obsessive trailer weight concerns). I am lucky though. On my route out of town I have a free scale that is almost always empty and unused. I check often to see how things are packed as I move things around and carry different levels of water to experiment. My wife thinks I'm nuts. I only do it because I am a little close to payload on my truck so I always want to make sure I am under. My name is Craig and I have OTWC.
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Old 09-30-2013, 12:49 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tanddc View Post
Yes, you are getting compulsive. Not because you weighed yourself again but because you unloaded everything. The way you pack, that must have taken days.

I'm glad you threw in the caveat. You have some people out there thinking you won't have any fun on your trip if you don't load you camper down to its GVWR

Seriously, I think you have found yourself a nice hobby and I must admit your the reason I went I had myself weighed.
I'm curious about what your weights turned out to be. I haven't done it yet. Would you mind posting them when you get a chance?
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:29 PM   #8
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Front 2660
Back 3140
Trailer 4560

We were fully loaded at the time. Maybe even a little heavy for us due to a tank dumping issue. (Dump station was on an angle and we couldn't dump the tanks completely)
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:31 PM   #9
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Front 2660
Back 3140
Trailer 4560

We were fully loaded at the time. Maybe even a little heavy for us due to a tank dumping issue. (Dump station was on an angle and we couldn't dump the tanks completely)
That trailer weight is only part of the story- to fully know what your tongue weight is, you have to do 2 more weighings. One with the camper attached, but without the WDH engaged. And then one with just the truck only. It's best to do all 3 at a time (even if you do have to bend the rules a little and drop your trailer when you're not supposed to).
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:32 PM   #10
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...All told, the advertising was fairly close to my real "dry" weights...
So, bottom line, all the Forest River factory sticker bashing has been de-bunked?
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:37 PM   #11
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So, bottom line, all the Forest River factory sticker bashing has been de-bunked?
LOL. Essentially.


(If we ignore the stuff that we add to the camper! )
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:42 PM   #12
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LOL. Essentially.


(If we ignore the stuff that we add to the camper! )
How could it possibly include what the dealer or others add on after it leaves Forest River?

When we toured the factory in Aug, weighting the unit was the last thing they did to the trailers before they were pulled out the door.
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:43 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by ependydad View Post

That trailer weight is only part of the story- to fully know what your tongue weight is, you have to do 2 more weighings. One with the camper attached, but without the WDH engaged. And then one with just the truck only. It's best to do all 3 at a time (even if you do have to bend the rules a little and drop your trailer when you're not supposed to).
I wasn't really interested in the tongue weight as all my storage is over the tongue and I am very careful with my loading. I did my WDH setting by measuring my wheel wells with and without the TT. I mainly wanted to check my axle weights.
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:47 PM   #14
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How could it possibly include what the dealer or others add on after it leaves Forest River?

When we toured the factory in Aug, weighting the unit was the last thing they did to the trailers before it was pulled out the door.
Magic Balls. I thought all the guys at FR had magic balls and could tell what we would load.

Point taken- I didn't write what I meant. You're right- the stickers shouldn't be bashed. They're pretty spot on. Heck, in the case of advertising- even the dry weight was pretty well spot on with what my camper was delivered with. Definitely confirmed.

I meant that the numbers and whole weighing process gave a lot of credence to the point that using the dry weights of stuff (if your goal is to stay within ratings (aka lawyer stickers)) is a crap-shoot. In my case, the pin weight numbers were 500-700 pounds different when loaded up.
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:49 PM   #15
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I wasn't really interested in the tongue weight as all my storage is over the tongue and I am very careful with my loading. I did my WDH setting by measuring my wheel wells with and without the TT. I mainly wanted to check my axle weights.
Understood.

I think there was more in my head than came out in my post-- my thinking is as much for the next guy who wants to use your numbers are guidance (assuming that's what mjones12 wanted), having just the truck + camper total numbers is only part of the picture.
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Old 09-30-2013, 08:31 PM   #16
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"Magic balls???"

I hope you meant crystal balls. I think "Magic balls" are something else again!
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