RV over weight question

[bjones3211]

Question I have a 2014 freedom elite 31L has an E4 50 chassis and cording to the specs the weight is 14,500 pounds says I can have 5000 pounds on the front axle and 9600 on the rear axle the other day I finally took my motorhome and towed and had it weighed over all it looked good I was only at 18, 360 pounds but their rear axle was at 10,040 pounds which put that over 440 pounds and the coach itself has over 340 pounds overweight understanding I need to remove at least the 340 pounds what I don’t understand is why did they make the largest storage area in the back if the rear axle was so weight critical or is there something I’m missing

[ducksface]

Chasing exact weight and chasing exact tire pressure shouldn't be an obsession.

No one ever tells what the difference in weight causes when you're very few percent over, as you are.

Personally I'd call it good.

Be concerned in a reasonable fashion.
Understand range and place that above absolute numbers.

[Lt Keefer]

I wouldn't be overly worried but I wouldn't call it good either. The coach was designed for safe operation at the stated weights and while there probably is some wiggle room, do the rest of the people on the road a favor and lighten your load a bit. Tire or chassis component failure at highway speed is something you do not want to experience.

[Muggs]

Did not say whether trailer or toad. My first trip to scale was surprise, over on open race car trailer tongue weight. Dropped trailer and ended up moving stuff around to get 500 lbs tongue weight. I have same axle limitation overall and my issue is without trailer tongue the front axle is too close. Rear axle has plenty spare. My trailer is almost 5500 and I have shorter overhang but total wt about same. My tires will be 5 years old in 2020 so I will replace with heavier commercial type tire with heavier capacity.

[bjones3211]

Thank you all
My toad is a 2014 Honda CRV and I am towing 4 down I assume there is not much tongue weight

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by bjones3211

Thank you all
My toad is a 2014 Honda CRV and I am towing 4 down I assume there is not much tongue weight

Half the weight of the tow bar is on the ball (actually less).

[Chance]

Originally Posted by bjones3211

Question I have a 2014 freedom elite 31L has an E4 50 chassis and cording to the specs the weight is 14,500 pounds says I can have 5000 pounds on the front axle and 9600 on the rear axle the other day I finally took my motorhome and towed and had it weighed over all it looked good I was only at 18, 360 pounds but their rear axle was at 10,040 pounds which put that over 440 pounds and the coach itself has over 340 pounds overweight understanding I need to remove at least the 340 pounds what I don’t understand is why did they make the largest storage area in the back if the rear axle was so weight critical or is there something I’m missing
Attachment 21271

You’re not the first to report a large Class C like the 31L that is overloaded. If you do a forum search, you’ll find others. I have read Motorhome Magazine reviews where some motorhomes had an axle overloaded when unit was empty, which I find inexcusable. It should never be allowed to happen, but apparently it does.

You didn’t mention if you weighed motorhome with full tanks or not, or how much gear you had in it. Weight you remove from further back will help most. Another issue if I recall correctly is that side-to-side weight distribution is not even, so one side of rear axle can be overloaded even worse than your scale readings suggest. Most likely you have more rear weight on passenger side.

On E-450 the rear 9,600-pound axle rating happens to be the same as tire maximum ratings, so you’re overloading tires also. I would personally not want an RV that’s overloaded in any way. If it were me, I’d empty the rig and weigh all four corners to see where the starting point is, then load from there.

Your gross combined weight is OK, so that part is good. Also, tow bars add very little hitch weight — essentially insignificant.

[EA37TS]

The class c (forest river) we had a number of years ago came from the factory with air helpers on the rear suspension. By adjusting the air pressure in the helpers I could effectively shift some weight from left to right and from rear to front. I couldn't re-distribute thousands of pounds but I could redistribute a hundred or two.

I would be willing to bet that the issue is not just with large class c motor homes.

[Bob Denman]

I honestly feel that no matter how much cargo and carrying capacity they build into the RVs: we'll always find more things to carry long... and overload them!

[Chance]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

.....cut....

I would be willing to bet that the issue is not just with large class c motor homes.

Agree there are others too, but I’d bet overloaded E-450s are one of the most common. With other chassis like Ford F-53, if the manufacturer is close to the limit, there is a greater chance they can go to a chassis with higher GVWR. However, with E-450, there are no other GVWR options above 14,500 pounds. Therefore, manufacturers pushing the limits to offer an affordable huge motorhome that are often over 32 feet in length and have a couple of slides (or a full wall slide), will soon find 14,500 pounds GVWR is not ideal (not really enough).

Years ago Ford offered an E-550 chassis which could have avoided some of these overloading problems, but was discontinued after a couple of years.


Smaller motorhomes like we’ve looked at can have similar design issues. The ProMaster RV Cutaway when used for 23~24-foot rigs often end up with overloaded rear axles. The RV industry could improve in this area.

