Vehicle weight survey

[gino]

Hey everyone,

As I'm building out my rig, I'm quickly approaching max GVWR. Survey:

1) Does your fully built rig exceed GVWR?
2) If so, by how much?
3) If so, what long term effects have you seen?

Go!

 

[FeralBoy]

Not even close. Old steel trucks are at least a ton lighter than their plastic nosed new school replacements, while gear weighs the same

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[Daryl 32]

Currently my rig is 7,200 lbs or so and lots more building to do. still have another 2,000 lbs or so of weight I can add.

If I go over it I can just up grade to 1 ton suspension.

Like Feral Boy said - got a love the old school Steel full size trucks.

Gross vehicle weight is based on suspension components - so you can go over it if you up grade you springs, shocks and such. Go much over it I would up grade the brakes too.

 

[OffroadTreks]

I'd argue most Toyota's that are built are probably well over GVWR. Which can have negative effects on the suspension. The effects usually result in faster wear on components and tires, things like balljoints and what not. At the extreme end, bent axles and other things breaking from that weight coming down on said suspension components when you hit ruts.

The key thing though is GVWR is set based on a combination of factors set by the manufacturer as a safe weight limit for the vehicles combined components. If you look at the tire and axle ratings you'll probably find those ratings to be higher than the GVWR. The GVWR is a guideline. Try not to exceed tire and axle ratings however. That's where the real problems start to happen.

You can also just visit a cat scale to get a handle on things.

Last time I was on the Cat scale my truck weighed 8360lbs fully loaded. But I have an HD truck and I'm still well below my threshold. But man is she a heavy beast.

 

[FeralBoy]

Gvwr on my 88 F150 is about 6000lbs. It weighs 4850 empty, about the same s wifeys Acadia .
Ive never been over 5700..

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Braking seems to be the only thing affected.

 

[Jeff Graham]

I'm Overlanding a Jeep JK Unlimited. The GVWR is 5500 lbs. I have always had a suspicion that I was a bit heavy. I went by a scale the other day, and now I know. My Jeep, without food, water, or camping gear; is 6000 lbs. The Jeep was loaded with: Me, recovery gear, tools with some spare parts, fuel topped off in both my main and auxiliary tank, my emergency bug out bag, and my emergency water tank (5 gal water).

I would argue, that most Jeep JK's loaded for Overlanding are over GVWR. The good news; it's really easy easy to order up one tone running gear, that effectively would increase your safe load carrying capacity. I think a Dana 60 rear end may be in my future. I have already made many modifications to my Jeep, including sleeving the front axle, to increase my payload capacity.

I didn't comment on this thread when it was first posted, because I didn't have empirical evidence too support my statement.

 

[v_man]

I was curious for years how much my built Runner weighed. I was really surprised it only tipped the scales at a little over 5k fully loaded. Still not sure if that is over GVW and don't really care...

 

[Jeff Graham]

What generation Runner?

 

[v_man]

1990, 2nd gen...

 

[Jeff Graham]

That's one of the cool things about older vehicles, way lighter then new. My old 2006 Jeep Wrangler LJ was over 1K lbs less then my 2013 JKU. It seems, when it comes to the weight of a vehicle, progress is backwards. Great looking rig.

 

[OffroadTreks]

Just think about all the weight side curtain, pillar and front airbags might be adding. A-pillars have gotten huge in the past couple of years becuase they're stuff with airbags.

I was in a discussion on a Camaro forum and it's thought that federal safety requirements have to lead about 2000lbs weight increase over older models.

 

[Jeff Graham]

Just think about all the weight side curtain, pillar and front airbags might be adding. A-pillars have gotten huge in the past couple of years becuase they're stuff with airbags.

I was in a discussion on a Camaro forum and it's thought that federal safety requirements have to lead about 2000lbs weight increase over older models.

That sounds about right!

 

[Daryl 32]

Just think about all the weight side curtain, pillar and front airbags might be adding. A-pillars have gotten huge in the past couple of years becuase they're stuff with airbags.

I was in a discussion on a Camaro forum and it's thought that federal safety requirements have to lead about 2000lbs weight increase over older models.

I have heard that the US Smart Cars are almost 500 lbs heavier then their US counter parts after they are up fitted to US DOT specs.

 

[TreXTerra]

1) Does your fully built rig exceed GVWR?

Yes

2) If so, by how much?

200 pounds with driver, full tank of fuel, and recovery tools. Does not include water or other gear.

3) If so, what long term effects have you seen?

Slightly lower MPG. The GVW of the Xterra is based mostly on the suspension, which has been fully replaced and upgraded. A lot of that weight is also in the tires, which is unsprung. The chassis is shared with the Titan, which has an empty curb weight that is about the same as my current "wet" weight plus an additional 9,000+ pounds of cargo capacity. The chassis is perfectly capable of carrying this load. My rear springs were custom made by Alcan and the vehicle was weighed as part of the development of those springs. The shocks have all been replaced with heavier duty models and the front springs are upsized to handle things up front. I probably have a longer stopping distance, but the brakes are still powerful enough to bring me up quickly in an emergency. Acceleration is slowed, but that is likely because of the larger diameter tires as much as it is the weight.

 

[Drftsub]

1) Does your fully built rig exceed GVWR?
Yup, well, I am basically just over it daily

2) If so, by how much?
~300lbs on a day to day basis, fully loaded going out on a trip I can exceed by up to 1k or so.

3) If so, what long term effects have you seen?
Luckily I haven't had anything of major note yet, other than the brakes feeling it on long grades. Tacoma brakes are notoriously horrid regardless, and once I accept that I need to spend 1500 on a decent big brake kit that will be solved.

I do have upgraded suspension and bushings / bearings etc, so that may have something to do with my lack of major issues. It may increase my ability to snap outer cages in my CV's like twigs..

 

[Herkjerk]

So my truck fully loaded for a recent trip to Baja weighed 6,640 lbs. I have fully upgraded suspension but my brakes were where it was most noticeable.

Sent with tin cans and paper footballs!

 

[Mike W]

2013 Land Rover LR4. stock curb weight ~5800 lbs. GVWR 7,200.

It's built like a 3/4 ton truck in terms of the suspension. It basically has two chassis, a full frame and also the "integrated body frame" which is a strong unibody on top of the frame. The suspension handles the weight perfectly because its all air springs and adjusts the height to the exact same spot.

My bumpers, armor and rack all all quite a bit of weight. I have the option of shedding a couple hundred pounds by just taking off my xfer case and gas tank skids.

This number seems very round for my taste, but it actually is accurate. This is probably 200 lbs low given some changes I have made (arb bumper added, but subtracted some other weight)

All loaded up for a trip with water, fuel, family.. I probably get close the GVWR, but considering all the heavy crap I have added, I'd say that is good.

 

[Lindenwood]

My 3rd gen 4Runner is around 5000lbs, max daily wright, with me in the vehicle, with a 5250 GVWR. However, the aftermarket suspension was selected specifically for an additional 500+ of daily weight. Plus, probably 75lbs of that is unsprung wheels tires anyways (not including the full-sized spare).

Indeed, brakes are my weak point right now. Not that I feel a major urge to upgrade them, but may eventually.