Tips or tricks for lightening the load?? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

Tips or tricks for lightening the load??

waltben · RV-Dreams Family Member

1. Have you weighed your rig first before going serious on weight loss?

2. Solar panels weigh very little. The batteries weigh a lot, and (if you're like my 5er) are more pin weight and not axle weight.

3. You should (IMHO) be more concerned with weight distribution. Front to back, side to side. (We'll have to run with a more full fresh water tank at the rear to offset the four Trojans in the front.)

4. While its a good thing to get rid of stuff you aren't using, sometimes there are things you really shouldn't leave behind. I ALWAYS keep a second 20' sewer and a 20' water hose in our 5er. Just takes one time to need either and you won't leave home without them.

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Man, if your down to changing the bottles on spice racks.. thats a tight weight budget..lol

It you can't find heavier , easier stuff to dump.. I do what Waltben said.. Get weighed..

I thought the 38' rigs have a good weight budget designed in?

Hdrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

Well, we stopped carrying so many different types of booze so we could please our guests tastes. We found that most people bring their own booze any way LOL!!!

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

Solar panels are pretty heavy if you add a few. The ones we are looking at weigh 44lbs each. www.solarblvd.com/Solar-Panels-&-Systems-24-Volt-Solar-Panels/c1_270/p2699/AUO/BenQ-240-Watt-24-Volt-PM240P00-Solar-Panel/product_info.html

We plan on adding as many as 6 of these. When you add the mounting brackets and cabling you're looking around 50lbs/panel for planning purposes. That's 300lbs right there. Since we can't afford Lithium we will start with some cheap vented lead acid golf cart style. In a conventional battery, we'd love to go with the Rolls/Surrettes S-550s (6v, 428AH) because they can be cycled over 1,000 times at a 70% discharge! www.wholesalesolar.com/products.folder/battery-folder/rolls-s550.html But at $340 and 123lbs each (and we need 8 because we plan on getting a 48v DC air conditioner) they are out of our weight and money budget. Though they don't have the life, nor power, We're looking at starting with 8, 63lb $85 Energizers saving us 480lbs and just as important to us, over $2,000. Now I realize that I'm comparing apples and oranges (to get closer in weight one should compare 16 golf cart type batteries to 8 Surrettes - and 24 golf carts to provide equivalent power) becuase the 8 golf cart batteries will only provide 104 usable AH at 48v whereas the surettes will provide almost 300 usable AH - almost 3 times as much power for twice the weight (a good trade off) - but at 4 times the price! I guess you get what you pay for, but these are not even AGMs. Equivalent AGMs would be 15 times the price! I can't imagine how much Lithiums would cost - probably more than my entire solar AC system with golf cart batteries - but they would probably save around 300-350lbs. Like they say, if you gotta ask, you can't afford them.

Still, even the weight of 8 cheap batteries and panels add up to around 800lbs, plus another 150 lbs for the 48v DC mini-split AC unit. Then there's the solar charger, smallish 2,000 watt inverter (for kitchen appliances, TVs, etc.), and even more cabling, fittings, boxes, etc., so realistically, I'm looking at least 1,000lbs (and about $4,500).

That's a lot of weight to offset, maybe requiring an axle/wheel upgrade in my planned TT, just to be safe (at another $1,500). And that's for a minimal full-time boondocking rig with AC. Our toys get more expensive as we age, don't they?

Chip

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hdrider wrote:
Well, we stopped carrying so many different types of booze so we could please our guests tastes. We found that most people bring their own booze any way LOL!!!

So leave my bar at home? Great.. another thing to get rid of..

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sushidog wrote:
Solar panels are pretty heavy if you add a few. The ones we are looking at weigh 44lbs each. www.solarblvd.com/Solar-Panels-&-Systems-24-Volt-Solar-Panels/c1_270/p2699/AUO/BenQ-240-Watt-24-Volt-PM240P00-Solar-Panel/product_info.html

We plan on adding as many as 6 of these. When you add the mounting brackets and cabling you're looking around 50lbs/panel for planning purposes. That's 300lbs right there. Since we can't afford Lithium we will start with some cheap vented lead acid golf cart style. In a conventional battery, we'd love to go with the Rolls/Surrettes S-550s (6v, 428AH) because they can be cycled over 1,000 times at a 70% discharge! www.wholesalesolar.com/products.folder/battery-folder/rolls-s550.html But at $340 and 123lbs each (and we need 8 because we plan on getting a 48v DC air conditioner) they are out of our weight and money budget. Though they don't have the life, nor power, We're looking at starting with 8, 63lb $85 Energizers saving us 480lbs and just as important to us, over $2,000. Now I realize that I'm comparing apples and oranges (to get closer in weight one should compare 16 golf cart type batteries to 8 Surrettes - and 24 golf carts to provide equivalent power) becuase the 8 golf cart batteries will only provide 104 usable AH at 48v whereas the surettes will provide almost 300 usable AH - almost 3 times as much power for twice the weight (a good trade off) - but at 4 times the price! I guess you get what you pay for, but these are not even AGMs. Equivalent AGMs would be 15 times the price! I can't imagine how much Lithiums would cost - probably more than my entire solar AC system with golf cart batteries - but they would probably save around 300-350lbs. Like they say, if you gotta ask, you can't afford them.

Still, even the weight of 8 cheap batteries and panels add up to around 800lbs, plus another 150 lbs for the 48v DC mini-split AC unit. Then there's the solar charger, smallish 2,000 watt inverter (for kitchen appliances, TVs, etc.), and even more cabling, fittings, boxes, etc., so realistically, I'm looking at least 1,000lbs (and about $4,500).

