I have been wanting to weigh my motorhome and trailer forever but never got around to it until this past weekend.... I know my trailer is an old all-steel heavyweight but I'm just curious how many of you have actually weighed your stuff and how it compares to mine. I suspected my trailer is heavy even for a steel trailer (it was built by a reputable local trailer builder a LONG time ago who's not around anymore) but I've heard that aluminum trailers aren't that much lighter than comparable steel trailers so I'm just curious how many of you have real-world numbers to compare with.

Trailer: 32' steel triple-axle, 8" extra tall, loaded with an 1875lb dragster, gas golf cart, 25 gallons of alky, the usual small spares (no spare engine or trans) & tools.... 9,440 lbs.

37' 2004 Coachmen Cross-Country diesel pusher with a full tank of fuel & water AND the above trailer, no lot lizards, total: 33,180 lbs.

How many of you have actually hit the scales at your friendly neighborhood truck stop????

Truck: 13' Renegade sport deck toter on Freightliner FL112 chassis
Trailer: 53' United steel with 1' extra height
Contents: 1700# BBC dragster, 3400# Nova, golf cart, Razz, dirt bike, 80 gallons of various fuels, tools, and spare parts. Maybe a junior dragster or 2 although I usually leave one of my cars home when we bring those.

Total Weight: 40,500. 24,980 on the truck wheels and 15,420 on the trailer wheels.

Ok I’m surprised at the weight of that pusher. Much heavier than mine. I forget my exact number on it. My two axle trailer with golf cart dragster jr was about 8500

I once weighed my DRW F-350 with 32ft 1ft extra high Pace trailer with my car and all the rest of the junk and it weighed 23,000lbs. I know with the same Pace, car, etc and my current DP I got 6.5 MPG on a 1500 mile ride. Same DP, car, etc on my 20ft Featherlite open trailer and same trip I got 9.25mpg.....My DP weighs 28,000lbs.

quote:

Originally posted by Bucky:
Ok I’m surprised at the weight of that pusher. Much heavier than mine. I forget my exact number on it. My two axle trailer with golf cart dragster jr was about 8500

That’s the motorhome & trailer… subtract the trailer and it’s 23,740lbs for the MH. The motorhome is what it is, I just threw that in there for the hell of it… I’m really more curious as to everyone’s trailer weight.

I had thought about bigger RV and enclosed trailer, then gas/fuel prices jumped. We got 2nd pup and seemed like time to expand.

I will live with current setup, 25'6" compact class A, open trailer with gen, spare tires. Even with extra water for multi day events 18,750 lbs combined with 10 to 11 MPG. Trailer is 5,600 lbs with car and extra water.

Bill I believe if the aluminum trailer is built well it will weigh almost as much as a steel trailer. When I go to Lebanon valley in August for the big money race I’ll put mine on the scales and check. I have a 36’ Meridian and a 30’ dual axle Intech.

quote:

Originally posted by 369dragster:
Bill I believe if the aluminum trailer is built well it will weigh almost as much as a steel trailer.

I’ve heard only about 600 pound weight savings in an aluminum 28’ trailer vs steel.

I weighed my 28’ steel trailer with my old 32’ class C. It had 5k on the front axle of the MH, close to 10k on the rear axle, and 8800 on the axles of the trailer. I thought the trailer was pretty heavy for having just a dragster, partial drum of fuel, bunch of spares but no engine.

A friend of mine just told me that Gold Rush estimates 130lbs per foot for an extra-height trailer - that would put a 32' Gold Rush at approx 4200lbs empty. If you subtract my dragster, golf cart and guesstimate the cargo weights, that puts my trailer at approximately 6,200 empty. So as I expected, it's probably heavy even for a steel trailer. I would GUESS a 32' Intech, Featherlite or similar to be 4500-5000 empty and a modern steel trailer from one of the usual manufacturers to be 5000-5500lbs. Like I said earlier, I knew mine was on the heavy side.... I was just curious how heavy everyone else is.

[/QUOTE]

I’ve heard only about 600 pound weight savings in an aluminum 28’ trailer vs steel.

I weighed my 28’ steel trailer with my old 32’ class C. It had 5k on the front axle of the MH, close to 10k on the rear axle, and 8800 on the axles of the trailer. I thought the trailer was pretty heavy for having just a dragster, partial drum of fuel, bunch of spares but no engine.[/QUOTE]

That is pretty heavy for a 28' with no golf cart.

My 28' ATC was only 500lb lighter than my 26' Hallmark. It was 6" higher

My 34 foot Intech Trailer, 114 1/2” high with a 4’ tongue, empty weighs 6820 lbs. with 907 lbs., on the tongue as built. A steel trailer built/optioned the same will weigh well over 1000 lbs. heavier. My trailer loaded is over 14,000 lbs. calculated with a dragster, door car, golf cart, scooter, fuel, generator, air compressor, canopy and tools/parts/supplies.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 1320racer,

My 53’ typical steel trailer with 1’ extra height was 8300 lbs the day I picked it up at the factory. That’s 156 lbs per foot.

I use axle weights, but my steer is around 15K#, drives are 20K# and trailers are 16K#. Gooseneck toter with a stacker completed loaded with fuel water, etc. Two light cars, golf cart, fuel, tools, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Nitzsche:
I use axle weights, but my steer is around 15K#, drives are 20K# and trailers are 16K#. Gooseneck toter with a stacker completed loaded with fuel water, etc. Two light cars, golf cart, fuel, tools, etc.

I wasn't sure how accurate the axle weights would be seeing as the scales are designed for a tractor-trailer and a not motorhome. After weighing both together, I just pulled the motorhome forward off the scale and then I put the trailer jack down until the trailer came up off the hitch, so obviously the trailer axle weights given aren't really accurate. Mostly I was curious about the total weight of my trailer.

If you got a light AL trailer it's going to break! Even though something like 6061 aluminum has tensile strength greater than A36 steel, for the same shape, be it an I beam, tubing round or square, aluminum will deflect 3 times that of steel under the same load. A flexible trailer will cause a bunch of fit and finish issues in a relatively short time. So,, AL is about a 1/3 of the weight of steel but you need about 3 times more to control deflection,,,, do the math!

I have towed a buddies Goldrush, it's not light!!!

FWIW my diesel pisher weighs 23,500 EMPTY. Texas doe s registrations by weight is only reason I know.

quote:

Originally posted by TOP38:
If you got a light AL trailer it's going to break! Even though something like 6061 aluminum has tensile strength greater than A36 steel, for the same shape, be it an I beam, tubing round or square, aluminum will deflect 3 times that of steel under the same load. A flexible trailer will cause a bunch of fit and finish issues in a relatively short time. So,, AL is about a 1/3 of the weight of steel but you need about 3 times more to control deflection,,,, do the math!

I have towed a buddies Goldrush, it's not light!!!

Although your concept is correct....the numbers are not. But conceptually, if you build an aluminum trailer with the exact design that a steel one is built, yes you will have troubles. But there is weight savings even in a properly built aluminum trailer. They do build planes out of aluminum for a reason.

2000 Ford F350 DRW , Classic 32 FT 1 foot extra height, 71 Olds Cutlass T/S car, 18,200 total.

My 2009 F450 and 52' LQ trailer ready to go racing with water, fuel, Junior Dragster, golf cart and my tube chassis camaro in it, weighed in at 33,000 lbs.

My Haulmark twinscrew toter and Renegade stacker with two cars, golfcart, fuel, water is just shy of 60,000 lbs.