Help with towing set up

[RDale]

I was hoping for some advice on my towing set up. I had a 19' Bambi that I pulled with a 2007 Tundra, but I recently bought a 2015 Flying Cloud. I did not pay to much attention to my set up before, but with the bigger trailer I have have been reading all of the post and I may have way too much information. I recently purchased a 2015 Silverado 1500 2WD Standard Box, 5.3L, Max Tow, 3.73 rear ratio. Tires are P265/65R18 112T. I have a Reese Centerline Dual Cam Hitch with 1200lb bars. Most of our trips are short and the trailer does not have much extra in it. Most of the stuff goes into the truck. I have adjusted the hitch myself and it drives great. I recently got some weights with it loaded to within 200 lbs of my heaviest camping load.

WD with 3 links hanging ...............WD with 4 links hanging
FA1 3220......................................FA1 3180
RA1 3520.....................................RA1 3780
TT1 5240.....................................TT1 5000

No WD
FA2 3080
RA2 3740
TT2 5160

FA3 3300
RA3 2660

TV 5960
Gross combined wt 11980
TT Wt 6020
Tongue Wt 860

I used the formulas that I had seen in other posts.
I am not sure why the numbers don't seem to move in the right direction when I change from three links hanging to four links. When I was doing each weight I was told to move off the scale and come around again for the next weight. I tried to get to the same spot on the scales. The TT looks and measures (with a level) just slightly better with four links. With 4 links the height of the hitch ball has dropped 1/2" from the unladed distance and with 3 links it has dropped 3/4".
I was also concerned about my TV tires. I did not realize that the truck had P metric tires, but the load index looks like it should be high enough for my load weight. Do I run the TV tire pressures at the recommended pressure on the door panel? I also was wondering if I should have the 800lb bars.
I appreciate any and all comments.

Dale

[pappy19]

Get rid of the "P" tires and get LT's in at least D rated, E rated are even better but will be some stiffer of a ride but will last longer and have less chance of a hazard problem. You might also lurk on the tire posts as a lot of folks are switching from ST tires to LT tires on their AS as well due to so many blow outs and damage.

[aftermath]

Dale, I think your numbers look pretty good. I have a similar trailer and I went in and got it measured and found that I was losing too much weight off the front axle. I added a washer to my hitch and it does look better but I have yet to weigh it again.

As far as your P-Radials I would run them until it is time to replace them as long as you are not having any issues. Run them at the max inflation and keep your eyes on them. My Tundra came with P-Radials that wore out around 30K and they were "OK", but I did notice some sway one time out and it wasn't the trailer, it was the truck. I replaced them with LT Yokohamas and have over 40K on them without issue. If you drive sanely, pack lightly and keep your pressures up, you can keep 'em on.

Your 1200 lb bars might be a touch stiff for your setup. Can you get 1K bars?

[SteveSueMac]

Hey Dale - could you post pics of your scale tickets? I'm not sure how I'm supposed I read your numbers - in the first set it looks like the front axle gets lighter adding the 4th link so I'm sure I'm just getting confused by how it's displaying on my phone.

[RDale]

Thanks for the posts. My weights with 3 links hanging and 4 links hanging don't make any sense to me either. i was thinking it was because I left the scales between each weight and was not in the same position on the scale. If I was going to keep the P-metric tires for now, what pressure do I use? Maximum pressure on sidewall?

Dale

[SteveSueMac]

Ok so # of links hanging means some other number of links are engaged then. That makes sense. If you have 10 links, 3 hanging means 7 links are engaged which is why more weight is restored to your front axle with 3 hanging than with 4 (and therefore only 6 links engaged).

