Truck & Trailer weighed. Opinions welcomed.

Seabee · 06-18-2015, 02:41 PM

Used a set of calibrated portable digital scales to weigh the truck and trailer.

The truck's axle weights are: Front - 3010 / Rear - 3970

The trailer's axle weights are: Front - 3380 / Rear - 3150

Total weight is 13,510.

Do y'all think this is a pretty good distribution? I'm well under the truck's axle weight ratings and well under my max GCWR.

**JRTJH** · 06-18-2015, 04:40 PM

What about payload and GVW? Depending on what else you add (people and their "stuff") you could negate any axle ratings.

Seabee · 06-18-2015, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

What about payload and GVW? Depending on what else you add (people and their "stuff") you could negate any axle ratings.

My apologies for not being more detailed, but, we are going camping this weekend, so the weighing was done with the trailer completely loaded and ready to go. A full tank of fuel, me in the driver's seat and to simulate the combined weight of the Wife and the Kid, one 270 lb. fellow Seabee in the passenger seat (heavier than the two combined). I tried to be as thorough as possible when I did this. With that, looking at the axle weights, does it look as though I should transfer some weight around? Maybe add a washer to the hitch to transfer a bit more weight to the truck's front axle? Should I even be concerned about the 960 lb. difference between the truck's axles? Maybe repack the trailer to close the 230 lb. gap between the trailer's axles? Or, am I asking to many questions and it's good as is?

**chuckster57** · 06-18-2015, 06:36 PM

JMHO, I think your over thinking things. While its nice to see someone that takes the time to make sure they are under GVWR/GCVWR.

You need to ENJOY your trip. Remember, all those weights will change as you use fuel, eat food, drink the cold beverages.... there are too many other things to worry about besides even distribution of weight across the entire ship if you get my "Drift"

**JRTJH** · 06-18-2015, 06:43 PM

Weight on the axles should never be greater than the axle rating, but you shouldn't be trying to adjust your hitch by weight. If you go to any "WD Hitch" manufacturer's website, you'll find detailed instructions on exactly how to adjust your rig.

Essentially, you measure your truck's front bumper to ground, hitch the trailer and adjust the WD bars to obtain "as close as possible" to the front bumper "UNLOADED" measurement. Most manufacturers will suggest 1/4" to 1/2" as being "acceptable"....

Essentially, the purpose of a WD hitch is not to put equal weight on both axles, but to maintain sufficient weight on the steering axle to eliminate any potential "light axle steering problems". Yes, there have been people who tow without a WD hitch, hit a bump and the front wheels come off the ground, they lose all steering/control of the tow vehicle. Some made it, some didn't.

Here's one site (and a youtube video) that gives pretty good instructions for adjusting a WD hitch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkewkvU8Ot8

https://www.curtmfg.com/masterlibrar..._17330_INS.PDF

**sourdough** · 06-18-2015, 07:13 PM

I am one of those guys from my younger days that payed zero attention to loading. I didn't know how distributed the weight was, but, the firewood in the 16' trailer behind my 2003 Ford Ranger far outweighed the truck. The front was very light. I hit one bump on the return trip down the mountains; curve to the right; 300ft. straight down on the left; the bump left my front tires grasping for anything. I just sort of plowed straight ahead.....scared..sh%&%$#, I hit the brakes, brought the front down enough to get control, navigated the curve and stopped to redistribute the wood....ain't happened again. Almost 1000lbs lighter on the front vs the rear seems a little worrisome to me. As John mentioned, payload needs to be watched.

Goingfor9 · 06-20-2015, 04:14 AM

Not sure what your payload is but I'm guessing around 1700. You should be under that even with the around 1,100lbs of tongue weight that trailer has loaded(rough guess.....I have the same one). My question is that trailer weighs roughly 7200lbs dry. How are you in the 13,000lbs range with truck trailer? Is the camper loaded for the weekend?

Seabee · 06-20-2015, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goingfor9

Not sure what your payload is but I'm guessing around 1700. You should be under that even with the around 1,100lbs of tongue weight that trailer has loaded(rough guess.....I have the same one). My question is that trailer weighs roughly 7200lbs dry. How are you in the 13,000lbs range with truck trailer? Is the camper loaded for the weekend?

Yes, loaded down ready to go.

roadglide · 06-23-2015, 07:10 PM

You have 8 lugs 6,0 engine on your Chevy making it a 3/4 ton truck with 410 gears. I haven't heard of a 1500 with that combination. Like my old 1500 HD with 373 gears. You have the engine , gears get air bags and keep good tires and don't worry about.

Seabee · 06-24-2015, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadglide

You have 8 lugs 6,0 engine on your Chevy making it a 3/4 ton truck with 410 gears. I haven't heard of a 1500 with that combination. Like my old 1500 HD with 373 gears. You have the engine , gears get air bags and keep good tires and don't worry about.

No Sir, 6 lugs, it is a 1500 and it has air bags already.

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