1999 Starcraft 17CK Hybrid and minivan weights

[SactoCampers]

I just got WD and sway control installed on my Starcraft Travelstar 17CK today and weighed the combination immediately afterward. It appears I should be well within the GCWR of my Town & Country. Here are the weights (with WD applied):
 
Front Axle: 2570 (2900 lb rating)
Rear Axle: 2470 (2900 lb rating)
Trailer Axle: 2430 (3250 GVWR)
 
Total weight: 7470 lbs
GCWR: 8300 lbs
 
Now, we haven't transferred the stuff from our popup, but it isn't much, nor is it that heavy. The total weight also only included me, but it also included my 100 lb rear bench seat that comes out every trip. I'm under the weight rating for all of my axles. The trailer axle weight is inflated since I had the WD applied. But the WD makes a big difference in handling. Anyway, just thought I'd relay the information. I will weigh it again, once I transfer our gear from the popup, and hopefully I can weigh it again en route to a trip. But it appears I have a lot of breathing room with the weight, even though I am violating my frontal area restriction. The minivan has plenty of torque to get the hybrid moving, but I do feel the added wind resistance at highway speeds though it wasn't as bad as I expected. I slow it down from ~62-63 mph to ~57 mph and the mileage drops from 16 to 14 mpg.  The hybrid appears to weigh 200-300 lbs more than my popup did. Not bad considering the extra amenities it offers.

[Y-Guy]

As always you are through, congrats on weighing the new camper so quick.  

Did you get a hitch weight, or notice any change in your Caravan to need the WDH?

Which WDH did you go with?

[SactoCampers]

As always you are through, congrats on weighing the new camper so quick.
 
Did you get a hitch weight, or notice any change in your Caravan to need the WDH?
 
Which WDH did you go with?

I didn't have time to disconnect and calculate the hitch weight. The van has load leveling so I didn't need it for that purpose, just more for redistributing the weight over the axles. Now I don't have to worry about overloading the rear. Funny, the rear is lighter than the front, but that's typical of FWD vehicles. Ride control is improved, feels like there's no load at all.
 
The WDH is a Draw-Tite single spring bar rated for 400 lbs tongue weight and 4000 lbs trailer weight. I also bought a Draw-tite friction sway, but haven't used it yet. Don't need it around town. I considered an Equal-izer or dual cam setup but the tongue and trailer weights  of those were overkill for this setup.

[Y-Guy]

Soudns like a good setup Brian, I agree I think the Equalizer would have been overkill on your setup.  

Had any bites on your PopUp yet?  

And what? No modifications to the new camper yet?  :p

[SactoCampers]

Had any bites on your PopUp yet?  {/quote]
 
No, I haven't really advertised it yet. At least not locally nor in the RVTrader, which I hope to do next month.
 

And what? No modifications to the new camper yet? :p

That question implies that I did modifications to the old camper! I'm all about prefabrication. The previous owner did a mod and added laminate flooring. It's much nicer than the standard linoleum. Oh, I have a mod for you: I cannibalized the rear sand pads from the popup to the hybrid. I also figured out how to work two batteries in the hybrid. But that's it. I have to think of a new portable grey water system. Mrs. Sacto doesn't know how to conserve water and I don't think 30 gallons is enough.

[Y-Guy]

LOL Brian, if you recall our first trip out with the Kiwi the kids filled the black water tank.  After that I picked up one of those rolling waste containers from Barker Mfg., and have never once needed it, but its a cheap insurance policy.  If you have a space you can strap it to the bumper or alike its a good investment.  I found the folks at Pan Pacific RV in Stockton (though they have them in Sac too) had reasonable prices on the smaller ones.  

What was the trick to getting to the batteries?

[SactoCampers]

LOL Brian, if you recall our first trip out with the Kiwi the kids filled the black water tank. After that I picked up one of those rolling waste containers from Barker Mfg., and have never once needed it, but its a cheap insurance policy. If you have a space you can strap it to the bumper or alike its a good investment. I found the folks at Pan Pacific RV in Stockton (though they have them in Sac too) had reasonable prices on the smaller ones.
 
What was the trick to getting to the batteries?

