Are you exceeding your trailer's cargo carrying capacity?

[ykcamom]

Ok, I admit I am obsessing a little bit because we are soon to head out on our first snowbird experience, meaning we need to carry more clothing and general cargo than normal and am getting worried about exceeding our trailer's cargo carrying capacity.

The yellow sticker on our Whitehawk 27DSRL shows its dry weight with full propane tanks is 6296 lbs and the max cargo carrying weight is listed at 1204 lbs.

Am thinking we really should take this sucker to weigh scale and see what it rings in at because I do wonder if we have more than 1000 lbs loaded into it. I really have no clue. (sad but true)

Curious if others have tested this? Is the gross weight of your trailer over its dry posted and max cargo capacity numbers on your "yellow sticker"?

[Big1]

Yes, it will be worth taking it and getting it weight, our TT go up almost to 3000 lbs but we will never goes that high.

[norty1]

Weighing it is the best thing you can do. No matter what you load or don't load, you can't go by the dry weights posted. Mine were lower than posted by a few hundred lbs.

I wouldn't leave my underwear home for fear of being a few lbs over.
Knowing is the key!

[RedHorse1]

Yup, load 'er up and hit the scales. You will learn much more than your TT's weight.
The CAT Scale is your friend.

[bankr63]

If you're worried, also remember to go light on the consumables. If your propane is low, leave it that way and certainly keep your tanks empty except enough for a couple of flushes. No need to haul 40-60lbs of propane down south when you can get it easily down there.


And no, even fully loaded I am not over my GTW by a wide margin. According to the CAT I am only close on RGAWR with the WDH bars disconnected. With the WDH engaged, I am fine.

[2nOZ]

We purchased our White Hawk 27DSRL about a month ago. Sticker indicated the dry weight with full dual 30lb propane tanks to be 6300lbs. Took it to the scale on the way home and weighed it. It weighed in at 6340lbs. The 40lbs was for the battery. So far, we have loaded it with 258 lbs of stuff. Weighed each piece. Except for a few additional articles of clothing, that's about it. Just the two of us.

[Ottawasteve]

When we are packing liquids are one of the heaviest things. Every gallon in your fresh water tank is 8lbs. If you have the 84gallons tank that is 672lbs which will be deducted from your 1204 lb cargo carrying capacity. A couple of cases of water is nearly 60lbs (2X 28 lbs). Add in a case of beer, a case of Gatorade etc.


When we went on our first 6 week trip to Florida with our new to us trailer, I put all the heavy items into a plastic bin and stepped onto a bathroom scale before they went into the trailer and DW marked them on a piece of paper and we added them up. We did not weigh clothes, bedsheets etc. and I just estimated 50 lbs for each of us for bedding and clothes and then stepped on the scale to weigh A) all the tools, b) all the dishes and pots and pans, C) wife's shoes, D) chairs and outdoor furniture, E) cookstove F) cleaning supplies etc. Sounds onerous, but really wasn't as we were loading the camper for the long trip anyways and was quicker than going to scale before the trip. You can even do it right in the trailer by pulling heavy stuff out and put it in a box and step on a bathroom scale.


For our trip, this had the added advantage because our first trailer was extremely lightweight fiberglass (3000lb dry) with a light tongue weight and if we were dry camping the next night and were filling the 35 gallon (280lb) fresh water tank which was at the back of the trailer it really affected tongue weight so I would shift some heavy stuff forward. If I recall correctly, your Whitehawk has a front pass through also and if you pack heavy stuff in your pass-through it can significantly increase your tongue weight. Makes you really good at estimating weights after as well.