We are currently at an RV park with a lot of seasonal full-timers. I have noticed that these full-timers have EVERYTHING with them. A couple of grills, bikes, a motorcycle or two, chairs, cars, totes, cabanas, folding tables, screen porches. I can’t help but wonder about their RV’s weight…
The folks will be traveling to warm destinations in the fall and taking all their stuff with them. I am reminded of the reason why we have cleared out stuff and now have a much leaner RV.
Sold the house and overloaded the RV
It was the first year of our full-timing after selling almost everything. My husband and I left Minnesota at 10 degrees below zero for the promise of warm weather in sunny Arizona. No problem getting down there in our 34-foot recklessly fully loaded motorhome. The issue came when we tried to go back up from Phoenix to Flagstaff on the I-17 on a 7% uphill grade. Chug, chug, chug. The semi’s with their flashers on were passing us. At the top of the hill, my husband had to let the transmission rest and he made the mistake of saying, “We need a diesel pusher.”
I said, “No problem!” I quickly bought a new RV before he changed his mind and parked our old one and our new one door-to-door at the RV park to move stuff. Taking three days to transfer everything should have been a sign…
Fast forward to the first drive in our now virtually empty old gas RV. My husband realized quickly that the old motorhome was fine… I had just grossly overloaded it.
Don’t make these mistakes
- The first mistake was not checking the weight limits of our then-new-to-us RV.
- My second mistake was trying to keep everything I could stuff in from our house, “In case we needed it.”
- The third mistake was not weighing the fully loaded RV.
Wiser
Now, I am wiser and make an effort to rid ourselves of extra stuff every six months. Here are a few tips. We weigh the motorhome and I am aware of the weight of the fresh, gray, and black tanks, too. As I walk the park I can tell the RVs that may have a problem in the future and it is a reminder that minimalism and RV travel need to go together.
The consequences can be bad for RVs that are overloaded. Roger Marble writes about the toll on the tires. Don’t take chances. Check your weight (RV, that is). Check it loaded including people, water, food and any extras you plan to carry.
As hard as it is, remember this: One item in, one item out.
##FT2.62
Great Article! We have a 40ft Diesel Pusher and strongly suggest you see a professional for corner weighing your RV. We were given a computer program readout with all the data of our mfg., weights, etc. Get it done, it’s well worth the small investment and peace of mind for your tires. TPMS also is a needed bonus.
We joined the minimalist club in Rv packing our belongings.
Great article. I hope everyone reads it. We are minimalist. Every 6 months, we assess and purge. It’s easy to accumulate when it’s your only home. When we started our journey we decided ,no storage anywhere. Into our 1st summer we cleaned out half of our ” needs” and weighed. What a joy to be underweight. I am reminded
Everytime I see a fulltimer with. Excessive possessions.
I remember a sign
If I can’t take it with me, I’m not going.
Probably the first cause of overweight rv’s
Or… you do what I see a number of seasonal RVers do. They are full timers, but have a big unit they don’t travel with, and a smaller unit they do travel with. They reserve the same site for the season. At the end of the season, the big outdoor stuff goes into a self-store facility and the big RV goes into a dry storage site. They spend the off-season touring in the smaller unit without all the extras. Most feel it is a better lifestyle and less expensive than owning a stix & brix home.