Should I Weigh My RV?

What’s my RV weight? Should I weigh my RV? Let’s explore this topic.

There are many weights: dry weight, curb weight, axle weight, vehicle weight, towing capacity, trailer weight, and total combined weight.

How does one know what each weight category means? Beyond that, how does one determine the weight of their RV combination? Let’s just answer one question at a time.

Should you drive into a truck weigh station that’s located along the interstate to weigh your RV? No! They would probably be rather upset if you did. Those weigh stations are intended for commercial trucking only. They also are not likely to be able to provide you with a printed weigh ticket containing the information.

Driving a Class A motorhome on Newfound Gap Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

CAT scales

CAT scales are located at numerous truck stops. Their website has a listing of all facilities.

Recently the fee to weigh was $12.50 plus $3 if you need to do a re-weigh. The process is fairly simple but you could always park first and go inside to ask about the procedure at the service desk.

CAT scales are intended for truckers who need to know the separate weights of the front axle (or steer axle), the drive axle(s), and the trailer axle(s), plus the total weight. For this reason, the scale consists of three platforms.

Due to the dimensions of the various RV combinations, it might be difficult to get the right axles positioned on the right platforms. You might have to move during the weighing process.

Some trucks that are over-length or that have a spread-axle trailer need to do this. That is another reason to park, look at the scale first, and then go inside to chat with the weighmaster.

But ideally, you want your front axle on the first platform, your rear axle(s) on the second platform, and anything you are towing on the third platform.

If the lengths just don’t work out, the weighmaster will give you instructions and have you move during the weighing process to position the axles on the platforms as needed. How-to weigh instructions can be found on their website.

When approaching the scale, make sure you have enough distance available to allow your vehicle combination to straighten out before reaching the scale.

Then, pull onto the platforms slowly and smoothly. Be sure to brake gently. It’s not good for the platforms to shake them by applying the brakes too suddenly.

Use your mirrors to check the position of your axles on the platforms and follow the instructions given by the weighmaster.

There is an intercom like those at a fast-food drive-through. He may ask for a truck number for your weigh ticket. You might just be able to say “RV” or give a few digits of your license plate number.

After weighing, park your rig and then go inside to get the weigh ticket.

Don’t block the scale by going inside while your rig is sitting there in the way.

CAT Scale offers a phone app also which might be an advantage if you plan to weigh very often.

Driving a Class A motorhome on Utah Scenic Byway 12 © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Other options to weigh my RV

Another option, rather than using a CAT scale at a busy truck stop, might be to visit a local grain facility to see if they allow weighing but not during the fall harvest season.

If you have a friend who is a farmer with their own scale, you have that as an option, also. This would allow you to disconnect the trailer if you want to know the separate weights of the towing vehicle and the trailer without any of the trailer weight being supported by the towing vehicle.

Some scales rather than having three platforms just have one narrow platform that can weigh only one axle at a time.

Some require the vehicle to be still; others can weigh while the vehicle is moving slowly across the platform. You might have to stop for a bit with each axle on the platform so each axle can be weighed separately before you move up to weigh the next axle.

The scale may be able to add up the weights or it may only provide the separate weights and you’ll have to do the math. The slow-moving scale might be the same: it will provide separate axle weights but it may or may not do the math.

An important point is to approach the scale from the proper direction.

Some scales are located so that an approach from only one direction is possible or feasible. Others are in the middle of the lot and could be approached from either direction.

Look for the word, ENTER on the overhead sign. Clearance? Well, all vehicles are limited to 13 feet 6 inches in height except for oversized loads and the sign has room to spare for a semi so there should be room to spare for your RV to fit.

Note that the option of an agricultural scale above may require you to both unhitch and reposition even to get the separate front and rear axle weights of the towing vehicle.

The agricultural facilities are not usually concerned with the individual axle weights. They are concerned with two weights: a full-grain truck and the same truck when it is empty. Thus, they often consist of only one long platform and cannot provide individual axle weights.

Driving a Class A motorhome on U.S. Highway 89 in northern Arizona © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

What is four-corner weight?

It is important to note that truck stop scales can only weigh an entire axle. They cannot weigh the left side and right side separately. For this, you will have to find an RV dealer that has the equipment to weigh each tire separately.

The cost is higher but pales in comparison to the cost of a blowout if the axle is too heavy on one side even though it is within its weight rating limit.

Total axle weight is important but side-to-side balance is also important to avoid overloading one side of the axle.

Even though four-corner weight as it’s called is important, total axle weight is still important to know when four-corner weight cannot be determined.

Four-corner weight is also known as wheel position weight—the weight of each wheel on the vehicle.

If you are a member of Escapees RV Club (one of the RV memberships I recommend) you can use SmartWeigh to get this four-corner weight. According to Escapees, the SmartWeigh program provides critical RV weight safety and load management information in a highly accurate and usable format.

If you are involved in an accident, having the weigh ticket as proof of being within limits can be an important document to have. Be aware, though, of weight creep.

You know, you add this to a compartment, you add that, you modify, and before long, you no longer weigh what you weighed the last time you visited a scale.

