TV is under rated, now what?

[exav8tr]

quote:Originally posted by 1retired06

Phil, not sure I get your point. I am not familiar with all state laws on weight specs. I have never been ticketed because I have always been smart/careful enough to run tow vehicles that have the tow capacity to exceed the weight of whatever I am pulling. At the California spot check I cited, the rig that was parked was not allowed to continue. Hard to believe CHP could do that without a law to back them up. I dont know if they were ticketed or not. Seems to me the CHP was enforcing the law via spot checks and not wasting their time on something not legally enforceable. I would think the cost of bringing somebody in to tow the rig and TV and lost time was far more expensive than a ticket. The lawyers will hang you out to dry in a civil case, if being overweight is an issue in an accident. That is a fact.

If you didn't stop to check it out, how did you know they were stopped for a weight issue and not some other issue or they pulled in not knowing they did not have to. (Urban legend?)I am no longer an RVer, but I full timed for 4 years, (admitedly, not very long), but I did make it to about 44 states and never once got pulled over for a weight check, in fact most highway scales said "NO RV's" so I NEVER pulled into one. I asked on this forum many times for someone to cite actual cases of non-compliance and NO ONE came up with one. As to being at fault if in an accident because of overweight, I talked to many LEO's (I know my hearsay), they stated the overweightness (word?), of a trailer MUST be, without a doubt, the cause of the accident. They also admitted this would be very hard to prove even in a court of law. Brakes giving out or a humongus thunderstorm would most probably be the cause and NOT simply being overweight. Urban myths are still alive 5 years since I started RV'ing. I challenge anyone to actually come up with a verifiable court case where the overweightness, (there's that word again), was cited as the cause of an accident and the owners were cited. Otherwise PHOOEY. I will admit I was overweight for the entire four years, first with a 3/4 ton truck that I let the dealer talk me into, then in my one ton dually, because the '06 3400 had a GVWR of only 13,975 lbs, the reason for this was the 6,000 lb axles, the next year they went to 7,000 axles that increased the GVWR to about 15,600 lbs, so with a 8,000 lb dually, fully loaded, and an 06 3400, fully loaded, I was still overweight. The '06 3400 only allowed about 1500 lbs of carrying capacity, or payload. Try pulling that rig full time and only have 1500 lbs of payload in it. Statistics by the RV Weight folks is that most fulltimers are hauling around 4000 lbs. Class 8 TV, or smaller trailer is the only way to be absolutely legal in all cases. Then again, no legal requirements for RV's, Maybe some day Art.....BTW, Californis still has 55mph speed limits for vehicle hauling trailers, imagine doing that all day, but they do, even the big rigs, unless radar equipped....Right Art????

[Art-n-Marge]

'Fraid so Phil... The speed limit is 55mph for any towed combination in California but I would venture that most, including me, go faster than that.

For me it's because at 55mph and towing any load, the overdrive gear does not stay engaged since it's right at the sweet spot for my fifth GEAR and I average 8-10 mpgs at the higher RPMs. If I drive 60-62 then the overdrive gear helps me stay at lower RPMs and I average about 11-13 mpgs (a huge difference for any long trip). I don't drive faster than 65mph because that is what is stamped on the tires and I don't need any more risk at the tires. I prefer using less fuel and have the added benefit of better distance with minimal overage of the speed limit.

I think big semis average about 60-65 because many are paid by the mile and driving faster gets you more miles over the same amount of time. I've casually chatted with CHP, local police and other LEOs and they typically don't stop drivers between 1 to 10 mph over the speed limit unless they see something about the rig that looks unsafe (driver or rig). They do this with any and all vehicles. The fastest speed limit in all of California is mostly 70 or 75 but more than 50% seem to drive 75 to 80. When not towing I tend to cruise at between 0 and 10 miles over the speed limit because being retired, I am not in a hurry any more. I don't pass many vehicles doing that, and pass mostly rigs and semis and not very fast. I will speed up to pass to not irritate the real fast drivers that tailgate me as I'm passing someone - sometimes I've had to go 90 to 95 to do this. As soon as I'm passed I drop back down to no more than 10 mph over the speed limits.

My rig has never been overweight and travel under 600 lbs under GVWR, except possibly when all tanks are full and I drive a very short distance to a dump station. I have never driven more than 5-10 mph in the couple or so times of doing that. I use a honey dump service or dump at the hookup. Lots to know and do in the lifestyle of hauling my 10-11 tons of fun!