Finally took my Pop-up/Tundra to the Scales - What a pig!

[MINO]

I knew I was over GVWR. I never had a chance to weigh it, but I knew. I thought at most 600lbs over.
What a shock it was to discover how overweight it really was: 8,460 on a 4x4 Tundra: with approx 7200 GVWR.
Throw me and the wife in there, and we're at 8,830.

We came to the CAT scale with a half tank of gas, ExpOne Bumper, 12k winch, 26gal of water, tire chains, bunch of tools, 2 cats, litterbox, snowboards, full fridge. As close to our usual travel load as possible.

Suspension was upgraded to handle more weight (OME Heavies + D28XL leaf upgrade). Tires are E-rated but none of that prepared me to see how overweight we are.

So here I am - researching every item I've added to my rig. Hell, my snow chains alone weigh about 100lbs. That 215AH battery I upgraded to - added another 100lbs. So on and so forth. Phoenix didn't include any weight info on my build but I did order it well equipped with hot water, shower, and a king bunkbed. I'll weigh it sometime.

It's a friendly reminder to keep an eye on the weight and safety of your rigs.

Anyone else go to the scale and see how far over they really are?

 

[ripperj]

That is heavy, but most people are probably in the same boat. It's all the bs like tools and toys that add up, plus the options you mention like dual batteries and water heaters. I'm going to have a similar situation with my Alaskan, I have 8800# on my 2500 to play with, but by the time I get a couple mountain bikes and gear, maybe a kayak, I know I will be over. I'm not overly concerned because I know the truck is basically the same as the 1 ton, but you can't change the door sticker.
How does your truck handle the load?

 

[Terra Ops]

Weighing is on my to do list....... Not really, I don't want to know
Hind sight is 20/20. I should of gone with a queen cab over east/west. This would probably of reduced the porpoising without the Lance struts.
Also the nice counter tops add substantial weight. "Anybody know if aluminum counter tops makes sense??"
Lastly, wood construction is heavier than I thought, specifically my bathroom enclosure.
Having said this, my Ram 2500 diesel handles the load just fine, that is after upgrading shocks and running air suspension @ 90 psi.

 

[bob91yj]

I've been in a custom RV that had medical grade stainless steel countertops...bulletproof. Not sure of the weight savings, but they sure seemed practical for the abuse that I tend to put things through.

 

[MINO]

That is heavy, but most people are probably in the same boat. It's all the bs like tools and toys that add up, plus the options you mention like dual batteries and water heaters. I'm going to have a similar situation with my Alaskan, I have 8800# on my 2500 to play with, but by the time I get a couple mountain bikes and gear, maybe a kayak, I know I will be over. I'm not overly concerned because I know the truck is basically the same as the 1 ton, but you can't change the door sticker.
How does your truck handle the load?

That's funny, we've been talking about upgrading to a 2500 and an Alaskan in the future.
Frankly, over the past 2 years, I've only had a gripe with the slightly longer braking distances. After adding the rear sway bar (34lbs btw) we haven't had much issue with how it handles. In fact, we use it as a photo studio for automotive shoots in the field. It handles pretty well in the canyons when we are chasing or leading the crew.
That's probably adding to the shock of how overweight we are - it never really felt like it.

Weighing is on my to do list....... Not really, I don't want to know
Hind sight is 20/20. I should of gone with a queen cab over east/west. This would probably of reduced the porpoising without the Lance struts.
Also the nice counter tops add substantial weight. "Anybody know if aluminum counter tops makes sense??"
Lastly, wood construction is heavier than I thought, specifically my bathroom enclosure.
Having said this, my Ram 2500 diesel handles the load just fine, that is after upgrading shocks and running air suspension @ 90 psi.

Think I've mentioned on another thread, we went with the king north/south and had severe porpoising. Got the Lance Struts too.
We went with a simpler laminate counter top with aluminum trim. Not sure of the weight savings. However, those metal trim pieces get friggin cold! Nothing like brushing against it while changing clothes. brrr!

 

[calicamper]

In the boat biz aluminum skin is about the same as composite cored skin regarding weight in a very rough way of comparing things. The counter tops made of a solid composite epoxy pour are heavy but not much different than the cheap formica on particle board. The lightest set up would probably be formica backed by standard plywood or as you pointed out aluminum wrapped plywood. Downer on the alumium skin stuff would be small dents from things like dropped eating utensils etc. The cabinets material is probably the easiest way to shed weight by moving to a cored composite type material then skin it with your typical wood choice etc. That would probably shed a sizable amount of weight off the campers.

 

[rotti]

Great eye opening post MINO and yes I have:
Just under 9,000 pounds.

I have a "lightweight" FWC camper and fully loaded with two people I have over a ton of payload...with no toys.
Luckily I am a firm believer in "you can never have too much truck" so I have about 500 pounds of payload to spare on a 3/4 ton.

Knowing what I know now though, my next truck will be a one ton.

 

[Umtaneum]

GVWR on my F350 is 9900, fully loaded with my Phoenix I'm 10,300. 5k on the front axle, which stock is rated at 5300, and 5300 on the rear which is rated at 6600. I have 10 ply tires rated for 3800 each, air bags, overloads, and oversized shocks in the rear, and slightly heavier springs along with oversized shocks in the front. No porpoising noticed so far with the north/south configuration.