Now check your truck owners manual for and see what it says about your particular setup. It will tell you about fender height measurements and something about Front Axle Load Restoration or FALR. It might say you need 50% FALR and if that's the case, your tickets would suggest that 4 links hanging is exactly what you need (according to your tickets, that setting returns just about 50% of what you take off the front axle by connecting the trailer without WD applied). If you need 100% FALR, you need to engage more links - 3 hanging doesn't get you there. Try with 2 hanging and see what that gets you - just be very careful how you apply the chains - good practice to lift the jack high to take tension off the WD system while connecting links and then lower the jack.

Your P-rated truck tires are also described on the door jamb and in the manual for whatever they are capable of carrying for a load. Now that you know max loads on drive and steer axles, you could refer to the tables for your tires and (give yourself some headroom) fill them to the pressure required to carry that load. Lots of folks here have trucks with p-rated tires and they carry the load just fine.

Good work! You're almost there. Get it dialed in then go camping! I hit the scales at the start of the season to make sure things haven't gone nuts on me (so far so good!) and then forget it til next year!

[ROBERT CROSS]

Dale,

What I could tell from your photo, your WD bars are barely flexed.

Your on the right track but IMHO you do not need 1200lb WD bars with your rig.

800lb tapered bars, (as opposed to round), will work very well, they will flex more and you'll get more consistent CAT readings with less stress on the AS.

FWIW....I use 1000lb bars, with a 1200lb TW & transfer 680Lbs with WD set.

Bob

[Ron Gratz]

Dale,

Your numbers show some significant inconsistencies.
When the TT was attached with no WD applied, the steer axle lost 3300-3080 = 220#. This value should have been around 350#.
The rear drive gained 3740-2660 = 1080#. This number should have been around 1250#.
When you went from 3 links hanging to 4 links hanging, the TT axles decreased by 240#. This change should have been more on the order of 50#.

OTOH, the load differences between no WD and 3 links hanging were a nearly textbook result -- 80# added to the TT axles, 140 added to the steer axle, and 220# removed from the drive axle.

Do you recall where you were located when each of the weighings was made? Were you always in the same location?

Is it possible that the TT's front tires were partially on the second scale segment and partially on the third segment when the 4 links hanging measurement was made?

Ron

[RDale]

Thanks for everyones help.

Just to make sure I am explaining everything correctly. When I say three links hanging, I mean three links hanging free. Four links hanging means that I have made it tighter (less links between the bars and the trailer tongue attachment, with more links hanging free). Sorry if I have described this wrong. If I am using the wrong terms to describe this please let me know.

It seems to me that the measurement from three links hanging loose to 4 links hanging loose is moving in the wrong direction. It is slightly difficult to get it set up with the 4 links hanging free. I can not make it any tighter with these bars. After reading some other post, I was thinking that I needed the 800lb bars. I don't think that there are 1000lb bars available for this hitch. The dealer had told me that the larger bars were needed because the tongue weight was more than 800lbs, but I have also been concerned about the stress placed on the trailer with the bigger bars.

I was within a foot of the same spot on the scales for each weight and the wheels were completely on the scales, but not in the center of each scale.

I had originally set it up by measuring the wheel well distances. I did not keep my data but with 3 links hanging loose the front returned half of the distance that it had raised without the WD activated. With four links hanging loose it was 1/4" higher than with 3 links hanging loose (this also seems to be moving in the wrong direction.

I looked at the Tire door sticker. From what little info I find in the owners manual it seems like that this is the recommended pressure for a full load. I had been running the pressures close to the maximum pressure on the sidewall (51). I cannot find any information or tables that specify different presses for different loads.

Thanks again for the help.

Dale

[ROBERT CROSS]

Dale,

If you use your tongue jack to raise the tongue when hitched it will make tensioning the WD bars easier. Take up several more links then lower and measure/weigh again.

Bob

[RDale]

Even with the trailer raised with the jack, this is as tight as I can get it.
Dale

[ROBERT CROSS]

Dale,

Maybe post some pics...something just doesn't make sense.

Bob

[RDale]

Thanks for everyones help. I will be working this weekend, but camping next weekend. I will get some better pictures and if I have time I will try and get some more weights.