Quote:
Originally Posted by Donna D.
If it were me, and it's not, I'd get a certified weight for the trailer at a weight scale and take it to DMV. In Oregon, registration is based on length, not weight. But, if it was weight... I'd get it corrected!
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I don't know what an actual weight would prove, although I suppose it would help with the discussion. The registered weight is the amount it is legally allowed to weigh when on the road, not what it weighs empty. It should, of course, be no more than the trailer can safely weigh when loaded, but other than that physical limitation there is no "correct" value.
The previous discussion which Donna linked gets into some of the consequences of the registered weight, which might include taxation, or requirements for
brakes (which the Fiber Stream has, but only on the front
axle as originally built). Due to these factors, a higher registered weight than required to cover the highest loaded weight it might ever reach is not desirable.
It would make sense it the registered weight matched the GVWR shown on the placard on the trailer. What does that say, if there is one?
Many trailers have the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating - and likely thus the registered weight - set at the total
axle capacity. Perhaps there's the Fiber Stream's problem: it has tandem axles, perhaps rated at 2500 pounds each (GAWR), or maybe someone guessed that's what they're rated for. Of course, those of us who have followed the adventures of Fiber Stream owners in this forum would have trouble accepting the idea that the frame is good for 5000 pounds - it seems to have trouble with it's own weight. What are the axles rated at?
For comparison, I note in the
BigfootRV specs for the 2500 series travel trailers, the 21-foot rear bed model ( 25B21RB ) has a 7500 pound GVWR (corresponding to two 3500 lb axles and a 500 pound tongue weight capacity), even though it "only" weighs 4205 pounds dry. Do we seriously think people add 3295 pounds of stuff to these trailers?