As long as you don't get outrageous about it like some of them on the Escapees site I see no reason people shouldn't at least hear information about safety.I believe in safety but do not agree with some peoples thoughts you need a semi-truck to pull a row boat.Keep the information coming Terry.

Cost of MDT'S and HDT'S  wasn't what kept me from considering one but Linda has a very bad back and sometimes has trouble getting into our Dodge. I just visited with a very nice guy here in North Carolina pulling a Mobile Suites with a Volvo.He actually paid less for the truck than I paid for my Dodge but had a Smart Car he carried so actually cost was a bit more. I could just see me driving a Volvo bobtail to Wal-Mart. My Cedar Creek GVWR is 13,850 lbs. and I am right there.My Dodge is rated at 24,000 GCWR and we scaled at 22,855 or therabouts.We were good on pin weight and axle weights but even with the weight cushion I have I would not tow any heavier with my Truck.It pulls good and more importantly stops very well also.

We have a Chevy Silverado HD diesel truck but we also have a lighweight Award Classic 30 travel trailer that weighs very little (Canadian designed and meant to be lightweight) so no issues. We could pull a 5th wheel but wonder which one would be best for us? We may be looking for one within this next year, as our travel trailer has little storage and when full-timing, that is paramount.

As I type this, with hubby still asleep, I don't know what our truck weights, or anything about the weights of 5th wheels above 30 foot, but any experience in this would be appreciated. Any suggestions at all. We are very conscientious about weight issues and know that there are people out there dragging even travel trailers with too small of vehicles, making it dangerous for them and everyone on the road.

A Burr Handy-Lift can be added to an MDT or HDT or RV to make it easier to get in and out.

We added one to our 5th wheel so my 91 year old Dad is able to go RVing with us. He gets in the MDT OK with my help, but getting into the 5th wheel was tough for both of us.

The Burr Handi-Lift has saved my back and made it a lot safer for him.

It's simple to install for anyone with some mechanical abilities. Basically just drill holes and mount it, plus simple wiring.

Here's the website:

http://www.burractuators.com/lifts/handy_lift.htm


The main reason I finally purchased an MDT is for safety.  I was tired of worrying about the brakes on my 3500.  By the time we would get to the bottom of a long 6% grade, I'd have little if no brakes on the truck or trailer.  Even using first gear to go down hill.  The trailer was just too heavy for the truck.

With the exhaust brake, the MDT will hold the rig at 55MPH on a 6% down hill.  No need for brakes.

-- Edited by The Bear II on Monday 4th of October 2010 08:04:42 AM

Readytogo wrote:

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Terry,

Your F450 is only rated 14,500 lbs?  I thought they were rated higher than that.

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 As George (Racerguy) said, it is for the truck alone as far as GVWR is concerned.  If you check out the link from wikipedia above, you'll find the F450 is a Class 4 vehicle.  That puts it at the low end of the Medium Duty Truck classifications.  As for Gross Combined Vehicle Weight (GCVW) rating, the F450 with the 4:88 rear end comes in at 33,000 lbs and a towing capacity of 24,600 lbs.

While it wasn't a fully loaded weight, we took the truck to a feed store and weighed all the different axles to give us an idea of how much we could put into the fifth wheel.  At that time, truck and trailer combined came in under 26,000 lbs of actual weight.

Terry

Terry and Jo wrote:

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I am taking the risk of being accused of being the "Weight Policeman."  But, so-be-it. 

I'm sorry, folks.  Lets be safe with our vehicles.  It isn't just us out on the roads.

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Any good pilot knows that an airplane probably won't get off the ground if it is overgrossed.  Controllability is also an issue if the weight isn't distributed correctly. There is pleny of accident data on pilots who ignore that.

That mindset comes with training and knowledge which isn't prevelant in the RV world. The data presented, especially the 100% SRW one, is a pretty good validator of that fact.  It doesn't help that for salesman says.."oh yeah, you can pull this rig with your truck."

Poeple put fire extinguishers in their rigs, lock up the firearms, filter our water, flip circuit breakers before plugging in the power cord, and a host of others to insure safety, but don't give it a second thought about operating outside the envelope with an RV.

I'd like to think that RVer's don't do it on purpose, but they just aren't educated. I'm on your side Terry and "so be it."

Please don't come after me because I don't weigh the 154 lbs my motorhome manufactuer says I do. Wish I did!

Blame also has to go towards RIVA and manufacturers that set these weight standards. Seems that many RVs are "under built" in the first place to lower the sale price. That results in blown tires and bent axles, too.

How many folks would rather have a better built, higher weight carrying capacity right from the get go instead of having to upgrade tires, wheels and axles later, often after an under built tire has blown, taking out the trailer's wheel well?

Best Regards!

Hey Terry,

           Interesting percentages! By the chart, 60% of all vechicles are overweight per door sticker. That could be 100#'s or 3000#'s, but it would be good to know who of them have had any major problems with tires, springs, drivetrain, etc. and have had accidents attributed to being "overweight"?

           I'm under on all my axles, truck and trailer, but over on my GCVWR & GVWR on the truck. 

           I'm sure many of them know exactly what their rig weighs, but don't go by the sticker, rather axle and tire ratings. Although I see some are over their tire ratings and axle ratings.

            Interesting??

