Occupant And Cargo Carrying Capacity And Load Distribution; How To Weigh Your Loaded Motor Home - Fleetwood Southwind Owner's Manual

Occupant and Cargo Carrying
Capacity and Load Distribution
NOTE
3
The Occupant and Cargo Carrying Capacity
(OCCC) printed on the two tags inside the motor
home is per the Factory Weight of the motor
home and includes all factory options. Dealer
added weight, LCCR, is listed on the same
tags in writing and must be subtracted from the
printed OCCC to attain the OCCC at the time of
first sale. If any other equipment is added after
first sale such as leveling jacks, awnings, roof
pods, etc., then these items must also reduce
the OCCC.
The occupants and cargo weight you can place
in your motor home is the motor home's GVWR
minus its current UVW or in other words its
maximum capacity minus the current weight of
your motor home including fluids such as fuel
and propane. When the motor home is being
designed, the number and size of storage com-
partments, the liquid tank capacities and number
of belted seating positions are determined for
value and convenience. If you fill all liquid tanks
to capacity, fill all storage compartments and
cupboards to maximum volume and fill all avail-
able seating positions with passengers, the motor
home could be overloaded. (See Loading Tips).
Be aware of the weight of the items you store,
where you store the items in your motor home,
and weigh your motor home after it is fully
loaded.
In addition to knowing the overall weight that
can be safely loaded in or attached to the motor
home, you must know how to distribute the
weight so that correct amounts of weight are
distributed between the axles or front-to-rear and
also between the wheels or side-to-side. It is also
important to place heavier items in under-the-
floor storage or low in the motor home. If you
make the motor home top heavy or much too
heavy on one side, the motor home can be over-
turned and crash in a curve, turn or in an emer-
gency steering maneuver. When the load is prop-
erly distributed, your motor home will handle
and respond safely, and you as the driver can be
more confident and will be more comfortable.
If your motor home is improperly loaded, it
may be unsafe to drive, uncomfortable to drive,
or both. Axle load is important and it is recom-
mended that you should load your motor home
so that the front axle is loaded to at least 80% of
the front GAWR.
How to Weigh Your Loaded
Motor Home
Refer to your local telephone directory to find a
public weigh station. The following procedures
will help you determine whether your loaded
motor home (complete with cargo, fluids , passen-
gers, and driver) is within GAWR, GVWR, and
GCWR limits. When you arrive at a weigh sta-
tion, the attendant will guide you through the cor-
rect positioning of the motor home on the scales.
Your RV must be weighed fully loaded, that
is, with passengers, food, clothing, fuel, water,
Propane, supplies, etc. Any towed vehicle
(car/pickup, boat or trailer) or item loaded on
brackets on the back of the RV, such as bikes
or motorcycles, should also be included in the
weighing.
The following steps are suggested and are illus-
trated on the following pages:
1. Pull onto the scale so that only the front
axle is on the platform (with the end of the
scale midway between the front and rear
axles), and record the scaled weight.
2. Pull forward until the full unit is on the
scale, and record the scaled weight.
3. Pull forward so that only the rear axle is on
the scale (again with the edge of the scale
midway between the front and rear axles),
and record the scaled weight.
If the RV has a rear tag axle, pull forward
so that only the tag axle remains on the
scale, and record the scaled weight.
To determine individual wheel position weights,
it is necessary to repeat the first three steps,
but this time, use only one side of the scale, as
shown on the following pages.
On The Road
05-5