Another Tacoma/ATC camper weight report

[takesiteasy]

I stopped at the truck scale at the start of my last trip. I was curious. My camper is a modified ATC shell model- shorter and narrower than a normal Bobcat. It has a furnace and propane tank and two small storage boxes built out of plywood (you can see the details here). I have a Dometic CF50 fridge bolted in under the cab-forward window. I have a 10 gal. Frontrunner footwell water tank that was empty. I was carrying 2 gallons of water in the camper. At the time of weighing, the camper was fully loaded with 200 lbs of food, gear and clothing, the dog was in the truck but no people. The gas tank was 5 gallons shy of full. I have D-rated tires that I figure add about 50 pounds total over OEM tires and an extra battery that adds another 50 lbs.

Here are the results:

Axle	Actual	Toyota Spec	Difference
Front	2560 lbs	GAWR 2755 lbs	195 lbs under limit
Rear	2920	GAWR 3110	190 under
Total	5480	GVWR 5350*	130 over

*(can someone tell me why the GVWR is 515 lbs less than the total GAWR for the two axles?).

I figure adding two people (350 lbs ), 8 more gallons of water (64 lbs) and 5 gallons of gas (30 lbs) would put me at an additional 444 lbs for a total fully loaded weight of 5924 lbs (ignoring the two empty fuel cans hanging on the back). This is 574 lbs over the GVWR, or 10.7% high.:Wow1: I was surprised since my camper is bare bones. We carry pretty minimal gear. I don't know how I would get the weight down to the GVWR. At least we are close to the individual axle ratings. The truck handles fine and doesn't seem overloaded. There is still capacity in the stock suspension with the TSB rear springs. Braking, acceleration and cornering are all good.

I am curious about others' experiences and observations.

 

[Finlay]

The sum of the axle ratings are higher than the vehicle rating because you could conceivably have a load that was under the GVWR but greater than the single axle rating.

It's worth noting that there is some safety margin in the GVWR, and you'll have to decide how much into that margin you're willing to be. After all, the drive line and brakes are designed to move up to 11,000 lbs (GCWR).

Personally, I'd be concerned about that much weight on the stock suspension over time, and would look at either upgrading or adding airbags to the rear axle. The stock suspension is a little too compliant, I think. Also, I'd throw in and make sure you're double checking your axle seals, brakes and suspension every oil change. You're putting those components under extra wear, and while they are up to it, you'll want to be ahead of any potential problems from that excess wear.

I imagine many people here are well over the GVWR of their vehicles. I think it is smart of you to know for sure.

 

[bahndo]

Any idea what the dry camper weight is? Just curious...

 

[takesiteasy]

The sum of the axle ratings are higher than the vehicle rating because you could conceivably have a load that was under the GVWR but greater than the single axle rating.

It's worth noting that there is some safety margin in the GVWR, and you'll have to decide how much into that margin you're willing to be. After all, the drive line and brakes are designed to move up to 11,000 lbs (GCWR).

Personally, I'd be concerned about that much weight on the stock suspension over time, and would look at either upgrading or adding airbags to the rear axle. The stock suspension is a little too compliant, I think. Also, I'd throw in and make sure you're double checking your axle seals, brakes and suspension every oil change. You're putting those components under extra wear, and while they are up to it, you'll want to be ahead of any potential problems from that excess wear.

I imagine many people here are well over the GVWR of their vehicles. I think it is smart of you to know for sure.

Thanks for your comments and advice. I hadn't considered the GCWR which gives me more peace of mind. I think the GCWR of my truck is 8100 lbs, but still there is some margin for the brakes. No doubt the suspension is being worked hard and may need beefing up in the future. So far I am not noticing any issues.

Any idea what the dry camper weight is? Just curious...

I haven't weighed the truck without the camper yet. I will do that when I take the camper off for the winter. That should allow me to figure out how much the camper weighs, once I factor in gear weight and other factors like fuel load etc. I have been told that some Tacomas actually weigh more than their specified curb weight which complicates doing simple math. IIRC, ATC estimated the dry weight of the camper at about 600 lbs. I think fully outfitted versions are closer to 700 lbs dry.

 

[takesiteasy]

Okay, so I finally got to the truck scale with my truck empty. Here are the results:

front axle: 2525 lbs
rear axle: 1880 lbs
total: 4400 lbs

I had the gas tank full, the tailgate off and the dog in the cab (and forgotten snow chains on the floor behind the seats- oops). I was not in the truck.

The factory spec for Gross Weight is 4070, so somewhere I picked up 330 pounds (others have reported a similar experience). I'm thinking 50 pounds for D-rated tires, 50 pounds for the chains, 50 pounds for the extra battery, 60 pounds for the dog, but the tailgate was not on so that subtracts about 50 pounds. That leaves about 150 pounds unaccounted for. What am I forgetting? Maybe the additional towing package is not included in the spec curb weight- who knows.

With the camper on last summer, the weight was 5480 and I need to adjust for 5 gallons of gas (30 lbs). So let's call it 5510. With the empty weight at 4400 lbs, that leaves the camper and gear at 1110 lbs. I think my gear at the time was 350-400 lbs or less (including clothes, food, kitchen gear, water, the fridge, tools and whatnot) so that leaves the camper weight at about 700-750 lbs for a shell camper including the furnace and propane. That seems about right- maybe a bit heavier than expected. Not as exact as I would like but that's what I know now. I may try to get a weight with an empty camper to have a better sense of the camper weight.

The moral of the story is that the Tacoma is a great truck but the GVWR is quite limiting. I am happy to live within the limits- keeps in check our desire to bring every little thing along with us.

 

[DaVikes]

Do you know if the Toyota spec is for the TRD or sport/sr5/base? If your's is a TRD off road, you'll pick up a few more pounds with the skid plate and locker mechanism.

 

[takesiteasy]

Do you know if the Toyota spec is for the TRD or sport/sr5/base? If your's is a TRD off road, you'll pick up a few more pounds with the skid plate and locker mechanism.

It isn't totally clear. I got the spec from http://www.trucktrend.com/features/tech/163_2011_toyota_tacoma_technical_specifications/viewall.html It looks like it is for the base model 4x4 with the automatic transmission. It would make sense that the extra weight is coming from the TRD package as you suggest. That includes a stronger alternator, bigger battery, the skid, the lockers, the inverter and plug-in, the towing package which includes a transmission cooler, bigger brakes, etc. I also remembered that I have the upgraded rear springs from the Harsh Ride TSB which add a little bit too. Add all that up plus misc. stuff stashed like tow straps, shackles, hitch ball, tire wrench and I think I know where the extra weight is.