What does your Phoenix weigh?

There have been several post referencing PC weights recently.  I thought it might be helpful if those owners that have weighed their unit could provide it here.

I have a 2016 model 2552 with sofa in the slide, HWH leveling jacks, two 160 watt solar panels, laminate floors, and Euro chair.

I weighed at a Cat scale with propane tank full, fuel tank full, fresh water tank full, gray water and black water tank empty, driver and passenger, and a pretty complete inventory of camping paraphernalia in inside and outside compartments.


         act weight     Ford spec
Front:  4660 lbs.     5000 lbs
Rear:   9020 lbs      9600 lbs
Total:  13680 lbs.   14600 lbs

I just happened to weigh my 2015 2351 (no slide, no toad, E-350 chassis) the other day at an Escapees SmartWeigh scale where they do each of the four corners.  Like you, I had the FW, Lp, and gas tanks full and the waste tanks empty.  Here are my numbers.

Front passenger:  1800
Front driver:  1725
Rear passenger:  4275
Rear driver:  4050
Grand total:  11,850 (comfortably under the total GVWR of 12,500, with each axle also under their maximum weight rating of 5,000 front and 8,500 rear)

Nice thing about weighing all four corners, if you can, is you can get a good picture of the side-to-side ratio as well.  My sides are within 300 pounds of each other, which the weigh master said was within safe margins.

I can also see that my passenger rear corner is at the max (if you divide the axle rating in half), which is good to keep in mind as I pack and repack.  It also gives me the weight to use when checking the tire inflation charts for all the tires on that axle.

2015 2552 with slide.our. configurations same S yours re: tanks and passengers.

lf 2350.   rv 2260
lr 4290.   rr 4250

dave

Our 2007 2350 with NO slide-out, weights as pictured.  Our PC is built on a 2007 E350 chassis with a GVWR of 11,500 pounds.

Pay SPECIAL ATTENTION to the following.
The #2 empty weight and #3 max load weight on the front axle is nearly identical.  All the extra weight we carry ends up on the rear axle.  No matter how hard I try my best to place as much weight forward as possible, the teeter-totter effect cancels my effort.  If I did not make the effort, the front axle would be lighter when loaded, than when empty.  With that consideration, it makes sense why I benefit from front & rear heavy duty stabilizer bars, heavy duty shock absorbers, a rear trac bar, and a Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer bar.

#1 Here is the official sticker that Phoenix USA provided when purchased.


#2 Here is the actual "empty" weight of our PC years later with consideration to some interior modifications I made.  It has a full tank of fuel, full tank of LP gas, and NO fresh or waste water.  No supplies or people inside it either.


#3 Here is our PC loaded to the hilt with full gas, full LP, full fresh water, all our extra stuff carried that particular trip including multiple cases of drinking water, and Irene and me in front seats.
I consider this a worst-case condition for us.

One of the things the motor home industry was infamous for was overweight designs.  It was not apparent until some organizations, rally speakers and tire vendors put in a decade of effort to make people aware of the need of weighing all four corners. RV makers have responded and the problem is less. 

Phoenix is aware of the industry trends and I think now only has an overweight concern on the duals under the rear slide of the 2910 models.  Because the water tank is in the slide, that corner will be several hundred pounds overweight with full gas and full water.  If you tow, the tongue weight and cantilever effect are also of concern.

Hi Carol,
Thanks for providing your wheel weights on your non-slide 2351.  Would you mind providing your preference on tire pressure?

Thanks,

John

This is what Michelin recommends
LT225/75R16 E
XPS RIB®
PSI                    40    45      50      55       60      65       70        75        80         Maximum load & pressure on sidewall

LBS   Single   1650   1790   1940   2060   2190   2335   2440   2560   2680   S   2680 LBS at 80 PSI
Dual              3000   3260   3530   3750   3990   4300   4440   4660   4940   D   2470 LBS at 80 PSI

Sure, John.  

The inflation/pressure table for my tire and weight suggests a minimum of 45 psi on the front and 65 on the rear tires.  (Thanks for posting that, Keelhauler!)

I know my front end is well under max load rating, but 45 psi seems insanely low to me.  After talking to the weigh master in Texas where I just got weighed, she confirmed 65 (which is what I've been putting in there) isn't going to do any harm other than make for a rougher ride on bumps and stuff.  I've had no problems with the fronts at 65 in the nearly two years since the first weigh in and I don't find the ride to be uncomfortably bumpy or rough.  But then, I have nothing to compare to as this is my first RV.

