got weighed!

[TXtugboat]

Went to a CAT scale with our 2005 19’ Bambi and 2019 Yukon XL Denali (2wd). Bambi had a full water tank, propane, and a fair amount of camping gear, couple extra gallons of water, etc. Empty grey and black tanks. She weighed in at 3600lbs. GVWR on her is 4500.
Yukon came in at 6940 with me, 3 kids, a box of books, a box of campfire wood, full 31 gallon gas tank, small ice chest and smattering of other stuff. GVWR on her is 7300.
This is with no weight distributing hitch. Bambi is sitting pretty level with a slight bias to the tongue. My take away is, we don’t have a lot of extra capacity for stuff in the Yukon and when packing more I should bias it toward the trailer. My understanding is a weight distribution hitch would put some of the weight on the trailer and maybe lessen that 6940 enabling a bit more cargo in the Yukon. Is this accurate and worth undertaking? She towed very well with the fresh tank full.

[57Vintage]

I would look at front axle weight empty and with fulll load like you did. If difference is very much and steering feels light when loaded, I go with WD hitch and get weight back on front axle. That would also take some weight off the rear axle.

Also, if you get much sway when around side winds or semis I'd consider looking at WD with some sway control.

[islandtrader]

This is what I know..and I am sure you will get 100 more opinions. If your GVWR is 7300 and you weigh in at 6940 that means you only have 360 more pounds you can carry. Now the other part of the equation is this. Your tongue weight count towards the GVWR. You should have approx 400 # of tongue wt. So right now your TV is at capacity. If you load in more stuff, put it in the trailer and try to keep it in the center of the trailer. A wd hitch will not help your GVWR.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

What a WD hitch does is to move weight from the rear axle on the truck to the front axle. You need those weights before and after hooking up the trailer to see what's going on. Since weight ratings are per axle, you need this info with or without a WD hitch.

Bob

[TXtugboat]

My understanding was the WDH moved weight to the trailer and front axle, but I may be misunderstanding.

[TXtugboat]

Originally Posted by islandtrader

This is what I know..and I am sure you will get 100 more opinions. If your GVWR is 7300 and you weigh in at 6940 that means you only have 360 more pounds you can carry. Now the other part of the equation is this. Your tongue weight count towards the GVWR. You should have approx 400 # of tongue wt. So right now your TV is at capacity. If you load in more stuff, put it in the trailer and try to keep it in the center of the trailer. A wd hitch will not help your GVWR.

Isn’t the approximate 400lbs tongue weight accounted for in the 6940 already?
I agree that I could definitely add more stuff to the trailer (900lbs) evenly if I needed to add more stuff, and only 360 to the truck.
And I’m sure you’re right about the opinions!!

[dsgreen20]

If 6940# is the weight on the scale with your Bambi connected, then yes the tongue weight is included in your number. If you post photos of your weigh tickets that may help. It also gives great information like how much your Airstream weighs and what your tongue weight percentage is if you were also able to weigh your TV alone as well.

[Peter417]

You should add your information to this thread:


https://www.airforums.com/forums/f23...in-222675.html

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by TXtugboat

My understanding was the WDH moved weight to the trailer and front axle, but I may be misunderstanding.

Hi

If you have no WD, your truck "squats" in back and the rear axle takes up all the tongue weight of the trailer. As the truck tilts to the rear, weight comes off the front axle. Net result is that the front axle is nowhere near it's max load and the
rear axle is heavy.

With less weight than the normal "empty truck" weight on the front axle, steering is impacted. The safety of the vehicle likely is impacted by this. Even if the rear axle isn't past max, things probably aren't right.

The WD hitch acts as a spring. It tilts the truck back forwards. More weight goes on the truck's front axle and less on the truck's rear axle. You are back to a vehicle that steers properly and the rear axle is no longer in danger.

Fun

Bob

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by TXtugboat

Went to a CAT scale with our 2005 19’ Bambi and 2019 Yukon XL Denali (2wd). Bambi had a full water tank, propane, and a fair amount of camping gear, couple extra gallons of water, etc. Empty grey and black tanks. She weighed in at 3600lbs. GVWR on her is 4500.
Yukon came in at 6940 with me, 3 kids, a box of books, a box of campfire wood, full 31 gallon gas tank, small ice chest and smattering of other stuff. GVWR on her is 7300.
This is with no weight distributing hitch. Bambi is sitting pretty level with a slight bias to the tongue. My take away is, we don’t have a lot of extra capacity for stuff in the Yukon and when packing more I should bias it toward the trailer. My understanding is a weight distribution hitch would put some of the weight on the trailer and maybe lessen that 6940 enabling a bit more cargo in the Yukon. Is this accurate and worth undertaking? She towed very well with the fresh tank full.

I posted this on my build site b4

Went to the weigh station and was happy with the results No water in any tanks. Minimum dishes and extra gear. Full propane tanks.

It came in at 3,640#. Thats about 800# over the original weight. Not bad.
My tongue weight came in at 400#. So I think I am good to go. This correlated to the trailer hitch scale.

I went on the scale with the truck and trailer hitched and the total weight was somewhere around 9000#..drove the truck off the scale but left the AS hitched and on the scale. 3240#. Un hitched the AS and total weight was 3640#.

I do not have any extra gear for towing...just hitch and go. No sway and she tracks like she is on rails. So far this summer we have clocked 3k miles and no hic cups.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by TXtugboat

My understanding was the WDH moved weight to the trailer and front axle, but I may be misunderstanding.

Your understanding is correct. The weight-distributing hitch distributes some weight forward (to the steer axle) and some aft (to the trailer axle(s)) so a trip across the scales with weight distribution would show the same total rig weight (let's assume you already had the spring bars as cargo, just not installed) but you'd see higher front- and trailer-axle weights and lower rear-axle weight.

And re: your other comment: Yes, if the trailer was hitched when you got the 6940 total for the Yukon, your trailer's tongue weight is included in that and you do still have some available payload for the loaded Yukon.