RVBusiness, March/April 2019
Keystone RV CEO Matt Zimmerman top and President Jeff Runels with the companys LoadSafe equipped display fifth wheel BY BRUCE HAMPSON PHOTOS BY SHAWN SPENCE Keystone RVs LoadSafe Onboard Weighing System Takes the Guesswork Out of Properly Loading an RV With this kind of technology there is a lot of things we as vehicle manufacturers can do to keep the customer out of an unsafely loaded situation said Mark Bullock Keystone senior vice president of engineering A product like this can really mitigate a lot of that and make a better experience for drivers W hile the RV industry and its Go RVing campaign have clearly tapped a vein among North American residents eager for a less hectic lifestyle if only for a relaxing weekend the hours leading up to most of those weekend retreats tend to be as chaotic as anything experienced in a typical work day Its not surprising then to learn that many RV owners tend to employ a guesstimate when it comes to determining not only the added weight of the assorted clothing bedding food cookware fresh water propane and people on board but how much of that weight has been added to the front and rear axles that may be impacting the hitch Its easy to understand why Unless someone lives near a truck weigh station finding a location equipped for weighing large vehicles is problematic to say the least Given the potential impact of an overloaded RV however from bent or broken parts to poor 20 RVBusiness M A R C H A P R I L 2 0 1 9 handling and possibly even an accident the need to weigh the unit every time becomes obvious Keystone RVs innovative new LoadSafe onboard weighing system introduced March 12 during the RV Industry Associations RVX The RV Experience trade show in Salt Lake City will take the guesswork out of properly loading an RV As demonstrated the still conceptual system is hard wired into the vehicles iN Command Control System and once the end user inputs the unit type and weight ratings will display a screen on the iN Command LCD touch screen or smartphone tablet with the downloadable app showing not only the overall weight of the unit but individual axle and hitch loads It displays calculations based upon user input of the vehicle and manufacturer supplied load ratings that show a customer if the unit is overloaded or inline with OEM recommended ranges A properly loaded RV will appear with weights and weight percentages displayed in green boxes while
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