is EVERYONE overweight?

[steamboatscott]

I seem to be one of the few that weighs my trailer, tow vehicle (loaded with payload), etc. to figure out my exact tongue weight, ensure that plus my passengers and cargo doesn't exceed total payload capacity, etc. It's a pain, and everything is heavier than the manufacturer/dealer would lead you to believe, but I want to keep my family and others on the road safe.

There are several like me on this forum, yet 80% of those I see rolling down the road appear to be vastly overweight.

Even my dealer's website shows a roof-mounted bike rack option with six yokes attached. The average bike + yoke weighs 40 pounds, so this plus the rack itself is easily 300 pounds. Add on two propane tanks, two batteries, a full water tank, and the usual items packed inside the trailer and you're way overweight. This may seem like the extreme example, but I see similar setups going down the road quite often, often with a family of 4-6 inside the tow vehicle with plenty of gear - meaning that both their tow vehicle and camper is vastly overweight despite what the weight distributing hitch may lead them to believe.

Am I crazy - or is the road filled with dangerous travel trailers? If so, why don't we see more accidents?

[BiigDaddy]

I personally am overweight, but my rig is somewhat fitter than I am!

I weighed my unit as well for the safety of my family and others. I am a smidgen over but nothing like I see on the freeway!

[00buck]

I usually see them as they pass me doing 70 mph or so. It's not a sure and certain recipe for disaster. It just increases your odds of an accident or adds to the wear and tear on your vehicle. Most of the time it doesn't matter. Maybe some of us worry too much, but it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that everything is within limits.

[wyo700]

My truck is right at its GVWR but well under axle rating. My toy hauler is also at its max. I am an experienced tower and have never felt unsafe towing. As for the weight part I am more concerned about my toy hauler but I check my bearings and axles often. I know darn well the axle ratings are not set to the exact stamp on the axle. I did some major research about axles and found some very interesting info so I'm not worried about it to much. But I'm sure their are many people way more overloaded then I ever will be with both truck and trailer and never know. I've read of people putting 10000 pounds on top of two 3500 pound axles. Now that's crazy but people do it and somehow get away with out damage.

[X96mnn]

I have traveled with severely over loaded TV and the experiance was down right scary. I have traveled with a TV that was close to its limits and it towed ok, but not great. Really think my experiance and white knuckled adventures made my feeling worse then it was.

Now I have a TV that is well under its max and enjoy the drive as much as the camp. Am I a worry wart, yes, do I care much if others are over loaded no. I do not spend night awake think a overloaded half ton truck hauling a 5th wheel is going to kill me or my family. I do know exactly what I would do if involved in an accident with anyone towing!

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by BiigDaddy

I personally am overweight, but my rig is somewhat fitter than I am!

I weighed my unit as well for the safety of my family and others. I am a smidgen over but nothing like I see on the freeway!

Basically the same here. I've made a sport out of weighing because I'm curious, mostly. I am underweight on all figures for my truck and camper.

[jevanb]

I am over weight by 4 hundred pounds ( Trucks GvWR) but under on every axle rating. So I live with this..

[donanddona]

At 250lbs and 6'...... yea..

[Oaklevel]

Being slightly overweight causes more mechanical issues than safety issues........ Being grossly overweight is another story but it will still will usually lead to mechanical issues usually first.

30 years ago I towed a 22 foot Terry camper without trailer brakes because I did not know what the brakes should feel like. (The trailer brakes did not work) My 1976 & 1978 F150 stopped the trailers just fine. But was it safe? I don't know but we pulled it up & down the East Coast.

I've had a dealer tell me my duelly will tow anything they have.....ah no it won't.....for long anyway.

Many issues are because of lack of education too many go in to the dealer & when the dealer says....... ya that 1/2 ton should pull that 15K trailer & believe them.....

[Mojojojo]

I can't understand why dot or the state troopers don't pull more of the idiots over and ticket them, being in logging country here we see WAYS too many half ton trucks over loaded with wood,gravel,bark dust,and even a yarder engine
( the monster Diesel engine powered hoist that swings from the cables used to pull logs off hills)

[Oaklevel]

If your area is like ours too few State Troopers & a hiring freeze. Think our county has two troopers period..... covering 24 / 7 . More County Sheriff's but they keep busy with crime & very little time for traffic issues.

