I’m a strong advocate for staying within all of your truck/tow vehicle’s ratings. I don’t agree with the philosophy that the numbers are artificially low for warranty reasons nor do I believe that you can pick and choose which ratings that you’re going to adhere to (like saying it’s okay to exceed the gross vehicle weight rating as long as you’re under the tire and axle ratings).
I’ve also been an advocate that people should weigh their truck and camper when possible for planning and for confirming that they’re within their ratings. Unfortunately, this is one point that I’ve been a bit of a hypocrite about. You see, I bought a big bad-(ahem) dually truck. I didn’t need to worry about those things. But, curiosity got me and I finally got the truck and camper weighed.
I’ll explain more why, but I did this in three weightings. After each weighing, my wife went inside and paid the fee and got the scale ticket ($10 for the first weighing and $2 for each re-weigh). After the first weighing, I parked the camper in one of the big rig spots and then went for the second weighing. After that one, I re-hooked up the camper and decided to go weigh again to measure the individual axle weights. Having to play with the big boys was a little stressful, but overall – it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined in my head.
The worst part, the “call” button to call up to the counter to let them know that you were there and ready to be weighed was at the height of a tractor trailer’s window. I stood on my running board to reach, but found I was able to stand under it and stretch and reach for the final weighing.
And finally, nothing changed between each weighing – my wife and I both got back into the truck, in the same spots each time. The only difference would have been the miniscule amount of fuel burned while parking and idling – not enough to measure, basically.
[…] long beds, duallies, with 4.10 gears and 4×4. We upgraded because I’m a firm believer in keeping equipment within ratings– especially after last year’s camper frame buckling […]