It actually handles better with the even weight distribution than any RV setup I've ever had.

 

[Roaming Gnome]

I recently scaled as well. Quite surprised what I weighed in at too. Crew cab Titan with pop up camper towing an atv trailer. Gawr front 3500# scaled at 3196, gawr rear 3800# scaled at 4739. Atv trailer scaled at 2447 with an estimated 225# tognue weight. My camper lists as 1200# with water and propane so I was really surprised my rear axle was soo heavy. I do have overload leafs, airbags and e rated tires so the truck handles fine but I still think its asking a lot of a half ton truck. As my gross combined Vehicle weight rating is 14822# I'm ok overall so I'll be moving some gear around to lighten up my drive axle. And definetly pack trip specific gear not just everything that might be useful.

 

[Tinfish]

I wish all the build threads here had weigh-ins -- most, though not quite all, look to be significantly over the recommended weights.

 

[Regcabguy]

I knew I was over GVWR. I never had a chance to weigh it, but I knew. I thought at most 600lbs over.
What a shock it was to discover how overweight it really was: 8,460 on a 4x4 Tundra: with approx 7200 GVWR.
Throw me and the wife in there, and we're at 8,830.

We came to the CAT scale with a half tank of gas, ExpOne Bumper, 12k winch, 26gal of water, tire chains, bunch of tools, 2 cats, litterbox, snowboards, full fridge. As close to our usual travel load as possible.

Suspension was upgraded to handle more weight (OME Heavies + D28XL leaf upgrade). Tires are E-rated but none of that prepared me to see how overweight we are.

So here I am - researching every item I've added to my rig. Hell, my snow chains alone weigh about 100lbs. That 215AH battery I upgraded to - added another 100lbs. So on and so forth. Phoenix didn't include any weight info on my build but I did order it well equipped with hot water, shower, and a king bunkbed. I'll weigh it sometime.

It's a friendly reminder to keep an eye on the weight and safety of your rigs.

Anyone else go to the scale and see how far over they really are?

I'm at 8600# with my wet Northstar,upgraded suspension and power and can feel the weight and mass a bit. I'd agree the Tundra's working hard with that much weight.
You're doing better than the guy with a Tundra and a hardsided cabover I spoke to in Anza Borrego. His camper was going into Craigslist upon his return.

 

[ripperj]

I wish all the build threads here had weigh-ins -- most, though not quite all, look to be significantly over the recommended weights.

I think most people are in denial or just flat out don't want to know

 

[MINO]

GVWR on my F350 is 9900, fully loaded with my Phoenix I'm 10,300. 5k on the front axle, which stock is rated at 5300, and 5300 on the rear which is rated at 6600. I have 10 ply tires rated for 3800 each, air bags, overloads, and oversized shocks in the rear, and slightly heavier springs along with oversized shocks in the front. No porpoising noticed so far with the north/south configuration.

It actually handles better with the even weight distribution than any RV setup I've ever had.

That's pretty damn good weight distribution! Many sports cars wish they were that even f/r.

I recently scaled as well. Quite surprised what I weighed in at too. Crew cab Titan with pop up camper towing an atv trailer. Gawr front 3500# scaled at 3196, gawr rear 3800# scaled at 4739. Atv trailer scaled at 2447 with an estimated 225# tognue weight. My camper lists as 1200# with water and propane so I was really surprised my rear axle was soo heavy. I do have overload leafs, airbags and e rated tires so the truck handles fine but I still think its asking a lot of a half ton truck. As my gross combined Vehicle weight rating is 14822# I'm ok overall so I'll be moving some gear around to lighten up my drive axle. And definetly pack trip specific gear not just everything that might be useful.

The CAT station we went to didn't do per axle. Wish they did. I'm sure most of my weight is on the rear too. Problem is a lot of us pack for "in case sh!* happens"

I wish all the build threads here had weigh-ins -- most, though not quite all, look to be significantly over the recommended weights.

Agreed. After we scaled, I've been trying to find info on those in similar positions as ours. How long have they gone, conditions, wear and tear, failures, etc.
I'd say we have a good 20k miles at/near our weigh in. We don't baby it when exploring but we don't rock-crawl either.
We've had 1 half shaft issue after visiting the sand dunes (the boot twisted and tore). Brake wear is in check. Tires are wearing a bit faster than we'd like but that's OK.

 

[MINO]

I'm at 8600# with my wet Northstar,upgraded suspension and power and can feel the weight and mass a bit. I'd agree the Tundra's working hard with that much weight.
You're doing better than the guy with a Tundra and a hardsided cabover I spoke to in Anza Borrego. His camper was going into Craigslist upon his return.

Yea, no-way on the hard side. Did the guy know or find out the hard way?

 

[Ramblinman]

I think most people are in denial or just flat out don't want to know

X 2. I am 1000lbs over GVW full load, wet, 2 x dog, full fridge. Its the elephant in the room. Next truck will def be a 1 ton.

Try this - when you weigh your rig on the scale. Take the wife - and when you are on the scale viewing the digital read out - just say "honey can you step out for a quick second" It was a long quiet ride home.