I unscrewed the cap and vent, lifted the battery, and turned it 90 degrees. Super complicated, "mod" type stuff. LOL. I can fit two in there that way. So long as I don't charge the batteries in the trailer, I'm okay.

[SactoCampers]

Okay,

 
I weighed it again with all our stuff in it this time and WITHOUT weight distribution (but included in the weight, it was sitting inside the trailer along with the anti-sway bar), since I was only driving down the street to get it home:
 
Front axle: 2390 lbs
Rear axle: 2790 lbs
Trailer axle: 2410 lbs
 
GCW: 7590 lbs with me inside the car.
 
Subtracting the minivan weight curb weight (4500 lbs from a previous weigh in) and the trailer comes in around 3100 lbs. Again, the rear bench comes out each time but was included in this weigh in, so I can subtract that. I'm probably around 8000 lbs GCWR when fully loaded with wife, kid, dog, and our stuff for a weekend.
 
The weight will be distributed better when the WD system is hooked up. Similar to the first weigh-in.
 
So it appears we put inside.....120 lbs of stuff in permanent storage.

[6Quigs]

Only 120 lbs of stuff ?

I find that hard to believe, not because I've seen how much stuff you packed inthe rear of your minivan, but because when I recently had my Hybrid in for some repairs, I removed everything, and while it was sitting in boxes in my garage I weighed all the boxes, and came up with 700 lbs of stuff we pack for a camping trip. The bottom items are a guess on what we would pack for a normal weekend.

EZ_up                31
Chairs(6)   52
Stove      56
Gas      42
Electrical Stuff   21
Eggcrate Foam   11
Bedding      25
Bedding      35
Pillows(   15
Pots & Pans   32
Kitchen Drawers    26
Plates & bowls   33
Games      14
Food      33
Towels & Toiletry   32
Tool Box      12
Lantern,Lynx,lock   18
Wine, etc.   12
Table      14
TV      20

*My Clothes   20
*DW Clothes   20
*Kids Clothes   50
*Shoes      20

*Food Box   25
*Fridge & freezer    30

I posted this list over at HUX, and they were making fun of the 12 lbs of wine I keep in the Hybrid :mad:

[SactoCampers]

Only 120 lbs of stuff ?
 
I find that hard to believe, not because I've seen how much stuff you packed inthe rear of your minivan, but because when I recently had my Hybrid in for some repairs, I removed everything, and while it was sitting in boxes in my garage I weighed all the boxes, and came up with 700 lbs of stuff we pack for a camping trip. The bottom items are a guess on what we would pack for a normal weekend.
 

Kevin, I couldn't believe it either but the numbers don't lie. My black water tank read 1/3 full on the first weigh so that may have added around 20 lbs.
 
You apparently bring and store just about everything in your house on your hybrid. How you can have 33 pounds of plates and bowls I will never understand. We do bring a lot with us on each trip that wasn't included in the latest weigh in. But we don't have a lot of pots and pans and our utensils and dishes are plastic and paper. Only a couple sleeping bags are stored permanently and other standard stuff. Maybe we already transferred everything to the trailer prior to the first weigh-in and this was *additional* stuff! I can't remember now, but I shouldn't second guess my initial post.

[6Quigs]

The good news is that as we put things back into the trailer, we sorted through all the boxes, and removed items we feel we will never use.
Then we went to camping world, and bought a load more stuff :eek:
We still have plenty of empty cabinets, so we can still pack some more.
We have a CCC of 1,200 lbs, to bring the trailer to it's max weight of 6,000 lbs, and the truck is rated to tow 10,000 lbs, so I know I am not at my limits.
Of course, we have to bring food, bedding and clothes for 6 people not 3 like you.

Looking forward to checking your trailer out at Sugarloaf, and checking out the contents of all your cabinets

[campingboaters]

Sheesh, twelve pounds of wine is nothing.  That was probably only 4 bottles!   Heck, a group of us can go through THAT in one night.

[SactoCampers]

Sheesh, twelve pounds of wine is nothing. That was probably only 4 bottles! Heck, a group of us can go through THAT in one night.

A group? *SURFCAL* can go through that in one night.