I was wondering...

[daveb]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

Seems like they may have reversed the front/rear numbers. I would never expect the front to be lighter than the rear, but I could be wrong.


Herb

Mine is like that Herb (even with me sitting in the front)

[MountainBikeRoamer]

This is really interesting.

Glider has an EB (long rear overhang) Sportsmobile. So that means more weight "cantilevered" off the rear end of the van than in an RB (short rear overhang) version.

I've had my van weighed (5.8L gas engine, 2WD, RB short overhang version) and it weighed in near dead-even at 3500 pounds front axle and 3500 pounds rear axle. (Compared to Glider's 3000 pounds front/4680 pounds rear).

The 5.8 is a heavy cast-iron-block engine, so I'm told. On par, weight-wise, with a modern V-10, and, I imagine, any of the diesels. Glider has the lighter, more modern 5.4L engine (I believe) so I can see how she'd end up at a lower front-axle reading....but a whole 500 pounds less? Wow.

I am going to make the hypothetical assertion....
....that at least *some* of the lighter front axle weight on her van is due to the additional cantilevered "teeter-totter" weight hanging behind her rear axle, leveraging downwards and taking some of the weight off of the front end just a bit. A tiny bit, perhaps....maybe only 50-100 pounds worth....but I would say that apples-to-apples, if you had two identically-engined-and-spec'd SMB's, one an RB and one an EB, you'd see a lighter front axle weight on the EB. (Even though the total curb weight would be higher than the RB!)

Fun thought experiment.

[Glider]

MountainBikeRoamer, that makes perfect sense to me. I gave my bud Archimedes a call to see what he thought, and he concurs as well.

I'll have a new weight ticket in about a week after I go down to Portland to snag the Silver Streak, fresh from QuadVan adding about another 500 lbs to the front end. Let's see what the new ticket says.

But that won't change the rear overhang lever effect. It will just counteract it a wee bit more.

[86Scotty]

Glider has a generator aft of the rear axle. That's a few hundred lbs.

[daveb]

Here was a post out of the past about weight:
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...weigh-997.html

[Stillvanin]

Chris at Ujoint required me to weigh my van front and rear so he can get the leaf springs custom made. 3200 front 4500 rear. Thought I screwed it up somehow but when I asked him he said that's totally normal. Never woulda thunk it ! Still haven't weighed it since the conversion which is nuts because I have one where I work. One those "roundtoit" things I guess.

[arctictraveller]

Fully loaded, my 4wd 5.4 GTRV with a built out interior weighs almost exactly the same front and rear, although I don't remember the exact numbers.

[rallypanam]

Mine is way more heavy out back, even with the big old 7.3 sitting on the front axle.

Front: 3880
Rear: 5920

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by rallypanam

Mine is way more heavy out back, even with the big old 7.3 sitting on the front axle.Front: 3880 Rear: 5920

Too much junk in the trunk?