Driving a motor coach on Newfound Gap Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Weight definitions

For those of you who really want to dig into this topic the generally accepted weight definitions are as follows:

  • Dry weight: Weight of the empty vehicle with no fluids or contents.
  • Curb weight: Weight of the vehicle parked at the curb ready to be driven usually including coolant, oil, and a full fuel tank.
  • GAWR: Gross Axle Weight Rating is the maximum amount of weight one individual axle can carry. In the case of a true tandem axle, sometimes each individual axle is given its own rating and sometimes the entire two-axle assembly is given a rating. RVs seldom have a true tandem axle (two axles connected to a single assembly which is in turn connected to the chassis). A trailer with two axles has two individual axles not a tandem axle assembly. A tag axle on a longer Class A is not the same as a tandem axle.
  • GVWR: Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is the maximum amount that the entire vehicle can weigh. This might be less than the sum of the GAWR values. A vehicle maker might have to specify a larger capacity axle for one reason or another (e.g., larger brakes) but perhaps the drive train is not meant for this much weight. Thus, the GVWR might be less than the sum of the individual GAWRs.
  • Towing capacity: Weight that a vehicle can tow. A tow vehicle might be able to TOW 10,000 pounds but perhaps it can CARRY only 500 of those pounds—the tongue weight—on its hitch assembly. The tongue weight must factor into the GVWR and will also affect the GAWR of the rear axle.
  • GCWR: Gross Combined Weight Rating is the total weight of the entire combination vehicle: the tow vehicle, the vehicle being towed, all fuel and water, all persons and luggage and equipment in the tow vehicle, and all water and possessions and camping gear in the towed vehicle. With a Class A, B, or C, this is the weight of the RV plus the weight of the towed car (and maybe a dolly or trailer) or boat or whatever else might be back there.
Driving a Class C motorhome in Utah Scenic Byway 12 © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved

Now that we have that squared away—where are you going to go? Here are a few suggestions:

Worth Pondering…

I’m still learning.

—Michelangelo

Ready to Talk Like an RVer?

Are you ready for an RV lifestyle?

Learn all the terms used in the RV world and lifestyle. Here’s a few to get you started.

Whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been RVing for years, you’re bound to have questions. And we have answers at RVing with Rex.

Gray Water

Waste water from sinks and showers. Gray water is stored in a specific holding tank separate from fresh water and black water.

Gray and black water drain © Rex Vogel, all rights reserve

Black Water

Waste water from the toilet system. Black water stays in a holding tank until it is emptied at a dumping station.

Back-in sites © Rex Vogel, all rights reserve

Back-in Site

A camping space that requires backing in an RV as opposed to pulling through.

Pull-through site © Rex Vogel, all rights reserve

Pull-through Site

A camping space that allows an RV to enter from one side and leave from the other, eliminating the need to back the RV out of the site.

Full hookups © Rex Vogel, all rights reserve

Full Hookup

Campground utilities that include 30/50-amp electric service, city water, and sewer connection.

GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating)

The maximum operating weight allowed for an RV, including fuel and propane, holding tanks, gear, and passengers. For a towable RV this includes: the maximum allowable weight at the trailer axle(s), plus the hitch weight. For a motorized RV, this includes: the maximum allowable weight at all of the axles.

GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating)

The maximum operating weight of a motorized vehicle combined with the maximum allowable weight it can tow.

Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR)

The maximum permissible weight on one axle of the RV.

Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC)

The permissible weight that an RV can carry.

Wheelbase

The distance between the center lines of a vehicle’s primary axles.

Motorhome interior with galley (left) and desk and pull-out table (right) © Rex Vogel, all rights reserve

Galley

Kitchen of an RV. Name is borrowed from the boating industry.

Basement bins for storage with access from either side of motorhome © Rex Vogel, all rights reserve

Basement

Storage compartments below the floor of an RV that can be accessed from outside.

LP Gas/Propane

Liquid Petroleum Gas is used to fuel appliances such as stoves, ovens, water heaters, refrigerators, and furnaces.

Dump station © Rex Vogel, all rights reserve

Dump Station

A safe location, often at a campsite, to empty black water and gray water holding tanks.

Self-Contained

An RV that includes the basic necessities needed for boondocking or dry camping without electrical, water, and sewer hookups. A self-contained RV usually includes a fresh water tank, dry-cell batteries, inverter, and generator or solar panels.

Reefer and microwave © Rex Vogel, all rights reserve

Reefer

Slang for an RV refrigerator.

Boondocking at Quartzsite © Rex Vogel, all rights reserve

Boondocking

Boondocking is camping without hookups. Power will come from your generator, deep-cell batteries, and solar power system. 

Deep-Cycle Batteries

Deep-cycle batteries are designed to discharge power at a slow rate for an extended period of time. In RV applications, deep-cycle batteries power the comforts of home like your cooking appliances and lights. Add distilled water when the electrolyte level falls below a half-inch above the plates. Do not overfill. keep the water level an eighth of an inch below the battery’s internal vent-wall.

Converter

Converts 120-volt Alternating Current (AC) power into 12-volt Direct Current (DC) power.

Dinghy/toad attached to motorhome © Rex Vogel, all rights reserve

Dinghy/Toad

A vehicle towed at the rear of a motorized RV.

Backup Monitor

A camera in the back of an RV that connects to a digital monitor in the dashboard to give the driver a better view of what’s behind them, when reversing or when towing on the road.

Worth Pondering…
May the joy of today, bring forth happiness for tomorrow.