Weighed in Today
09-09-2003, 02:25 PM
#1
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Weighed in Today
Hi, I am fairly new here. I have been reading for a while, but do not post much.
I bought a 91 W250 in June after buying a new Camper and needing something to tow it with. I found out after the fact that I was still overweight for the truck according to the manufacturer. It says in the manual that GCVWR is 12k Lbs. I have a Tahoe Transporter 20 TB with a GVWR of 7600. My trucks GVWR is 8800. Anyway, I weighed on a scale at the Peanut Warehouse in town and the truck was 6240 with me in it, hitch on, full of fuel and loaded for camping. I then went and loaded my bikes (two of them) in the camper and went back to the scales. Total weight was 12720 lbs. with all of my gear in the camper, minus water (I don't dry camp, but I do have a 72 gallon fresh water, 35 Black and 35 Gray water tanks) and I did not have my wife in the vehicle. This is not a fiver so hitch weight is not a concern. I am well within my GVWR, but exceeding the GCVWR, which seems really low for a four wheel drive, 3/4 diesel truck. It has the 727 3 speed auto. Am I going to have any problems with the weight police? I am really surprised by all of this because I retired my Toyota Tacoma which weighed in at 3680 with me and a full tank of fuel rated at 5000lbs GVWR and 9000 GCVWR. If you do some simple math, you will see that it is rated at about the same proportionally.
Thanks for any suggestions or remarks.
Chris
BTW, my Dodge has 210K miles
I bought a 91 W250 in June after buying a new Camper and needing something to tow it with. I found out after the fact that I was still overweight for the truck according to the manufacturer. It says in the manual that GCVWR is 12k Lbs. I have a Tahoe Transporter 20 TB with a GVWR of 7600. My trucks GVWR is 8800. Anyway, I weighed on a scale at the Peanut Warehouse in town and the truck was 6240 with me in it, hitch on, full of fuel and loaded for camping. I then went and loaded my bikes (two of them) in the camper and went back to the scales. Total weight was 12720 lbs. with all of my gear in the camper, minus water (I don't dry camp, but I do have a 72 gallon fresh water, 35 Black and 35 Gray water tanks) and I did not have my wife in the vehicle. This is not a fiver so hitch weight is not a concern. I am well within my GVWR, but exceeding the GCVWR, which seems really low for a four wheel drive, 3/4 diesel truck. It has the 727 3 speed auto. Am I going to have any problems with the weight police? I am really surprised by all of this because I retired my Toyota Tacoma which weighed in at 3680 with me and a full tank of fuel rated at 5000lbs GVWR and 9000 GCVWR. If you do some simple math, you will see that it is rated at about the same proportionally.
Thanks for any suggestions or remarks.
Chris
BTW, my Dodge has 210K miles
09-09-2003, 05:39 PM
#2
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Re:Weighed in Today
hmm, yea the older CTDs did not have steller GCWR. a lot has to do with the automatic transmission I believe. Anyway, so you are ~700 lbs overweight, right without the wife right?. Sounds like you don't have anything you can do to reduce weight of the 'stuff' you want to take.
I don't think the weight police will bother you at all.
The problem you might encounter is if you were in an accident, because the truck's rating is in part due to the brakes. If you were at fault because of stopping distance, the lawsuit would probably nail you for being overloaded. Your only defense would be kind of like the MM warranty verbiage -- make the plaintif show that it was in fact the overloaded condition that made the difference. Some arguments you might have include the fact that the service brakes on the truck are the same ones as on the trucks with higher GCWR. That is, the limitation is in the tranny (go power) and not the brakes (stop power). You could use that argument if your brake controller was up to snuff and all of that. But in my opinion you're on shaky ground for some nit picky lawyer or (as I have said before) anyone passionate about putting fault on you (which is what lawyers do in accident cases). As a practical matter I think you're fine (thats only 6% over). As I say, the 12K limitation is probably the tranny, not the brakes. convincing someone else of that fact is the challenge.
The other issue is insurance. probably no arguing here at all. If they find that you are overweight they will probably not cover you if you're in an accident. No reason for them to find out before hand, so you probably won't get cancelled, but read the fine print in your policy and I'd bet there is a clause saying something like you're on your own if you exceed mfg's mechanical limits for the tow. Even if the limit is on the "go" side (tranny instead of brakes).
I don't think the weight police will bother you at all.
The problem you might encounter is if you were in an accident, because the truck's rating is in part due to the brakes. If you were at fault because of stopping distance, the lawsuit would probably nail you for being overloaded. Your only defense would be kind of like the MM warranty verbiage -- make the plaintif show that it was in fact the overloaded condition that made the difference. Some arguments you might have include the fact that the service brakes on the truck are the same ones as on the trucks with higher GCWR. That is, the limitation is in the tranny (go power) and not the brakes (stop power). You could use that argument if your brake controller was up to snuff and all of that. But in my opinion you're on shaky ground for some nit picky lawyer or (as I have said before) anyone passionate about putting fault on you (which is what lawyers do in accident cases). As a practical matter I think you're fine (thats only 6% over). As I say, the 12K limitation is probably the tranny, not the brakes. convincing someone else of that fact is the challenge.
The other issue is insurance. probably no arguing here at all. If they find that you are overweight they will probably not cover you if you're in an accident. No reason for them to find out before hand, so you probably won't get cancelled, but read the fine print in your policy and I'd bet there is a clause saying something like you're on your own if you exceed mfg's mechanical limits for the tow. Even if the limit is on the "go" side (tranny instead of brakes).
09-10-2003, 08:55 AM
#3
Registered User
Re:Weighed in Today
I agree, your weight is fine for your truck, but can be picked apart by a bookworm if needed. My truck and trailer with me, the wife and the 85lb lab, 1/4 Gray, 1/4 black water, and no fresh water, outfitted for months of living comes in at 19,500lbs. I still have some room for a tool box, extra fuel and or accessories. I choose this trailer because of the CGW issue. Everything else of this size puts me over.
In my case, I can pick up about 700lbs or weight by changing my rear ratio to 4:10. I my case its stop and pull. So you might check and see if the pull rating is increased with rear ratio, machanical advantage.
Last year TDR Mag,(Turbo Diesel Register) had a real good article on towing, truck weights, combined weights and rear ratios. You might contact them and ask the question.
Dave
In my case, I can pick up about 700lbs or weight by changing my rear ratio to 4:10. I my case its stop and pull. So you might check and see if the pull rating is increased with rear ratio, machanical advantage.
Last year TDR Mag,(Turbo Diesel Register) had a real good article on towing, truck weights, combined weights and rear ratios. You might contact them and ask the question.
Dave
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