13
Tow Vehicle
MATCHING TRAILER AND TOW VEHICLE
Selecting the right combination requires
understanding a few guidelines. Your Chalet dealer
can be a valuable source of information when
matching a recreational vehicle with your tow
vehicle
A Federal Certification Label is required by law on
all tow vehicles. It is usually located on the driver
side door post. It lists the Gross Vehicle Weight
Rating (GVWR), the maximum weight at which
the vehicle may be operated. It also provides a
Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR), the
maximum weight allowed for each axle. The
GAWR, divided by two, is the maximum axle
rating for each end of an axle.
Trailers are considered “truck payload.” New
trucks have their payload capacity posted in the
glove box or on a specification sheet located in the
vehicles owner’s manual. Trucks that have many
options and/or a 4-wheel drive option have less
payload. To calculate payload, the vehicle
manufacturers assume all seat positions are filled
with persons weighing 150 pounds.
One way to determine the actual payload available
is to weigh the trailer full of water and propane.
RV’s become overloaded when people put too
many things into them. There is no easy way to
determine the weight you’ve loaded, so there’s a
temptation to keep loading until every available
space if filled. People are loading by volume, but
weight is far more important. Unfortunately, you
may have exceeded the load-carrying capacity of
the tires before everything is on board. The only
way to tell if your truck/trailer is overloaded is to
weigh it fully loaded.
The most critical point about weighing a trailer is
that it must be weighed with everything on board
that will be there while you’re traveling. That
means you must weigh the RV with all the
supplies, food, water, propane and the truck full of
fuel. Keep in mind that water weighs 8.3 lbs per
gallon and propane weighs 4.2 lbs per gallon.
These two items alone can add over 400 lbs alone.
Limiting your on-board water until you arrive at
your destination will lower your total weight. You
must know the actual load on the axles and wheels,
and there’s no other way to do it other than on a
commercial scale.
In addition to knowing the total weight, it is crucial
to know the weight on each end of each axle. That’s
the only way you can find out if the load is both
within the tire capacity, as well as whether or not
the load is properly distributed.
You should be able to find certified scales by
looking in your Yellow Pages for moving and
storage companies, farm suppliers, gravel pits,
recycling companies or commercial truck stops. Be
sure to call in advance to determine whether the
facility offers public weighing services, their hours
of operation and any fees that might be involved.
WARNING Failure to properly match
camper or trailer and the tow vehicle can result in
undesirable handling characteristics and create a
safety hazard.
Do not load your vehicle beyond its gross vehicle
weight rating (GVWR) and/or gross axle weight
ratings (GAWR). Both of these ratings are given on
an identification label normally located at the
driver’s door post area.
In addition to knowing the overall weight that can
be safely loaded in or attached to the tow vehicle,
you should know how to distribute the weight in
the RV so that correct amounts of weight are placed
over each axle. Proper weight distribution is
required for driving stability and will assure that
the trailer is not rear, front or side heavy. Heavy
weights placed at the rear end of the truck/camper
may cause undesirable handling characteristics
When loading the RV, store heavy gear first,
keeping it on or close to the trailer floor. Store only
light objects on high shelves. Distribute weight to
obtain even side-to-side balance of the loaded
vehicle. Secure loose items to prevent weight shifts
that could affect the balance of your vehicle.
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