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Old 09-10-2019, 07:20 PM   #1
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First weigh of truck and AS

My first visit to the CAT scales! The app made it easy. Looking for some opinions (I know there is no one here with opinions, right??) and thoughts on these numbers.

Vehicles: F150 with 7000 GVWR, front axle is 3525lb capacity, rear axle is 3800lb capacity. AS has 7600lb GVWR.

Conditions: 1 1/2 propane tanks, full water tank (39 gal) plus full water heater, nearly full gas tank on the truck. I was not in the truck but my wife was. I purposely loaded the truck up as I now that is my "weak spot" and with me in I'm probably over the weight.

First image is all hitched in towing condition, second is with the WD bars (Equalizer) removed, the third is the truck by itself (F/R) and the AS by itself.

Looks like I am about on the limit with my truck. Looks like I could perhaps transfer a bit more weight to the front? Would that be worth it or is the adjustment going to be more coarse than what I might want (perhaps 100lbs is what I'd want). Seems like the hitch is set up okay now, though, with nearly all the weight returning to the front.

I'm not sure how to read this but I think the hitch weight would be 940lbs (7040 trailer weight by itself, 6100 when hitched with no WD). The geometry is off, though, so I'm not sure.

Anyway, any comments or thoughts? Other than "should have bought a F250" :-) Thanks!





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Old 09-10-2019, 08:26 PM   #2
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It looks good to me. How does it drive? My experience is that you can transfer too much weight back to the front. So I would leave it just like that unless there is a problem. Good job.
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Old 09-10-2019, 08:37 PM   #3
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I think you are good.
Tow enough to get a feel for it, then fine tune as necessary.

ps:
My quick check each time I hook up the trailer is to measure the height of the front fenders above the center of the wheel spindle. My goal is to return enough weight to the tow vehicle's front axle to get the fenders down to that unloaded position. I do this so that the truck will have the same front axle weight as when unloaded and hopefully steer similarly.

ps2:
What is the axel weight of your truck's front axle when not hitched to the trailer? That would be the weight I think you should try to return to.
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Old 09-10-2019, 09:51 PM   #4
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Slightly over GVWR

If truck GVWR ia 7000 lb and you are at 6940 before you get in the truck, you will probably be over the GVWR by about 100 lb once you get in.

I think your weight distribution is going to be OK once you are in the truck.

Move some stuff from the bed of the truck to the trailer or just leave it home to get your truck weight under its GVWR.
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Old 09-11-2019, 03:22 AM   #5
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Too much weight removed from the rear axle of the truck.
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Old 09-11-2019, 04:26 AM   #6
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looks as good as it can get, you face the same problem we did, our F150 did a wonderful job and felt very stable and secure, but we were right against the rear axle rating and need to be able to load more
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Old 09-11-2019, 08:24 AM   #7
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Dew how about the weights for just the truck? Also check your owner's manual or trailer guide for how much to restore to the front axle. A blanket statement of restoring to the unloaded truck weight is not correct. Example my last GM/GMC says 50%. Others are 100%. Get the facts for your particular truck.
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Old 09-11-2019, 08:43 AM   #8
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Also consider the placement of your Grey/Black tanks. If in front of the axles, they will add to the load on the truck.
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Old 09-11-2019, 08:44 AM   #9
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If I understand your numbers, they show your WD is transferring about 120 pounds to the trailer axles.
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Old 09-11-2019, 09:26 AM   #10
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It looks good on first review, but I have a question...

Generally, the "truck only" pass is just that... the truck all by itself with just two weights -- the steer and drive axles -- with the trailer reading zero. From that, the gross weight of the trailer can be calculated by subtracting the truck only weight from either of the other two passes.

For clarity, was your third pass done by driving onto the scales then unhitching the trailer and calling for the weight? Can we assume that the jack of the trailer was on the trailer scale pad along with the four tires? Was the Equal-I-zer attached to the truck for that third pass, or sitting on the trailer scale pad?
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Old 09-11-2019, 10:05 AM   #11
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Agree with others—about as good as you’ll get with that truck. Although you could potentially move some cargo from your truck to the Airstream.
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Old 09-11-2019, 04:34 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GammaDog View Post
It looks good on first review, but I have a question...

Generally, the "truck only" pass is just that... the truck all by itself with just two weights -- the steer and drive axles -- with the trailer reading zero. From that, the gross weight of the trailer can be calculated by subtracting the truck only weight from either of the other two passes.

