Motor Homes:

Payload capacity is the GVWR less the curb weight. Too little payload capacity will put a burden on the chassis and cause excessive wear and tear. This could result in poor handling characteristics of the RV. On the other extreme, too much payload capacity may give the RV a “stiff” ride, which may cause fatigue to the driver and passengers and damage equipment. For this reason, excessive payload decreases the Highway Control Rating. Our optimums for payload are 20 percent for motor homes and 30 percent for travel trailers.

The question has come up regarding a different scale for payload-to-capacity percentages for motor homes with GVWRs ranging from 36,000 to 48,000 pounds. Some think that a payload of 8,000 pounds would be excessive for a motor home weighing 32,000 pounds with a 40,000-pound GVWR.

Consider that a motor home with a 40,000-pound GVWR would normally have an unloaded vehicle weight (UVW) of 32,000 pounds. Because the stopping distance is gauged by the GVWR, every pound added to payload increases the stopping distance, as does age and miles traveled. These 40,000-pound GVWR motor homes should stop easily with an unloaded weight of 32,000 pounds. They are designed to stop well at a total weight of 36,000 pounds. At their maximum GVWR of 40,000 pounds, we can only hope that they will stop within a safe distance with reasonable wear on the brakes when on a 7-percent downgrade. However, if you think a 40,000-pound motor home will stop easily at 60 miles per hour on a 7-percent grade in an emergency situation, you need to think about it a bit longer. A motor home with a 40,000-pound GVWR should not weigh over 32,000 pounds unloaded at the curb. For this motor home, an 8,000-pound payload would not be excessive. RV manufacturers will undoubtedly disagree.

You might find conflicting information on some consumer labels inside of the motor home regarding carrying capacity. The RVIA has established a cargo-carrying capacity (CCC) that is based on GVWR less UVW, less potable-water capacity times 8, less LP times 4, less sleeping capacity times 154. If you want to use our payload figures to determine the CCC, simply multiply the number of sleeping positions by 154 and subtract from our payload. This should put the motor home's CCC in close harmony with our numbers. Our payload figures are both relevant and practical as long as you consider the number of persons riding in the motor home as part of the payload.

Towables:

The payload pounds designation is the GVWR less the curb weight. Problems show up in this area because some manufacturers are using a downgraded chassis or are weighing their RVs inaccurately. If you question the personal payload estimate shown in this publication, you should weigh the RV with full fresh water and propane tanks and completely empty of waste water, persons, personal equipment, and supplies. Subtract that weight from the GVWR to determine your RV’s payload capacity.

Too much payload capacity may affect both the Reliability and Highway Control Rating. Our optimum for payload is 30 percent for travel trailers. RV manufacturers should be able to design RVs with payloads within 5 percent of these optimums.

There have been numerous accidents because of inadequate braking or loss of control. Many manufacturers are trying hard to hide their responsibility for chassis inadequacies related to balance and payload-carrying capacity. They know they are collectively responsible for thousands of accidents, yet they do nothing to correct this situation. We are adamant that many RV accidents are caused by deficiencies in the design of RVs.

RV Consumer Group takes chassis inadequacies seriously. We want every model of every brand to have complete specifications with listed dry weights in the brochures. It's extremely simple: The manufacturer could accurately weigh the first-built of each model with standard equipment, then they could publish this weight and the weight of each option in their brochure. They could also show an average unloaded vehicle weight for each model. With this information, any consumer armed with a calculator can figure the personal payload of any model after they have added desired options. To us, this would be doing it the right way.




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