2008 3500RL GVWR Discrepancy

[bhelmer]

I have been looking at 3500RL's and have run into a GVWR weight discrepancy. 2 2008 3500RL rigs one with at GVWR of 13920 and one with the advertised standard GVWR of 15420. Apparently Keystone will not change the weight label to reflect the higher weight even though they acknowledge the suspension and structure is identical on both units.
Does anyone have any insight or suggestions?

[Art-n-Marge]

It might be the axles... one might be constructed with 6,000lb axles (like my '06), and the other with 7,000lb axles...

My Rig has a GTWR of 14,020 with the 6,000lb axles. That's only 100 lbs difference.

Why the same model years would have different axles I don't know, but I hope he paid less for his rig since it's less capable.

Mislabelling from the factory is so rare but many times this is caused by some component being lesser rated and therefore will cause a lesser rating for the whole rig or vehicle.

For example, I have a 2006 Ford F-250. I compared it to a neighbor's 2006 F-250 and his truck had the F-350 spring set and a sway bar (also used for the camper option), but it only had an F-250 GVWR. When we talked about it, we think it was because when he bought it, the OEM wheels & tires were 17" which have less weight rating and an F-350 uses 18" to support the higher weight rating. The spring set and sway bar just meant his truck would support a camper. Not a very heavy one, but better than what my F-250 could support. I hope you are following my explanation.

Both he and I now have the same spring set (I upgraded mine) and we both have 18" wheels and tires to support an F-350 weight rating because we purchased and installed the larger OEM wheels and new tires to match to legally increase our GVWR. But we can only use our trucks for personal use and if we recertified our trucks we could legally use it for commercial purposes. Okay, okay, another topic...

Next time check the label for the axle ratings too.

[bhelmer]

Thanks Art. That would probably explain the difference. As I told the dealer, this was a deal breaker for us. We are upgrading from a 329 and can pack about 2000# with the 329. My wife would have to shed a lot of goodies if we could only pack 1200#!! And you know what they say "A happy wife is a happy life"

[Carl n Susan]

I guess I don't understand. The Montana website http://keystone-montana.com/index.ph...pecs&year=2008 (for 2008 but the rest of the years can be found from here) shows the GVWR to be 15,480 (11,920 Shipping Weight + 3,560 Carrying Capacity).


The numbers for 2009 are 12,032 + 3,448 = 15,480


And the numbers for 2007 are 11,685 + 3,735 = 15,420


It appears the 2008 and the years before and after are all rated at 15K GVWR. This doesn't sound like an axle change from 6K to 7K occurred in these years as the GVWR and the Carrying Capacity are very close.

What sticker are you looking at? Check the one near the propane locker on the driver's side of the RV and the one inside the kitchen cabinet. They should correspond with similar numbers. The propane locker one will tell you which axles are installed.

Is it possible you are looking at the kitchen cabinet door sticker and it had been replaced by a door from another rig?

[Emmel]

Heh Art, you are kinda confusing me with the 1 ton rating depending on the 18" wheels and tires. How come the 02 F-350 only has 16" tires on them from the factory, does that mean they can only be certified as an F250? Good luck getting your truck "recertified" to F350 regulations for commercial purposes!
As for the weight rating on the 08 model 3500RL, that could have been a mistake that got pass the quality control. That has happened before. I don't think any Montana model has less than 3000lb carring capacity.

[bhelmer]

Both Labels (Exterior Propane locker and Kitchen Cupboard) show GVWR as 13920. The exterior one also indicates 6000# axles. As Art pointed out this may be the reason for the lower GVWR.

[helmick]

Are you sure they are both 2008, in the middle of the 2007 year is when they made the change to 7,000 Lb. axles.

[Emmel]

As Ron said, check manufacture date.

[bhelmer]

The manufacture date is 12/10/2007.