[blw2]

fairly safe bet i think that every one of the rigs in our size/class is overloaded or at best right on the edge...
keep your tire pressures up, baby the tires, get a TPMS, and plan on replacing the tires early....my advice as a 31L owner

[bjones3211]

Thank you all for all your replies made me do a lot of research and thinking and and now that I know about the weight limit I know not to carry a bunch of stuff that I don’t need to use and if I need to carry extra stuff I can just put it in my toad because I have plenty of space and not limited in weight
I do have TPMS so I can keep track of the tire pressure and temperature of my tires
The funny thing is is my old MH was only a 20 footer and I didn’t have any space to carry stuff now that I have a 31 foot MH I don’t have the weight capacity to carry stuff but I love the floor plan

[The_Breeze]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Chasing exact weight and chasing exact tire pressure shouldn't be an obsession.

No one ever tells what the difference in weight causes when you're very few percent over, as you are.

Personally I'd call it good.

Be concerned in a reasonable fashion.
Understand range and place that above absolute numbers.

I can go with this. I measure 300lb overweight on the rear and I make sure to keep my tire pressure in check using the door jamb sticker because I'm still running the original Michelins. I'll replace them with the same.

You'll get rants and raves about running overloaded. I'd hate to post what my Dad did towing 6500lbs of horse flesh, all their feed and water from FL to AZ. I'd get burned in a heartbeat by the techies. All I know is it's 10yrs later and my parents are still going strong in the same trailer. New tires, but still out there.

All you really need to do is pay attention. Once you start to lapse in that arena, you're toast eligible.

[Bob Denman]

I for one: am going to be taking a closer look at Nutri-System
After the Holidays: of course!

[Laco]

Yes, you can certainly overload and probably not suffer dire consequences, but those weight restrictions are established for a reason, (safety), so how smart is it to run overloaded?

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by Laco

Yes, you can certainly overload and probably not suffer dire consequences, but those weight restrictions are established for a reason, (safety), so how smart is it to run overloaded?

The manufacturers have not made it easy to stay within the weight limitations imposed by them...
But to carry more: the RVs probably have to be made with even heavier components...

[Pete'sMH]

My Freedom Elite tended to be overloaded and was one factor in our decision to trade for a class A after only 8 months. But the increased storage space of a full basement can lead to the same problem again. Last time I weighed the A I was right at the limit. Found I was carrying all sorts of stuff I rarely used so cleaned out quite a bit of junk. Now have several compartments that are completely empty! The safety issues associated with overloaded tires can be significant.

[ducksface]

I didn't want to get all technical, but read below.
Five quick runs up a 12% grade at 100°f Temps aren't reality.

Weight limits are equally realityless.

I'm not telling you overload your rig or your towing. I'm telling you to apply some reality to the situation and understand:
There are far better things to worry about than worrying of being 3% overweight, even if you're pulling a 12% grade five quick times in 100° heat with the only ramifications being a hot light coming on....
(there might be a clue here as to the proclaimed 300,000 tow rating of an electric truck... Frames is frames, welds is welds)

Just like speed limits, most (dare said:All) weights and measures of mechanical or manufactured devices are set so the most inane fool in the entire universe can't hurt themselves.



SAE J2807 recommended practices will include five areas of testing: structure, propulsion, thermal, handling, and braking. The structure tests validate body, bumper, and frame strength and the hitch itself. The propulsion tests include: launching five times in five minutes, in forward and reverse, on a (very steep) 12-percent grade; zero to 30, zero-to-60, and 40-60-mph level-road acceleration tests; and minimum speed on the Davis Dam grade.
The thermal test, which is part of the long, grueling Davis Dam gradeability exercise, requires no loss of fluids and no warning alerts that would require customer action--and it must be done at 100 degrees F or hotter. The handling tests require sufficient trailer-sway damping and stability enhancing tow vehicle understeer with weight-carrying and weight-distributing hitch setups. The brake tests specify a maximum stopping distance from 20 mph (from federal regulations) and both uphill and downhill park-brake performance on a 12-percent grade.


Someone else might look up and post the reason tire weights are written as they are. They are equal to the tow/weight/load limit capacity testing shown above.

I know I can't put the mind at rest of some. But I can try to make sure some people are enlightened a bit.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by Laco

Yes, you can certainly overload and probably not suffer dire consequences, but those weight restrictions are established for a reason, (safety), so how smart is it to run overloaded?

It’s not. Having extra capacity is better than not enough, regardless of how we look at it (within reason). Obviously you don’t want to build a 10,000-pound motorhome on a 20,000-pound chassis because it would ride horrible (too stiff), but that’s not going to happen anyway.

It’s far more likely that a manufacturer will upsize to the highest chassis GVWR available within a model, and then push the limits. The ProMaster at 9,350 pounds, Ford Transit at 10,360, Mercedes Sprinter at 11,030, and Ford E-450 at 14,500 pounds are common chassis choices that are often built with too little cargo carrying capacity. There are exceptions, but many leave the factory too heavy in my opinion.

On smaller units I’d want about 2,000 pounds (or more) for occupant and cargo carrying capacity, and that’s rare.

The thing about overloading is that it may be OK most of the time, but it only takes that 0.01% of the time to get people injured or worse. Whether it’s driving across the desert that leads to tire blowout, or hitting a large pot hole in the road, being over the limit is not a good idea. Personally, I prefer being considerably under the load limit. Peace of mind is priceless.

[Bob Denman]

There is supposed to be a Sprinter 4500 coming soon...