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MOTOR HOME LOADING.···v
Your motor home chassis is designed to carry a certain
..... maximum load. This load includeseverything:theweight
. of the empty motor home Itself,all occupants and their
belongings, fuel, fresh water, waste water and anything
else that may be in or attacherj to the motor home.
The maximum load for which ihe motor home is de-
signed is called the GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT RAT-
ING (GVWi'I). Modifications to your motor home, i.e.,
changing tires or spring load capacities, will not in any
way increase the GVWR.,
.
Another critical weight factor is the GROSS' AXLE
WEIGHT RATING (GAWR).Thisisthe maximum weight
a specific axle is designed to carry. Each axle has its
own GAWR,.The GAWR'sdo not necessarily add up to
the GVWR: ..
.
'. .-. , .
The GVWR and the GAWR for your motor home are
showrJ~>n
the certification tag posted on the driver's door
or in the driver's complirtment. ' .
WARNING
DO NOT EXCEED THE RATED LOAD OF
THE MOTOR HOME, OR THE RATED LOAD
.,." .. OF ANY AXLE •. EXCEEDING THE GVWR OR
...... GAWROF· YOUR MOTOR HOME,WILL
REDUCE YOUR WARFlAN!YPROT,ECTION,
CAN CAUSE UNDESIRABLE HANDLING
CHARACTERISTICS AND MAY CREATE A
SAFETY HAZARD.
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 placed on the axles. The allow-
able carrying capacity of the motor home is found by
weighing the motor home empty, and subtracting this
weight from the GVWR.
Carrying Capacity
During the design and development of Fleetwood motor
homes, the number and size of storage compartments,
the liquid tank capacities and number of belted seating
positions are maximized for value and convenience. If
O~THE
ROAD
you fillaliliquid tanks to capacity; fill all storage compart-
ments and cupboards to maximum volume and fill all
available seating positions with passengers, the motor
home will be overloaded. According to National High-
way Traffic Safety Administration figures, a vehicle
occupant weighs 150 pounds. Additionally, each gallon
of gasoline weighs six pounds (6.0 Ibs.) and each gallon
of water. weighs over. eight pounds (8.3Ibs.) ..
You are responsible for analyzing the conditions under
which the motQr ,home will be used for each trip. The
number of passengers and placement of cargo will
affect the amount of water and cargo that you can carry
(Slle,:'l,.oadlng Tips"}. For convenience, the passen-
ger capacity for camping use and the passenger capac-
ity
for day use are shown on a permanent label in the
c:lri~er:!larea
(jr,adjacent to the main entry door. The
passenger capacity for camping provides reasonable
cargo capacity for trips taking more than one day. The
passenger capacity. for day use provides less. cargo
capacity for trips or activities not involving overnight
stays. For example, it may be necessary to reduce the
amount of water carried and unload some cargo items
normally carried for camping in order to provide carrying
cap'apity. lor the ;additional day use passengers.
Thenu~b~r ?t~e~tb~1t
locations
m~y
be. greater than
th\:lI1~,mIlEl~ofp,~~,~eflg~rs
perrritted by the label. These
e>5tr<,l"oc;atlo~s,)f
provlde.d,are to permit a choice of
seats while tralielling. It is not safe to exceed the labeled
pa~seliger
capacity
unl~ss
the axle loadings and total
weight are checked against their ratings on a public
,sc<,lle. (See "Determining and Distributing Your
,Load").
, .... '..
.
Thoughtfulconsideration of the weight placed in the
motor home can yield important benefits:
Greater choice of seating and storage
Safe operation, including improved handling char-
. acteristics and ride comfort
Better fuel mileage and reduced tire wear.
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