Regards, Howard

          

We did a great deal of research before buying either a trailer or tow vehicle. We purchased a 5ver that had a GVWR of 17500 so decided we needed at least a 450. A used Freightliner MDT became available so we purchased it. We hit the road May 31 '08 and our first main stop was RV Dreams rally in Branson Mo. We were weighed on individual wheels there. We found that we were overweight on the trailer by 400 # and overweight on the front drivers side trailer tire but we were under on the rear tire same side. We were able to move weight from the trailer to the truck to be correct on the trailer weight and we repositioned the pin hitch moving it down a bolt hole to put more weight on the back wheel thus correcting that problem. The MDT had penty of extra capacity. I found that even having a good axle weight I had been over on a wheel weight which many people out on the road don't even know. Following that weighin where I was within the correct weights on everything I still had 2 blow outs on my trailer because I was trying to wait until my tires were 4 years old to buy new ones. I bought all new ones after the second blow-out and have had no trouble with the tires since. The latest recomendation is changing tires after 3 years to be safe which I will do. Fortunately I had no significant damage to the trailer but I have seen and heard of many who have not been that fortunate. I had my truck and trailer weighed again this year at the GJRally and everything looked good.

In all this talk about tow weights and specifications and being over weight. please keep in mind the fact that the engineering profession is very CONSERVATIVE.

Engineers have legal liability when something they design fails to meet the published specifications, so they always over design their products. When something is specified to hold 1,000#, I guarantee you it will hold 3 or 4,000#. That is the nature of the profession.

I think that is the reason that many folks that have been in engineering, manufacturing, or a mechanical profession are sometimes not overly concerned if they are slightly over weight.

All of that is not to say, that the prudent thing to do is to stay within the legal framework. As Terry suggests, better safe than sorry.

I knew pretty much nothing about GVW or GCVW when we made our buying decisions.  I went with a Ford F350 4x4 SRW 6.7 diesel because I thought that was "plenty" of truck ... the salesman for the 5er said a F250 would be fine.  Anyway, the GVWR of our 5er is 15,000 and GVWR or our truck is 11,700 (Front GAWR of 5600 and Rear GAWR of 7000).  Not exactly sure why Ford would allow 5,600 lbs on the front and 7,000 lbs on the rear (which total up to 12,600) yet only rate the truck for 11,700?  Before anyone says "tires", the Michelins on it are rated @ 3750 lbs each in a single axle application @ 80 psi ... which is the pressure I run them.  Based on tires alone, the rear axle should be able to carry 7,500, but is rated @ 7000.  The GCVWR of the truck is 23,500.  Yesterday I weighed the whole rig at a truck scale and this was the result ... GCVW (the whole thing) weighed 23,780 lbs distributed as follows: Front Axle 5220, Rear Axle 6820 and Trailer 11740 (this was with 50 gals of fresh water and empty waste tanks).  I then weighed the truck by itself, which was 8980 lbs with a rear axle weight of 3880.  This reveals a pin weight of 2940 and a total 5er weight of 14,680 lbs.  So I'm OK on each truck axle, but over on the truck GVW (by 340 lbs).  I'm also over on the GCVW by 280 lbs.  The trailer has two 7,000 lbs axles and the tires are Goodyear G614's rated at 3750 lbs at 110 psi.  So I have plenty of axle and tire rating to carry the trailer.  The trailers GVWR is 15,000 and it weighs 14,680 so OK there.  Every axle is under max and the trailer is under max, but I'm over on the truck GVW  and over on the truck GCWR by 340 lbs and 280 lbs respectively).  i seem to leaning on the truck a little. I could get everything under by draining the fresh water tank as I'm carrying about 400 lbs of water, but I really don't want to do that. 

Fred ... I hope you're right about the engineers building in a little "extra" because it appears that I am borrowing some it.  This is with 50 gals of fresh water and empty waste tanks.

 

I feel pretty good about these numbers, but looking for feedback ... I know I'm a little heavy, but not much.  I intend to get each wheel weighed as soon as the opportunity presents itself.  In the FWIW category, after towing for several hours at 65 MPH the tire pressure increases by about 14-15 psi and the temps are all lower than 100 degrees (on a 90 degree day).  My logic says since all tires are within 3 psi of each other and all are increasing similarly in both pressure and temperature ... I'm thinking that the weight is pretty evenly shared by all 4 tires.  It seems to me if I had a heavy corner, that I would see that in the tire pressure and temperature.

-- Edited by RonC on Monday 30th of May 2016 02:56:22 PM

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-- Edited by RonC on Monday 30th of May 2016 03:00:40 PM

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-- Edited by RonC on Monday 30th of May 2016 03:33:59 PM

We only have <$32k in our HDT and that is with custom bed with ET Hitch also. We haul our Smart on back. Smart is paid for and cost us <$7k, 2013 model. My dually was over 50k and rode like a sled. Had to bag it for the pin weight. Sold it and got money for bed and hitch. I have to look in camera to see if it is even behind me towing. Now not everyone tows my weight or have a 6k pin. But this is a sweet setup, comfortable and gets better fuel mileage than the dually. Lot less money also. <iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s1083.photobucket.com/user/glenn_west1/embed/slideshow/"></iframe>

-- Edited by Glenn West on Tuesday 31st of May 2016 08:58:17 AM