How much does a '76 - 31ft Sovereign REALLY weigh?

[72Blazerod]

Hi there,

Looking at a 1976 31 foot Soverign and want to know how much they actually wiegh. This one has rear twin beds with a center bathroom. The info I found said it was 4970 lbs. Is this the correct number ( or how much more does it actually weigh)? Does anyone have one and know its weight?

Rod

[Coastalview]

Rod, that dry weight figure sounds right for that floor plan model. Approx. 650 tongue weight. Jeff

[Angel73]

our says its 7200 Ibs on the tag on the front of the A/S...Ours is set up like your but its a 75


Not sure if this will help.

[mustang]

Originally Posted by Angel73

our says its 7200 Ibs on the tag on the front of the A/S...Ours is set up like your but its a 75


Not sure if this will help.

5700 is probably close empty unless you have ceramic flooring and oak cabinets

[wahoonc]

Rod,
My 1975 tips the scales at 6000# on the wheels with about 650# on the tongue, that is loaded for a typical trip with the water tank about 1/4 full and empty waste tanks. If it has been emptied out, which I reccomend doing about every 6-12 months it will be a good 700# under that

Aaron

[Angel73]

[quote=mustang]5700 is probably close empty unless you have ceramic flooring and oak cabinets[/quote
well am not sure about that but it what the weight tag says on the front.And am pretty sure that the air stream plant knew what the where doing since they put it there....

[john hd]

angel,

that would be the gross weight on the tag. that means the maximum.
frequently trailers weigh much less than the gross weight.

unless you roll it over a scale it is just a guess.

john

[davidz71]

Originally Posted by Angel73

our says its 7200 Ibs on the tag on the front of the A/S...Ours is set up like your but its a 75


Not sure if this will help.

Angel,
A friend of mine has a '73 31' Sovereign and the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) is 7200 lbs. which means that is the max the unit can weigh with all liquids and cargo. This is not the dry weight. My '77 Excella 500 had a GVWR of 8100 lbs. and weighed around 5480 lbs. dry and a little over 5,600 lbs with just clothing and full 40 lb. propane bottles. A Sovereign of the same year would weigh less in dry weight because the Excella package added additional features to the Sovereign dry weight.

[Angel73]

Originally Posted by davidz71

Angel,
A friend of mine has a '73 31' Sovereign and the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) is 7200 lbs. which means that is the max the unit can weigh with all liquids and cargo. This is not the dry weight. My '77 Excella 500 had a GVWR of 8100 lbs. and weighed around 5480 lbs. dry and a little over 5,600 lbs with just clothing and full 40 lb. propane bottles. A Sovereign of the same year would weigh less in dry weight because the Excella package added additional features to the Sovereign dry weight.

Ok i understand now.So why is it when we buy tires the have to be rated up 7200 pd....lol theres no way we can stuff 2000 more pd in theA/S is it?Can clothes and food really weight that much?

[davidz71]

Angel,
I have 3 load range C Goodyear Marathon tires which have a max load of 2150 pounds at 50 psi pressure. Somehow I ended up with one load range D Goodyear Marathon and it is rated at 2540 pounds at 65 psi. I've heard of individuals running load range C tires with the 31' trailers because all 4 tires still support the max load of your trailer (4 X 2150). Some people feel more comfortable running load range D in the 31' especially in the heavier Excellas and later years when they were heavier. I ran the D rated tires on my '77 31' Excella.

On a recent trip to GA., I made sure all tires started at 50 psi pressure. I found that the C rated tires all went up to 54.5 psi when run for an hour but the D rated tire only went up to 52.4 psi. Interesting.

I had to come back and add this comment. A 50 gallon freshwater tank with water weighs a little over 400 pounds. I don't travel with more than 7 gallons of freshwater and it is in the bed of my pickup but others do fill their tanks up. A 6 gallon hotwater tank with water weighs more than 48 pounds but I never travel with water in there either. Your twin 40 lb. tanks weigh 94 pounds or so. Don't quote me guys because I am doing this off the top of my head. You are starting to see that we could be up to 542 pounds or so without even talking about dishes, utensils, lug wrench/tools, sewer hose, food, clothing, bedding, towels, soap, etc. Obviously, the best thing to do is fully load the trailer the way you plan on traveling and then hit a local scale somewhere, unhitch the trailer and weigh the entire thing. I weighed mine connected to the vehicle (off scale) with weight distribution hitch attached, wd unattached, vehicle disconnected from trailer and then each side connected while connected to my vehicle which was off the scale. It gave me an idea of what my dry weight was and then what it weighed with all hunting clothing, food, etc.

[Angel73]

Originally Posted by davidz71

Angel,
I have 3 load range C Goodyear Marathon tires which have a max load of 2150 pounds at 50 psi pressure. Somehow I ended up with one load range D Goodyear Marathon and it is rated at 2540 pounds at 65 psi. I've heard of individuals running load range C tires with the 31' trailers because all 4 tires still support the max load of your trailer (4 X 2150). Some people feel more comfortable running load range D in the 31' especially in the heavier Excellas and later years when they were heavier. I ran the D rated tires on my '77 31' Excella.

On a recent trip to GA., I made sure all tires started at 50 psi pressure. I found that the C rated tires all went up to 54.5 psi when run for an hour but the D rated tire only went up to 52.4 psi. Interesting.

I had to come back and add this comment. A 50 gallon freshwater tank with water weighs a little over 400 pounds. I don't travel with more than 7 gallons of freshwater and it is in the bed of my pickup but others do fill their tanks up. A 6 gallon hotwater tank with water weighs more than 48 pounds but I never travel with water in there either. Your twin 40 lb. tanks weigh 94 pounds or so. Don't quote me guys because I am doing this off the top of my head. You are starting to see that we could be up to 542 pounds or so without even talking about dishes, utensils, lug wrench/tools, sewer hose, food, clothing, bedding, towels, soap, etc. Obviously, the best thing to do is fully load the trailer the way you plan on traveling and then hit a local scale somewhere, unhitch the trailer and weigh the entire thing. I weighed mine connected to the vehicle (off scale) with weight distribution hitch attached, wd unattached, vehicle disconnected from trailer and then each side connected while connected to my vehicle which was off the scale. It gave me an idea of what my dry weight was and then what it weighed with all hunting clothing, food, etc.

So when i replace my tires this go around.Could i go with the C instead of the D cause the D cost me $110.00 each for the 8 ply

[SilverToy]

Angel -

Try not to think of the tires in terms of strict cost per tire. Think of them as a short/long term safety item.

The additional weight bearing ability that you paid for with the D range tires is addtional safety for your trailer, your family and others, when you tow. WHENEVER you tow.

A Blowout, ANY blowout is a cost, to you - in time, in trailer damage and in possible safety consequences for you, your family and anyone around you on the road when it happens.

Try not to think in terms of nickels and dimes when safety is possibly in the balance.

My .02 cents.

Axel