I have been running with 65 on the rear tires since the first weigh-in but after talking to the weigh master this time I've decided to up them to 72.  My rear is close to max and the one side is at max.  72 would give me a 10 percent cushion above the minimum recommended.  (According to the tire sidewalls, I can go up to a max of 80 psi.)

One reason I like that cushion is because of the variation in these tires' pressures at different "cold" temps.  If I were to run at the bare minimum recommended, then on a particularly cold morning I would actually have to add air to my tires to get them up to the minimum pressure.  This way, they will still meet that minimum even on a frigid cold morning.

My reasoning and my conclusions may well be flawed in some way.  If anyone notices something not right there, don't be shy and please speak up.  It's only taken two and a half years for some of this stuff to start to make a semblance of sense to me!

Carol,

My tire pressure story is nearly identical to yours.  When I put in the proper tire pressure per the Michelin chart, my tires appear way to low in air.  They look terribly under-inflated.  So I put in 60-65 psi in the two front tires, and 65-70 psi in the four rears.  I provide a 5 psi variance depending on how I am feeling about my load on that particular trip.  I do make sure the two front tires are identical to each other, and the four rear tires also match each other.

You should never put different tire pressure to match the weight of a particular corner for it negatively affects how your rig will handle.  That is why axle weight (not corner weight) is enough information for me in our situation.  But we don't have a slide out along with consideration to our distributed load, it should not create a significant variance between corners.

Ron Dittmer

Hi Ron,
Thanks for reassurance from an expert!
Our rigs are almost the same, as that extra foot on mine is simply taken up by a closet/pantry, one each side, both close to the rear axle.  I notice our weights are pretty close, too, with mine slightly heavier on both axles.
Since you have an axle weight, not corner weights, I'd just caution you to perhaps take care how much you load into that right rear storage compartment, especially if you travel with full water.  I think that's the weak point on our models when it comes to weight distribution in the design.
Happy trails, and safe miles!
Carol
P.S. After upping my rear tires to 72psi today and going for a drive, I could tell it felt better.  Great ride and, if anything, it took the bumps better than before!

Hi Ron,
Thanks for reassurance from an expert!
Our rigs are almost the same, as that extra foot on mine is simply taken up by a closet/pantry, one each side, both close to the rear axle.  I notice our weights are pretty close, too, with mine slightly heavier on both axles.
Since you have an axle weight, not corner weights, I'd just caution you to perhaps take care how much you load into that right rear storage compartment, especially if you travel with full water.  I think that's the weak point on our models when it comes to weight distribution in the design.
Happy trails, and safe miles!
Carol
P.S. After upping my rear tires to 72psi today and going for a drive, I could tell it felt better.  Great ride and, if anything, it took the bumps better than before!

Hi Carol,

First of all, I am the last person here to be labelled an "expert".

So you have a 2351?  You might want to update your profile to reflect it.

I agree with you about the weight distribution with special consideration to the right rear corner storage.  Unlike the current-day models of the 2350 and 2351, the fresh water tank in our 2007 model is right above the rear bumper in the worst possible place.  It does make the outdoor storage compartment much bigger, but we have to be careful what we put inside it.  I store our light weight bulk in the rear storage compartment, our Coleman grill, 4 bags of Lynx Levelers, and similar light weight stuff.  I do my best to counter-balance that weight by storing our heaviest items (tools and such) in the dinette bench seat right behind the driver seat.  Still our weight distribution could be a lot better.  If only our fresh water tank was inside the front dinette bench for better weight distribution.  I would then store the tools and such in the rear dinette bench seat.

Just had cruiser weighed at Sumter Oaks, Bushnell, Fl.  The weigh guy was leaving for the summer so I didn't have time to load properly for travel.  I did have full gas, water and propane and one passenger, waste tanks empty.  I will still have to add food, drink and cloths but it gives me a starting point.

Right front: 1800
Left front:    1950
Right rear:   4060
Left rear:      4180

I found the comparison to Carol's non-slide 2351 to be interesting.   I would have thought the slide would make more of a difference than weights indicate even if it is located amidship.

Larry

Thanks for posting your weight details, Larry.  Looks like you have plenty of room to spare to load up that outside storage compartment!  As to the difference on our driver's side, I'm not sure how much the slide mechanism and materials all weigh, but I probably make up for some of that by cramming more stuff into my storage compartments, which are roomier without the slide.  Since my rear is closer to max than the front, I have all of my heavy stuff under the dinette benches and in the overhead cabinets on that side.  Heaven forbid those doors ever pop open on a big bump.  If things come flying out, they're liable to keep right on flying through and out the house door!