Towing weights

[Peto]

Here are some numbers to play with. I ran across the CAT scale on my last trip to see where I stand:

Truck - '22 F250 Tremor 6.7L Power stroke
Trailer - '23 25RDS Hideout

Truck with some camping gear in the bed:

Steer - 4680
Drive - 3900
Gross - 8580

Truck/Trailer loaded for a couple weeks:

Steer - 4340
Drive - 5300
Trailer Axle - 6140
Gross - 15780

-------------------------------------
Goesinto's :

Steer with trailer = -340lbs
Tongue weight = 1400lbs (more than I expected)
Trailer gross = 7540 (If calculated right)
MFG Sticker - 6280 dry / 7600 GVWR

Truck Payload - 2761 (no issues)


As stated all the numbers look good. The tongue weight if calculated right is a bit more than expected but even a good cleaning of the front storage would not reduce it by more than a few pounds. this load included 2 full propane tanks and 2 lithium batteries on the A Frame.

Steer Axle weight - Not sure if the 340lb lift when hooked up is worth the adjustment to the WDH but I may try dropping the torsion angle one notch to see if I notice a difference... Opinions?


Current set up rides nice, tows well and does not feel like the front end is light. I would like to get rid of a little Porpoising (up/down action) action it has but not a big deal ( I drive Indian Reservation roads and they are on crappy road beds so there are a lot of big dips and heaves on a 65mph road)......

Yeah, I know most tow a lot heavier but even with my light loads I want it optimized.

 

[NH_Bulldog]

Thanks for sharing the numbers, I have been waiting to see how it was going to weigh out.

The tongue weight is a bit of a surprise, although on my Passport the 550 lb. published dry tongue weight turned into close to 1,000 lbs. when loaded for camping, so really not too far out of whack. If you adjusted the hitch angle a bit to add back some of that front end weight, it will take some of that weight off the rear and might help with the porpoising. Just don't get too aggressive otherwise you can swing the pendulum too far the other way. When we had the Passport, I was comfortable when the measurements at the fenders while loaded were within an inch of the unloaded measurements.

 

[flybouy]

It's been my experience that porpoising is an issue.with the truck more than anything. If the truck has a good sound suspension ( good shocks, no excess play in any connections, etc then it simply is the road and often the only way to mitigate the issue is by reducing your speed. The trailer will often transmit and amplify the oscillation.

When the Key Bridge was still intact we crossed it with our f20 towing the camper. It was bucking so bad I told my DW " Try and stay on, I want that trophy!" We never noticed an issue with the DWs f150 KR. It was a little bumpy nothing like the f250. A few weeks later we crossed in the f250 not towing and yup, it was just as bad. What I realized was that the very rythnic jousting was due to the wavelength of the humps in the road. The distance between the humps matched the wheel base of the truck. The only thing I could do was slow down and try to not impead traffic.

 

[Peto]

A thought. Wouldn't the tongue weight have to be reduced by the -340lbs loss on the steer axle giving me a true weight of 1060lbs at the tongue?

That sounds more like what I was expecting.

 

[ColinB-KEY]

Here are my numbers: Toyota Tundra, Cougar 25MLE this weekend.
Steer 3300
Drive 3820
Trailer axle 6480
Truck alone 6100
Trailer gross 7580-6480=1020 TW
13.5%
Agree with you, not much to move weight back to trailer axle. WD is good, pavement to wheel well from front wheel to back is only 1/2” difference. Good luck