That's a lot of weight to offset, maybe requiring an axle/wheel upgrade in my planned TT, just to be safe (at another $1,500). And that's for a minimal full-time boondocking rig with AC. Our toys get more expensive as we age, don't they?

Chip

Where do you get water and dump stuff ?

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

We did add 6 solar panels and got rid of the 2 old batteries with 4 new ones that were heavier than the old ones. Hence my concern, we had gotten down to the right weight level before all of that and then started another wave of purging. Given the weight we added, we know we need to get weighed again, but suspect we have more purging to do.

We haven't really gotten rid of anything we need, after all if we haven't used it in a year, we probably didn't need it. Dale's sorting through a few more tools, we've also made decisions to not purchase extra items that were heavy or bulky, example, we thought about a 50 AMP extension cord, but concluded that in one year there was only one time we would have used it and we got by with 30 AMP for that weekend.

We have very few books as we've had Kindles for several years, we've digitized all our DVDs/CDs, etc. Have had trouble getting rid of all the paperwork related to my corporate work from home job, Dale's business and tax records, etc. The liquor cabinet was greatly reduced before leaving on the road and what has been consumed has for the most part not been replaced other than what we need for margaritas!!

The comment about replacing glass containers with plastic was also due to safety. We've not had a lot of issues with things getting rearranged to much when traveling but last weekend with construction on I-90 we found all the items on the second shelf of the fridge had moved to the 3rd shelf and we had other items in closets that were displaced that have never moved in transit before. I'm getting tired of my toe getting bruised when I open a spice cabinet and a spice bottle just jumps out at me.

We do need to weigh again but like any person on a diet I'm sorta dreading that weigh in, I think we'll be close but I've been surprised at how awful the scale was after a holiday weekend, etc.

And for the record, we can't really put much more in the truck, it's full with business related "art booth" items we need for the art shows we do, so without jettisoning the fun things like bikes, Sea Eagle kayak and Campfire in a can, we're trying to find the right balance.

NurseJudy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sounds like you might have a lot of "paper" weight. How about a digital scanner that would allow you to scan all of these "files and documents" and save them on your computer. Just be sure to make a good quality back-up that you keep in a secure place, and/or subscribe to a cloud based secure back-up service. After you have accomplished this task you should be able to "shred" the originals and eliminate that extra weight. Have fun!

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

I often see many nice FT RVs that have heavy granite countertops, floors, glass shower enclosures and doors, heavy glass cabinet door inserts, etc. I would rather have these replaced with light-weight items. This does not necessarily mean low quality, especially if heavy items , say counter tops are replaced with lightweight foam core composites, like Aliner and Trailmanor uses throughout. Many manufacturers advertise heavy plywood (or luan) floors and ceilings when these could be replaced with strong, rigid composites that are less than 1/2 the weight and offer a higher R-value to boot.

Here's an idea, fill your tires with helium. Or you could let the air out of your spares. If you normally carry 60 lbs of air in each tire just let the air out of both your truck and trailer spares and save 120 lbs!

OK, now for some serious suggestions. Still have bumpers on your truck? When's the last time you used them? Get rid of them! Throw away all your clothes and go naked (OK keep one set each, if you must). Too severe? How about replacing all your silverware with one spork and a plastic knife each? You know those giant soda cups that are popular at fast food joints - the kind that you pick-up and they collapse from the weight of the drink - just get rid of all your glassware and replace them with two of these. Or of you don't have cooties and like to drink the same thing you could just share one plastic cup. You could also get rid of your mattress and all bed linen and get a couple of mummy sleeping bags (or get one large sleeping bag and share. The possibilities are endless. biggrin

Chip

Selah · RV-Dreams Family Member

What are some of your heaver items? What kind of cook ware do you use. Nesting stainless steel galley ware is light and very compact to store. Dinner ware, set of four Corel is light weight and again stores very nicely with the added benefit of basically unbreakable.
Tools, if you can't pick your tool box up with one hand you probably have too much. What kind of ladder do you carry, are there lighter weight options.
Not knowing what all you have it's hard to make any concrete recommendations. Basically you'll need to look at each item, of you need it the next step is to see if there are lighter alternatives. That would include basement items like outside chairs, tables, and just about everything.

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

Getting the rig weighed seems the logical first step. Knowing exactly how much you are over (or under) on a give axle or wheel will help redistribute some or all of the excess weight. If you are talking several hundred pounds of weight, you may have to bite the bullet on a suspension/tire upgrade. I had some concerns in a similar line of thinking so I started this thread...http://rv-dreams.activeboard.com/t58160582/does-increasing-the-axle-ratings-increase-the-ccc-of-a-trail/

Any other options seem like lifestyle compromises that you may not want to make.

FWIW, Brian

Bill and Jodee · RV-Dreams Family Member

In anticipation of going on the road next year, we have been replacing heavier things with their lighter versions. No idea if our original items would have put us "over the limit" but it has been a good exercise in preparing for a life where paying attention to what we're carrying is important. There are so many silicone options for nearly every item in the kitchen - and they come in great bright colors!!

Hope all your purging gets you where you need to be!!

Jodee

Camper Chronicles · RV-Dreams Family Member

If your running that close on weight have you considered new tires or suspension?? I'm in no way versed on the subject but I thought different tires and suspension could be a game changer when it comes to weight??