[dustman_stx]

I would venture to say that the vast majority of rigs out there are "overweight". The error would be in correlating adhering to a sticker on a door jamb to being "safe". If I gave you the choice of riding in a rig with a TV 10% overweight and an intelligent experienced driver versus a newbie that's never pulled anything in his/her life with a rig 10% under, who would you choose? Or what about someone 20% under but driving 75? Safety while towing is a huge matrix in my mind in which weight is only one consideration. I consider hitch type, hitch setup, load balance, travel speed, following distance, road conditions, driving experience and condition, TV condition…..as equally or more important than going strictly by a sticker on the door jamb.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by Mojojojo

I can't understand why dot or the state troopers don't pull more of the idiots over and ticket them, being in logging country here we see WAYS too many half ton trucks over loaded with wood,gravel,bark dust,and even a yarder engine
( the monster Diesel engine powered hoist that swings from the cables used to pull logs off hills)

Maybe because a manufacturer applied sticker on a door jamb would be hard to actually enforce???? Do you really want law enforcement to be able to ticket you for not following what that sticker says??? What if you don't install the same size tire as that sticker states? What if you run a different air pressure than it states? I think this is a case where you need to "be careful what you wish for."

[Mojojojo]

Originally Posted by dustman_stx

Maybe because a manufacturer applied sticker on a door jamb would be hard to actually enforce???? Do you really want law enforcement to be able to ticket you for not following what that sticker says??? What if you don't install the same size tire as that sticker states? What if you run a different air pressure than it states? I think this is a case where you need to "be careful what you wish for."

If you came to my county and looked at all the unsafe rigs you would know why I feel the way I do ,as a forcefully retired garbage truck driver of 17 years I never worry about my driving just the person that could cause an accident coming at me. We also have a high duii rate go figure.

[Mojojojo]

Would you want this guy to be allowed to keep towing or be told to park till he solves the obvious problem.


I'm just saying what judge or jury in there right mind wouldn't stand behind an officer writing this guy a warning or ticket.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by Mojojojo

If you came to my county and looked at all the unsafe rigs you would know why I feel the way I do ,as a forcefully retired garbage truck driver of 17 years I never worry about my driving just the person that could cause an accident coming at me. We also have a high duii rate go figure.

You are infinitely more likely to be hit by a distracted driver or a drunk driver than you are an overloaded camper. If you do get hit by an overloaded camper, it most likely happened because they were drunk or distracted and not because they were overloaded. Just my .02.

[Mojojojo]

Originally Posted by dustman_stx

You are infinitely more likely to be hit by a distracted driver or a drunk driver than you are an overloaded camper. If you do get hit by an overloaded camper, it most likely happened because they were drunk or distracted and not because they were overloaded. Just my .02.

Too true there ,also we have seen a few TT single vehicle accidents that were not in the paper as drunk related but due to inability to slow in corners aka driver error. And these thing literaly explode when hitting the ground on there side at speed. Took a front loader and a lowboy to clean one up, looked to be 30ft+ hard to tell in shambles and a 3/4 ton short bed truck

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by Mojojojo

Would you want this guy to be allowed to keep towing or be told to park till he solves the obvious problem.
Attachment 68919

I'm just saying what judge or jury in there right mind wouldn't stand behind an officer writing this guy a warning or ticket.

The question is, how do you force someone to abide by a sticker on a door jamb? The manufacturers don't even disclose how they arrive at their numbers!!! I don't know about you, but I don't want the government writing tickets for exceeding an arbitrary measurement glued to the door of my truck. Once again, a VERY strong argument can be made that installing oversize/aggressive tires greatly diminishes the handling capabilities of a vehicle. It also deviates from what is on the sticker. Do you think people should be ticketed for installing oversize tires??? Clearly I don't think people should be grossly overloaded such as this. Don't most states have a broad law about operating an unsafe vehicle or something along those lines that would apply to blatantly unsafe rigs?

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by dustman_stx

The manufacturers don't even disclose how they arrive at their numbers!!!

I literally have no problem with your posts except for this part- there are lots of "lawyer" stickers are out there that you have no idea how they determine the ratings. I'd even bet there are regulations to some things that are based on proprietary information that isn't disclosed to the public. I know that with some of the EPA work that I do, we have areas where info is labeled "Confidential Business Information" (e.g. CBI). It goes into a firm's certifications but isn't publicly disclosed.

Anyway, carry on.. I have no dog in this fight.

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by ependydad

I literally have no problem with your posts except for this part- there are lots of "lawyer" stickers are out there that you have no idea how they determine the ratings. I'd even bet there are regulations to some things that are based on proprietary information that isn't disclosed to the public. I know that with some of the EPA work that I do, we have areas where info is labeled "Confidential Business Information" (e.g. CBI). It goes into a firm's certifications but isn't publicly disclosed.

Anyway, carry on.. I have no dog in this fight.

Very true. But I'm talking about a criminal case, not a civil one. Anyone with enough money to file the court documents can sue anyone for anything at anytime.