Wonder Egg - loaded weight

[bugeyedriver]

Greetings from Gunnison Colorado, where the rainbow and brown trout are eager to hop on your fly line!

 

As I set out on this 5 - 7 week trip, I stopped by some official scales and had the Wonder Egg weighed. It was fully loaded with clothing, food, books, etc and the fresh water tank was at full capacity.

 

Total egg weight was 3900 lbs.

 

Well under the axle capacity of 5200 lbs and my Tacoma's 6500 lb towing capability.

 

[herm]

Boy...bringing up the weight topic again...that's dangerous! Seriously though, I do appreciate you sharing your results, Pete. I will be picking up my trailer soon, and if I have the opportunity to stop at a scale, I'll do the same. It's not that I'm worried about exceeding the Oliver's "true" capacity or my TV's capacity, but I do want to make a reasonable effort to stay below the Oliver's GVWR (whatever that may be).

 

Just to clarify, the total weight is indeed the combined axle and tongue weight? Did you also happen to record the tongue weight? I think it's also important to note your options, as I believe the Wonder Egg is rather well-appointed compared to most. Am I correct?

[bugeyedriver]

The 3900 lb total weight is the combination of the 3560 lbs on the axle and 340 on the tongue.The wonder egg is an Elite without the King-Dome but with two 30 lb propane tanks, a 100W solar system, Cell phone signal amplifier, upgraded suspension, 15 inch wheels, and an aluminum generator rack on the tongue. (the 340 lb tongue weight is without the generator) There are various other additions that do not add any appreciable weight ie: ham radio cable, extra 12v outlets, etc.

 

I weighed the Wonder Egg to confirm adequate safety margins for my rig. I am very satisfied with my current set up of Wonder Egg & Tacoma 4 door w/ factory towing package.. The Combined Gross weight of the loaded truck and trailer was 8400 lbs, well under my Tacoma's 11000+ lb capability.

 

MPG has been averaging around 17 @ 60 mph.

[SeaDawg]

We weighed our trailer today at a Flying J on our way home from camping. Easy, fast, and inexpensive. ($7.50 for two weighs).

 

Our weight: 3960 pounds, loaded for camping. Tongue weight 420 pounds. Weight on tires/axles= 3540 pounds.

 

Our extensible tongue was set on the middle of the three positions. We do not carry a basket or generator on the tongue.

 

These weights are easily within the towing capacity of all three of our tow vehicles.

 

Freshwater mostly empty, a few gallons (we're going to drain the remainder into a bucket to find out just how many...) plus the six gallons remaining in the water heater.

Black and gray, guesstimate, 7 gallons (no, I'm NOT going to drain into a bucket to get a better number, yikes)

Two full, steel, 20 lb. propane tanks.

Loaded for camping... full closet, usual gear, toiletries, a couple gallons of bottled water, a few canned goods, probably 20 lbs of food and beverages in refrigerator and freezer, etc.

Bedding, including 3" mattress pad and pillows, blankets, etc., plus rugs

Books, manuals, DVDs, hiking boots & poles, kitchen utensils, dishes, pots & pans, etc.

 

Options on our trailer include : Dometic AC, Norcold Refrigerator, Awning, 2-100 watt solar panels, electric cord power reel, outdoor shower, quick disconnect gas, extra outlets, outdoor AV hookups, Jensen DVD system, TV, and mounting arm, Suburban furnace, 6 gallon hot water heater, electric jacks all around, courtesy floor lights (inside and out), King Dome satellite system, SMEV stainless steel 2 burner stove, convection microwave, FanTastic Fan.

 

Sherry

[dougi]

Hello to All:

 

Geneva and I picked up our new Oliver on Wednesday, September 24, 2008, and are now camped at the (free) Meriwether Lewis Park on the Natchez Trace Parkway (mile 385.9) near Hohenwald, TN. We will go to the Oliver facility in the morning to get some final small problems corrected.

 

At my request, our trailer was weighed by Oliver prior to delivery, totally empty, and it weighed 3,540. We have not weighed it since loading it up. For comparison purposes with your trailer, we have added the following options to the Elite that weigh enough to be considered (my weights for the options are estimates, but should be close to actual):

 

Twin bed option in back, standard setup across from the galley. Plus 100 lbs.

Two 100W solar panels mounted on the roof (no satellite dome). Plus net 60 lbs.

Aluminum tongue basket on hitch. Plus 20 lbs.

Two composite 20 pound propane bottles. Minus 20 lbs.

The rest of the options are of minimal weight, but in total may add 20 lbs.

 

Therefore, a fully equipped Elite, without options, would likely weigh about 3,360 lbs, or 960 pounds above the 2,400 pound weight listed in the web site.

 

The bottom line for us is that we can't tow our oliver with our Toyota RAV4 and be within it's towing limitations, thereby costing us either what extra money it will take to tow with the Silverado big dually diesel, or the additional cost of a new tow vehicle, or the risk of towing with a vehicle that may expose us to substantial legal liabilities and an inability to collect on our insurance.

 

That's disappointing, but we will just live with it. There is no problem with the carrying capacity because the trailer is rated at 4,500 GVWR, leaving 960 pounds of carrying capacity.

 

I trust this post offends no one. It is not my intention to do so.

[phil underwood]

nice post Pete..