Page 5 - Travelore Fall 2015 Issue 31

2004 2015
DRVC Travelore - Page 5
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continued from previous page
The maximum capacity of freshwater and propane are added into the equation because it is very possible that you do carry a full load of fresh water and also full pro- pane. If you start with full fresh water, typically the water weigh of a RV never goes over the weight of the freshwater unless you have added some water before emptying your gray or black water tanks and that usually is only a brief time, but occasionally it does happen when fresh water may not be available for a while and your waste tanks are not yet full.
Propane capacities and weights are very similar to that of fresh water or fuel. Because you can carry the maximum amount, they automatically calculate that total weight into the potential overall weight of the vehicle when fully loaded. Whether you carry a full load of propane or not, you need to know how much it weighs and you also should have a general idea where in the coach the tank is located for overall weight balance.
The difference between the GCWR (gross combined vehicle weight) and the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) is the total amount of trailer or tow vehicle you can pull. This is the one area of which I find people to be most unrealistic when it comes to exceeding weight limits. On my coach, I am allowed a total of 10,000 lbs. (unless the sticker on the actual trailer hitch is less, at which point you need to NOT exceed the trailer hitch rating). I have weighed coaches that have 10,000 lb hitches and yet are towing a trailer that weighs in excess of 21,000 lbs. Not only are owners exceeding the rated capacity, they set themselves up for major problems, either by getting caught at a weigh sta- tion or, worse yet, in a court of law after an accident.
For those of you who think that RV’s never get weighed on the highway, I recently had a customer the drove through
a toll booth in Ohio on the turnpike and was pulled over for being 300 lbs overweight on the rear axle weight. Sometimes the roads have built in scales that can weigh axles at 60 MPH as you pass over them. This is how he was pulled over and after a very lengthy discussion with the Ohio Police, he was let go with a written warning. When overweight on any axle, trailer weight or combination, you are setting yourself up for hitch, axle, or frame failure or worse, getting into an accident that will wind up with you being at fault because your coach was overloaded.
These stickers are full of information so read and under- stand the limits of your vehicle. These exist so you can be safe and avoid a variety of problems.