Forester MBS 2401S weight concerns

[flocktothewall]

I can say for us, never one time in all our back and forth looking at the class C MBS motorhomes from various manufacturers across multiple dealers did anyone EVER mention the CCC of these rigs. It was only because of this forum I would have even thought about looking at the yellow sticker on my door.

While I was at Yosemite a few weeks ago we saw quite a few MBS Class C's. One was towing a 4dr Jeep Rubicon loaded to the hilt with 35" tires. The other had an enclosed travel trailer with 10 kayaks on the outside not to mention the gear inside the trailer.

I think there might be a good deal of people that just assume it can handle what we throw at it.

I'd be interested in stats. How many people overload it for how long until/if anything happened. What happened if anything?

In retrospect I myself may have gone with another model if I had known about the CCC, but I'm not going to live with regrets about it.

Travel smart, pay attention, enjoy the ride right?

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by flocktothewall

I can say for us, never one time in all our back and forth looking at the class C MBS motorhomes from various manufacturers across multiple dealers did anyone EVER mention the CCC of these rigs. It was only because of this forum I would have even thought about looking at the yellow sticker on my door.

While I was at Yosemite a few weeks ago we saw quite a few MBS Class C's. One was towing a 4dr Jeep Rubicon loaded to the hilt with 35" tires. The other had an enclosed travel trailer with 10 kayaks on the outside not to mention the gear inside the trailer.

I think there might be a good deal of people that just assume it can handle what we throw at it.

I'd be interested in stats. How many people overload it for how long until/if anything happened. What happened if anything?

In retrospect I myself may have gone with another model if I had known about the CCC, but I'm not going to live with regrets about it.

Travel smart, pay attention, enjoy the ride right?

The MBS has lots of engine power. It has 4,220# of towing capacity on top of the GVWR. That is the GCWR less the GVWR. Most of that additional weight sits on the chassis of the towed vehicle, not the MBS. The only thing that counts against the MBS GVWR in the setups you mentioned is the tongue weight. Pretty good chance the overloaded travel trailer tongue weight on top of normal cargo and passengers would put the rig over GVWR, but the only way to know for sure is to weigh it. Not sure about that juiced up Jeep thingy....

Of course the towed vehicle or trailer has its own GVWR that must or should be met.

Land of 10,000 Lakes
2016 Forester MBS 2401R

[Keithe]

Originally Posted by flocktothewall

I can say for us, never one time in all our back and forth looking at the class C MBS motorhomes from various manufacturers across multiple dealers did anyone EVER mention the CCC of these rigs. It was only because of this forum I would have even thought about looking at the yellow sticker on my door.

While I was at Yosemite a few weeks ago we saw quite a few MBS Class C's. One was towing a 4dr Jeep Rubicon loaded to the hilt with 35" tires. The other had an enclosed travel trailer with 10 kayaks on the outside not to mention the gear inside the trailer.

I think there might be a good deal of people that just assume it can handle what we throw at it.

I'd be interested in stats. How many people overload it for how long until/if anything happened. What happened if anything?

In retrospect I myself may have gone with another model if I had known about the CCC, but I'm not going to live with regrets about it.

Travel smart, pay attention, enjoy the ride right?

This is our first RV and I thought I did a lot of research before purchasing but I didn't think weight was going to be this much of a problem for us. The dealers we talk with never brought up the issue with weight but from reading this forum, I knew that there wasn't a lot of extra wiggle room when it came to weight. This was one of the main reasons we went the with "S" model since it had the lowest UVW (Unloaded Vehicle Weight).

I have been able to remove about 57lbs from my original weight. I was going to leave all my cloths at home to save weight but by wife says that's not an option. Oh well, it was a nice idea... Before removing anything else I'm going to take the RV to a local truck stop and have it weighed to see where I stand. Hopefully I'm close.

[MNtraveler]

Here is where you can find CATS scales. There are other options too, but perhaps harder to find.

For these, you just drive onto the scale (making sure you don't make a fool of yourself by driving on the wrong direction!) press the silver button (good luck reaching the button!) to call the office, and tell them you are an RV. Then you drive off, park, and go inside to get your printout. You get weight for each axle and total weight. Cost is about $10-11. I think it's $1/1000#.

https://catscale.com/cat-scale-locator/



Land of 10,000 Lakes
2016 Forester MBS 2401R

[LoveLife7478]

I owned a VW Vangon westy that I had restored prior to the Solera. To save weight I use a lot of light weight kitchen items that I transferred from the Vanagon. The lightweight backpacking stuff makes a big difference over traditional housewares.

