sherline tongue weight scale

[Waldo_2001]

I have never used one of these scales but it seems pretty straight forward. My question is when I get the tongue weight to be 12 to 15 percent on the scale. Am I ok then to connect the trailer up to my WD system and get everything leveled. It seems to me that when I connect the WD that will adjust the tongue weight and change everything?

Thanks
James

[Bob Landry]

Loading the trailer is going to change the tongue weight, but it's the "getting everything level" part of your post that bothers me, if you are talking about using it to level the truck.

[canesfan]

I used to get mine to the weight I wanted, hook up and then "get it level" with the WD. Yes, the WD will change what you had unhooked. If you find you don't like how it tows you can always adjust it up or down a link, or notch, or whatever WD system you have.

[Waldo_2001]

Thanks for the responses. I am thinking it will be a nice help in getting the overall tongue weight figured out. With my set up I just can't seem to get the trailer sway I am getting under control> My TV does not seem to be the problem so I am guessing I am heavy at the front or rear and it is causing the instability. I am using a Anderson WD system which I figured may be an issue but it seems that almost everyone I speak with using the same in similar situations love it. I did get LT tires for the truck this winter so I will try a few things this spring to get it sorted out.

James

[Bob Landry]

I used to get mine to the weight I wanted, hook up and then "get it level" with the WD. Yes, the WD will change what you had unhooked. If you find you don't like how it tows you can always adjust it up or down a link, or notch, or whatever WD system you have.

Did you have any idea how much weight you were transferring back to the front axle or did you just crank it up until it looked right?

[Waldo_2001]

I have no idea. When I put the trailer on the ball the rear of the truck only drops about a 1/2 inch. I have tried the WD system making the truck back to level and only bringing it up 1/8 inch or so and really it does not seem to tow any different. The main problem maybe that Fargo ND is just very windy. I feel the tongue weight is over the 12-15%.

The factory specs for the trailer are 6450 with 755 hitch weight. I figure with 2 30 pound bottles / battery/ spare tire (under front bed) and a few items in the front storage I am closer to 1000 on the hitch (right at the 15%). I pack very light but I was putting everything in front of the first axle. I am thinking I need to move the tire to the rear or the truck bed and then put pack items in the rear bunks.

James

[Bob Landry]

How much the rear squats is irrelevant. WD is not used to level the truck. You need to return the front end to the original weight for proper steering and to minimize wear on the font end components. Once you have achieved that, leave it alone, it's doing what it's supposed to do. You can get it very close by measuring the height of the front fender. any other "tweaking" needs to be done by loading the trailer and seeing what works. If you are going to mess with the adjustment until it looks or feels right, you may as well not even have it.