Weighing Your Loaded Vehicle - Winnebago Adventurer 2005 Owner's Manual

Weighing Your Loaded Vehicle

To check the weight of your fully loaded
coach, locate a commercial weighing scale that
is capable of weighing large trucks.
Loading: Load your vehicle completely as if
you were going on a long trip, with everything
you would carry, including food, clothing, bed-
ding, lawn chairs, etc., a full fuel tank, full LP
tank, and a partial tank of fresh water - but
empty holding tanks.
Finding a Scale: In urban areas, the most
common places to find a public access scale are
commercial truck stops. In rural areas, most
grain storage elevators have scales available. If
you don't know of a truck scale in your area,
look in the Yellow Pages for entries such as
Grain Elevators, Scales-Public, Truck Stops,
Weigh Stations, etc. If you cannot locate a scale
in your area, call your state DOT and ask for rec-
ommendations. Most scales charge a nominal
fee for weighing a vehicle.
Weighing: There is typically a scale opera-
tor to direct you but the basic routine is to take
three separate weights - front axle, whole vehi-
cle, and rear axle. You will first drive only your
front wheels onto the scale pad, then drive ahead
so that the whole vehicle is on the scale, then
finally pull off until just the rear wheels are on
the pad.
Front GAWR (Front Axle Only)
GVWR (Both Front and Rear Axles)
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR MOTOR HOME
Rear GAWR (Rear Axle Only)
You will receive a weight 'ticket' that states
your current Front Gross Axle Weight, Rear
Gross Axle Weight and Gross Vehicle Weight.
You can compare these weights to the weight
ratings listed on your Vehicle Certification Label
to use as a guideline for future loading limits and
weight distribution.
The gross weight of the vehicle should not
exceed the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
(GVWR) specified on the Vehicle Certification
Label. (see section 2). The front and rear axle
weight also should not exceed the corresponding
Axle Weight Rating specified on the Vehicle
Certification Label.
Corner Weighing (Side-to-Side)
Weighing each corner of the coach sepa-
rately (single L/R front wheels or L/R rear dual
sets) is an accurate method to determine how to
distribute your cargo to avoid overloading, espe-
cially on tires.
To determine the weight distribution on each
tire or dual set, you will need to find a scale
capable weighing side-to-side, or all four 'cor-
ners' of the vehicle, separately. A truck scale
may be used if the ground is level with the scale
surface and the scale has clearance to drive one
side of the coach onto the scale as shown below.
Drive the coach on the level area next to the
scale and straddle the scale so that only one side
of the coach will be on the scale pad. Pull only
the front wheel onto the pad as shown.
SECTION 3
3-9