It is important to know how much your travel trailer weighs. Your RV dealer can tell you that the weight of your RV affects your safety and the safety of other travelers on the road. How much it costs to drive your RV, and how difficult it is to drive it is affected by the weight of your Class C motorhome as well.

How to find the weight of your fifth wheel trailer

All of the newer RVs have a label telling you how much weight your rig can safely carry. This is called the Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC). The CCC tells you how much weight you can carry if you do not add anything extra to the RV above what comes from the manufacturer, the passengers, the water, and propane.

Any accessories, food, clothes, pots and pans, tableware – in short anything that has weigh comes under the Cargo Carrying Capacity. If you are going on vacation, and intend to buy souvenirs, they, too will be part of the CCC.

Balance the load

How you arrange what you take in your fifth wheel camper is another factor. Too much weight on one side can put undue stress on the tires. If you have heavy appliances on one side, balance it out with things you take with you on the other side. A towed vehicle will affect your load capacity as well.

Do a safety check

You don’t need to guess if your small travel trailer needs to go on a diet. Take your RV, packed as it would be on a trip, to a drive-on scale. Truck stops generally have them. You can call ahead to find out when they are open. Don’t risk having an accident.