Guestimate of camper weight

[livincountry]

I am selling my 1973 20' dual axle camper and one of the buyers asked what the weight of the camper would be. Before I head to the grain scales....any educated estimates? I pull it with my K2500 and it feel heavy.

 

[RobS]

4000 pounds... plus or minus 1000 pounds. Lots of variables for a guestimate. Weigh it to be sure /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[livincountry]

Rob, thanks for the input. I'll post the actual weight later this week. The guy interested in buying it wants to pull it with a Ford Ranger....yikes!

thanks,

Tony

 

[AndyM]

I've got a 20 foot flatbed trailer that I use to move the tractors, and I won't even use my Ranger to move the trailer around the property with nothing on it! And it weighs only 2000 pounds...

 

[fivestring]

"The guy interested in buying it wants to pull it with a Ford Ranger....yikes! "


Yeah, right ! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Pulling it is one thing.... stopping it is another! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
Lol... I want to be there when he hitches it up....

 

[jwstewar]

I would say probably around 4500 empty 6000 when loaded w/ clothes/food/ water and such. Do not let this guy hook onto this thing w/ a Ranger. Can you say tail wagging the dog?

 

[BubbaJr]

There's no way the Ranger is built tough enough to handle a trailer that big. It will be a toss up whether he plows into something or ruins his transmission first. I'd put my money on a very serious collision for a number of reasons. The primary one being the trailer could very easily outweigh the truck.

If he hooks up to it on your porperty and plans to drive away with it, have him sign a waiver of responsibility, so he can't come back after the accident and claim you should have known that he didn't have a big enough truck.

 

[Inspector507]

Trailers 30 years ago were very much heavier than they are today. A 20' unit would be too heavy for a Ranger in my opinion.

 

[Bird]

Without any more information than the length, it would be impossible to guess the weight, but I'd say the other guys are definitely in the ball park and pulling it with a Ranger would not be smart. A brand name might help a little with guessing the weight, but it would still just be a guess. I'm assuming it's pretty old and worn so the data plate doesn't show anymore? On most of them, on the left side, lower front corner, is a data plate that shows the GVWR, but of course that doesn't tell you what the actual empty weight is. Much depends on the type of construction. I once had a 25' long trailer that only weighed 4400 empty, but I also had an 18 footer than weighed 3800 empty.

 

[fractal]

5 bolt rim axels are typically 3500 pounds per axle. They do make a 2000 pound axle with 5 bolt pattern but most 2000 pound axles are 4 bolt trailer rims. 5000 pound axles are typically 7 bolt.

Thus for a dual axle trailer I would expect 3500 pound axles and would estimate the weight somewhere between 3500 and 7000 pounds.

My old chevy s10 was rated at pulling 5000 pounds. It had a strong engine and strong transmission. Stopping it, on the other hand, would be another thing.

Does the trailer have brakes?