For clarity, was your third pass done by driving onto the scales then unhitching the trailer and calling for the weight? Can we assume that the jack of the trailer was on the trailer scale pad along with the four tires? Was the Equal-I-zer attached to the truck for that third pass, or sitting on the trailer scale pad?
Yes; for the third pass the trailer was completely on one of the pads with the front leg down. The truck was by itself; front axle on one pad and back axle on the second.

I did the following to do the three weights: first one I just pulled on and made sure the front axle, rear axle and two AS axles were each on a different pad. For the second sheet I just pulled off the WD hitch bars (so the truck was sagging in the back). Then, since it was already hooked up, I just backed the truck up until the trailer was all the way on the back pad, put the leg down and unhitched, then pulled the truck forward again.
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Old 09-11-2019, 04:35 PM   #13
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Oh, and the bars were off to the side of the scale and the big ball hitch was on the truck for the last sheet.
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Old 09-11-2019, 04:39 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A W Warn View Post
I think you are good.
Tow enough to get a feel for it, then fine tune as necessary.

ps:
My quick check each time I hook up the trailer is to measure the height of the front fenders above the center of the wheel spindle. My goal is to return enough weight to the tow vehicle's front axle to get the fenders down to that unloaded position. I do this so that the truck will have the same front axle weight as when unloaded and hopefully steer similarly.

ps2:
What is the axel weight of your truck's front axle when not hitched to the trailer? That would be the weight I think you should try to return to.
Thank you for the comments. I did do the height measurement last spring just to make sure I was in the right ballpark and I was (the hitch was set up by Colonial in NJ and they have a solid reputation).

The bottom (third) sheet was the truck unhitched; 60 pounds heavier than the top (first) sheet where I had the truck hitched with the WD set. So hitching the AS with the WD hitch means the front is 60 lbs lighter than the truck by itself.

I will say that certainly when the fresh water tank isn't full everything handles wonderfully. With the water tank full it still steers and stops well but I notice a little more porpoising.
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Old 09-11-2019, 04:42 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim J View Post
If truck GVWR ia 7000 lb and you are at 6940 before you get in the truck, you will probably be over the GVWR by about 100 lb once you get in.

I think your weight distribution is going to be OK once you are in the truck.

Move some stuff from the bed of the truck to the trailer or just leave it home to get your truck weight under its GVWR.
Yep; I think that is the best thing since I have about 600 lb capacity in the trailer weight. I have a number of things in the truck that could easily be moved to the trailer.
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Old 09-11-2019, 04:44 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghaynes755 View Post
Dew how about the weights for just the truck? Also check your owner's manual or trailer guide for how much to restore to the front axle. A blanket statement of restoring to the unloaded truck weight is not correct. Example my last GM/GMC says 50%. Others are 100%. Get the facts for your particular truck.
Good point. IIRC I read the instructions about doing the height measurement of the front fender from Ford, and they basically said to bring it back to where it is without the trailer hitched so that would imply 100%. But I will check. Thanks!
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Old 09-11-2019, 09:07 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghaynes755 View Post
Dew how about the weights for just the truck? Also check your owner's manual or trailer guide for how much to restore to the front axle. A blanket statement of restoring to the unloaded truck weight is not correct. Example my last GM/GMC says 50%. Others are 100%. Get the facts for your particular truck.
I'm wondering if this 50% weight return to the front axle is typical with diesel engines, where the engine/transmission is already heavy on the front axle.
I've never seen this on the 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton GM/Chev trucks I've owned, all with gas engines.
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Old 09-11-2019, 10:13 PM   #18
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I'm wondering if this 50% weight return to the front axle is typical with diesel engines, where the engine/transmission is already heavy on the front axle.
I've never seen this on the 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton GM/Chev trucks I've owned, all with gas engines.
RAM calls for 50% FALR on their 2500 and 3500, but only 33% FALR on their 1500. Might be a limitation of the strength of the stock receiver.
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Old 09-11-2019, 10:33 PM   #19
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Don't forget the old rule of thumb: 1/3 of the TT tongue weight on the steer wheels, 1/3 on the drive wheels and 1/3 on the TT wheels. That has always worked for me.
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Old 09-17-2019, 09:31 AM   #20
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Don't forget the old rule of thumb: 1/3 of the TT tongue weight on the steer wheels, 1/3 on the drive wheels and 1/3 on the TT wheels. That has always worked for me.
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How does the even 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 work if you have a heavier trailer rather than a trailer that closely matches the TV? It seems that transferring very much weight to the steer axle is an issue. Thanks
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