[DaveJordan]

I've been busy removing weight from my 2015 24R. The major changes I've made thus far:

• I don't carry the pedestal table that goes in front of the couch. I use a couple of TV tables instead.
• I removed the door between the back bedroom and the bath area. I'm using the ceiling track to hold a curtain. (I don't expect to need the curtain, but what the heck.)
• I removed the ladder to the overhead bunk. It was surprisingly heavy and, though folks have slept up there, we've never needed the ladder.
• I replaced the original glass shower door with the vinyl SEA door.

All in all, I'm thinking I've taken 125 - 150 lbs out ... no small matter when we're so tight to begin with.

Note on the SEA vinyl door... I've got it installed, but I'm having a small issue getting the closure to line up correctly. It's got magnetic strips on the fixed and movable parts...the strips line up at the bottom but are off by 1/4-3/8 inch at the top. I've got a call for help into SEA.

Dave

[CharSolera]

Here's something which not many have cited as an advantage. The MBS is 91.5 inches wide versus Chevy/Ford 101 inches. Having just driven the lovely, but slim CA 20 through the forest, I felt quite thankful for this advantage! It might not hold beefy loads, but it is easy to handle.

[Wrightwood]

The MBS is 91.5 inches wide

Our 2016 MBS 2401R body measures 98" and mirror to mirror is 112"

[CharSolera]

Exterior width measurement taken from the Forest River brochure (the 101" for the Chevy /Ford isn't mirror to mirror either). MBS is narrower than Chevy /Ford (need mirror to mirror measurements for one of those).:what:

[MNtraveler]

The MBS brochure I have shows 94.5" width for all three models. Most of the other Foresters are 101" wide. The GTS is 95.5".


Land of 10,000 Lakes
2016 Forester MBS 2401R

[Wrightwood]

MNtraveler the brochure is correct about the actual body (the box) width of 94.5". When I measured the 98" width it included the outside of the awning housing and the side slide-out awning

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by Wrightwood

MNtraveler the brochure is correct about the actual body (the box) width of 94.5". When I measured the 98" width it included the outside of the awning housing and the side slide-out awning

Got it. The awning does stick out a bit!

[gp2down]

We are 150 #'s heavy on our 2016 2400W w/ no water in the tank...That's roughly 1%. Common sense tells me that, while we might not be ideal, there can't be serious consequences when 1% under would be an EMPTY motorhome, Including me and my DW. We are departing next week for a 7 week western NP trip (from Atlanta), and most of the cargo is necessary.

[Keithe]

I finally got a chance to weigh my 2401S MBS on a CAT scale and it came in at 11000 lbs with the front axle at 3920 lbs and the rear at 7080 lbs. This brings me in at 30 lbs under the max recommended weight. The RV was fully loaded for camping with about a 1/3 tank of fresh water and a bicycle rack with two bikes. It doesn't give me a lot of wiggle room but at least I'm under the max GVW.

[Hexnut]

We have had our 2016 MBS 2400R for nearly 3000 miles now and I decided to get it weighed when heading out for a week at the beach. The front was 4000# and the rear was 7440#. Both axles were under, but GVW was 11,440# (410#) over! I was shocked. I had no water in the tanks at all, but did have 2 cases of bottled water, and of course some beer, but not much else except DW and 80# pooch. Oh well, time to start stripping weight.

[Phinias]

Supplies/food I stock upon arrival. I plan to buy a toad. Not only a convenience but a it doubles as a U-Haul

[Pod2Vibe]

Originally Posted by Phinias

Supplies/food I stock upon arrival. I plan to buy a toad. Not only a convenience but a it doubles as a U-Haul

Yes, the toad works great as a storage pod. Just make sure to get a lighter toad.

[Loefflerh]

I would like to know with what tires the 2017 Forester / Sunseeker come: Brand/ size /loadrange. Maybe one of the new owners can chime in?
Thanks Hans

[derrickc]

Our 2017 2401W has Continental VancoFourSeason 215/85/R16 load E 115/112Q tires on it.

[Pod2Vibe]

Originally Posted by derrickc

Our 2017 2401W has Continental VancoFourSeason 215/85/R16 load E 115/112Q tires on it.

Keep in mind these tire are on all Sprinters from the MB factory.

They are tried and true. They typically get replaced due to age before wear on MBS motor homes.