Mattress Replacement

[emam]

So Cindy and I are back in Michigan for a few weeks and have been tearing everything out of the Sunline and seeing where we can save weight anyway possible.

Originally we thought there was no way we could do without our fullsize mattress as it was only a year old and we had paid top dollar for it. Cindy absolutley loves it and couldnt dare part with it. Problem was, it hung over the bottom edge about 6 inches. When you live in the coach full time, six inches adds up quick.

So as soon as we got home, I thought, lets put the stock one back in, and dress it up with a 2" Memory Foam topper and a padded Mattress Pad and see how it compares? We've been sleeping on it for a few nights now, and both have agreed that for the massive amounts of room we now have, we will store our full size one and keep the stock mattress.

The major difference besides the 6 inches all the way around it, is the fact that the stock one weighs 50lbs lighter then the larger model!! :shock:
I've been weighing everything we take out, and you'd be suprissed at how much some things can weigh.

I'll keep you all posted, but so far, the mattress has made the biggest difference in adding room back to the interior.

Pat

 

[JohnGB]

Pat

We went the 3" memory foam topper route. Could not take the stock mattress as it was. We do have std queen size length as I sort of hung out the bottom if not. We just pull the mattress towards the bath room about 3" and stuff the std queen length foam up by the head area. Then std queen sheets fit better and I do not stick out so far

What "stuff" weighs. Yup that's a fact that will really surprise you. Have you ever made it to the scales yet? It is generally an eye opening experience.

If and when you do, try to get a tongue weight too. Do you know the standard 3 trips over the scale weighing method?

1. TT and TV hitched with WD bars engaged.
2. TT and TV hitch with NO WD bars on
3. TV only.

All axle by axle and loaded the way you go camping. If you go to a truck stop, they have 3 segmented scales that you can put one axle on all by it self. TV front on one scale, TV rear on the 2nd scale and both TT axles on the 3rd.

From these you can tell a lot about your TV and TT WD setup and towing parameters.

Good luck

John

 

[emam]

Hey John, we weighed ourselves for the first time just before we got home. I figured that way I'd have an idea of what we were before we got rid of so much crap.

The problem was we weighed ourselves at a Flying J and the place was lined up with trucks. I didnt really want to be hogging up the scales unhooking and rehooking up to get different weights. So we just got a weight with the TV & TT hooked together with the bars hooked up.

On the segmented scale it said our truck weighed 4580 LBS. and the Coach weighed 12540 LBS? Now I dont know how accurate that is distributed between the two, but it gives me a total of 17,120. I know the sticker inside the medicine cabinet says my 2499 should weigh 7000lbs by itself. Just so it would be like we were normally traveling, our fresh water was full and so was our fuel tank. We had just emptyed both the grey and the black.

So I'm thinking with the motorcycle on the back, the 4 batteries on the front and the 3 solar panels up top, along with all our clothes, gear and food, we're right on with that scale. It'll be interesting to see how much we can lose in the next few weeks.

I know I went through all my clothes and just one pile of T-Shirts that I thought I dont really need to be dragging with me weighed 18lbs!!!! That adds up quickly when you weigh everything you bring out.

Like I said, when we finish, I'll list everything and what their weights were.

Pat

 

[Tweety]

I thought the GVWR of 7000# was the max that the 2499 is supposed to weigh when totally loaded, and that the GVW of 4785 was the total trailer weight without options. (from Sunline's website) Our salesman told us to be careful how much we load into the QUE because our GVWR is 3500 and the QUE weight is 2920. From your figures doesn't that mean you have loaded 7755# of "stuff" onto your coach?

 

[ROC-REQS]

Pam,

The GVW of 4785 you mentioned I think is the UVW (Unloaded Vehicle Weight).

Pat,

Do you remember if your weights were from 2 or 3 scales and where you’re wheels were located. The weights you mentioned sounded like you got weights from 2 scales with the truck front axle on one scale and the truck’s rear axle and both trailer axels on the other scale. If this is true, then the 12,540 # weight would be the truck rear axle + the trailer and the 4580 # the truck’s front axle.

Hutch

 

[Tweety]

Yes, I meant UVW. So my thinking is that the cargo carrying capacity of the 2499 is 2215#. And the CCC of the QUE is 580#.

 

[ROC-REQS]

Pam,

You’re right wrt your Que’s CCC of 580lbs.

However, I’m not sure if Sunline’s UVW specification included the weight of the battery, full LP tanks, and any water weigths. If Sunline’s UVW does not include these weights, you need to reduce the CCC weight by the weight of your battery, LP tanks, and any water you typically carry (in HW Tank and F/B/G tanks), plus the weight of any options & after market items added to get an estimate of cargo weight allowed.

Still the best way to determine weights is to go to a scale and have the trailer weighted.

Hutch

 

[Tweety]

We were told that since everything was standard on the QUE that the UVW includes those items. ie. the awning, a/c, am/fm/cd etc. It includes the propane tanks, but not the propane, and definitely not the water. IMO this low CCC is the biggest problem with the QUE. I wish we had another axel and a little heavier frame. But I realize they designed it as a weekend or week long unit. I hope NASA posts a review when he gets back from their looong trip out west in their QUE.

 

[emam]

Hutch, I think you're right. I think my rear axle of the truck was on the same scale as the axles from the coach.

Like I said, it was our first time, and I had a few semi's that are getting paid to be on the road, so I didnt want to hold them up. Before we leave, I plan on going to a local Gravel Pit where I can pull just the truck on, then pull the coach on and weigh it by itself. Then I want to do the weights with the distribution bars hooked up to see if it makes a difference.

Has anyone ever heard if you can get a weigh master to weigh your axles independantly? When I used to haul heavy equipment, if you got pulled over by the weigh master, he would have you pull each axle onto a scale so he could get the weights from each one independantly. I'd love to know this to see if one side is heavier then the other. I just dont know if they'll do it without you getting pulled over??

Pat

 

[Honda03842]

Approximating Trailer Weight

Before we were able to get to a scale I measured the weight of our Motorhome by figuring out the number of square inches the tires were in contact with the ground and multiplied it by the tire pressure. Amazingly the difference between my estimates and the actual weight were less than 50 pounds per tire.

I measured the area by drigving it ont a small sheet of plywood and spraying around the tread. A ruller woulod have probably been as good.

If there is a big difference in tire load from side to side it should be readily apparant.

Norm

 

[emam]

That's afirst, but it might be worth a try before I go to the scales next time to see how they compare

Pat