First time on a Cat Scale

[RMNummi]

Anybody want to walk me through first time on a Cat Scale? Is there an attendant or do you just drive on up? Is there a good time to go when it isn’t crowded? How much does it cost?

[KCurtis]

I just do two: One with the truck only and then one with the trailer attached. This will allow you to see exactly what weight is on the truck axles when the trailer is attached.

[Jeff7176]

You can download an app and when you drive up the app should find the scale. Then you can pay (usually $12, and I think it includes 2 passes...or the second pass is like $2) from the app and it gives you your weigh ticket electronically.

I have never had any issue with being in the way or having to wait. At bigger truck stops you will have space to disconnect if you should want to, or tweak your setup between weighs.

[mpsgolf]

I had never weighed either until this fall’s trip. I’m no , only did it once but here is what I took away.

Where I went:

Attendant is inside but with intercom to scale. I went inside and talked to them first and told them what I wanted to do. They were good about explaining the process.

Drive on sale with trailer and weigh with WD connected. The system will record weights.

Don’t move yet, weigh again with WD disconnected. This lets you know weight transferred by WD system. I missed this second part. System will record these weights.

Now pull off scale. Disconnect trailer completely and go back and weigh truck only. This is a reweigh and costs a small addition to the charge.

Go inside to collect data prints. From this data you can calculate where you stand.

[Mollysdad]

I downloaded the app which gives you a code for the scales. You enter the code (basically a location) weigh, prepay with the app, and drive away. No local intervention required.

You'll find the scale is divided into segments. Here's where you preplan. If the truck front is on segment one, then the truck's rear wheels are on segment 2 and the entire trailer is on segment three, you can get a lot of information in one stop.

[tbrowne]

Watch this video. It explains everything and then you'll be comfortable getting yours weighed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVc72YKk1_I&t=442s

[ROBERT CROSS]

Disclaimer, we've had our airstream for 17 years, I know it pretty well.

I usually do four runs, everything loaded for camping.
1st Tow vehicle alone.
2nd Airstream and tow vehicle no weight distribution.
3rd AS & TV MAX WD (this run is done just to make sure nothing much has changed as far as weight distribution efficiency)
4th AS & TV WD set for the road.

POI haven't weighed in 4yrs...See above.

Bob
🇺🇸

[Ken G]

Weights with WD disconnected might be interesting however it is useless information unless you plan on towing that way. Simply weigh as you normally tow - passengers-gear - water - pets then compare axle weights that they are roughly equal and within specs, (DOOR STICKERS) none overloaded none too light from too much or too little WD. A second weighing is only needed if you must adjust your setup by moving cargo or adjusting WD.

Originally Posted by mpsgolf

I had never weighed either until this fall’s trip. I’m no , only did it once but here is what I took away.

Where I went:

Attendant is inside but with intercom to scale. I went inside and talked to them first and told them what I wanted to do. They were good about explaining the process.

Drive on sale with trailer and weigh with WD connected. The system will record weights.

Don’t move yet, weigh again with WD disconnected. This lets you know weight transferred by WD system. I missed this second part. System will record these weights.

Now pull off scale. Disconnect trailer completely and go back and weigh truck only. This is a reweigh and costs a small addition to the charge.

Go inside to collect data prints. From this data you can calculate where you stand.

[Fungus]

Use this worksheet: https://fifthwheelst.com/documents/w..._cat_scale.pdf

Enter into this web page: https://fifthwheelst.com/conventiona...alculator.html

The tongue weight it shows is actually the weight on the hitch receiver, not the weight on the ball. If your hitch is an Equalizer, the difference may be immaterial. But if your hitch is a ProPride, tongue weight is overstated by ~185#. The receiver weight (for lack of a better term) is important for ensuring the receiver can support the weight of the tongue and hitch. The true on-the-ball weight is important for how the trailer is balanced and how well it will track.

[K3ors]

Glad this question was asked and to see very helpful answers. I've wondered about this also.

[Fungus]

Another thing: get the CAT app. Don’t bother going inside. This is super easy. I was intimidated by this thought of it. Shouldn’t have been. Nothing to it. And you get the tickets in an email so you can store it in the cloud or wherever you like to store that sort of thing.

I’ve taken six or so trips to the scale this year. The first few were with a previous TV that had inadequate payload as I tweaked the setup. Then one trip with my new TV and setup that didn’t need tweaking.

I’ve also done a weighing to get the weight of the individual axles of the AS. Put the rear AS axle only on the trailer platform. Do the math. Make sure the steer axle is still on the steer axle platform; otherwise, the weight on the rear platform will be affected (heavier than actual IIRC).

Don’t get on and off the platform with WD disengaged because your WD bars might drag on the hump. Happened to me.

[PatLee]

This thread is one of the most helpful ones I've ever read. The video in the thread is exactly what I needed to learn. RMNummi - thanks for asking the question!!

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Ken G

Weights with WD disconnected might be interesting however it is useless information unless you plan on towing that way. .

Useless? Maybe to your way of thinking.

But I've had the hitch on 'Cloudsplitter' since 2007 and the POM I get from making sure the bars haven't de-sprung is comforting.🤔

“If you’re happy with what you’re doing…it’s adequate.
If other people are un-happy….it’s not”
RLC

As I noted. I haven't weighed in a few years so the [I]inconvenience[I] is minimal.


Bob
🇺🇸

[jeffmc306]

Originally Posted by Ken G

Weights with WD disconnected might be interesting however it is useless information unless you plan on towing that way. Simply weigh as you normally tow - passengers-gear - water - pets then compare axle weights that they are roughly equal and within specs, (DOOR STICKERS) none overloaded none too light from too much or too little WD. A second weighing is only needed if you must adjust your setup by moving cargo or adjusting WD.

I like to do the step with WD disconnected at least once. That extra step provides another data point to tell you how much weight transfer your hitch is providing on the ticket.

I also measure the truck’s front and rear fenders at each step. It’s interesting to see how much the rear suspension drops when the trailer is on the ball and how much the WD returns the front fenders to the original height. All depends on how much time you’ve got but to me you can never have too much information.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by jeffmc306

I like to do the step with WD disconnected at least once. That extra step provides another data point to tell you how much weight transfer your hitch is providing on the ticket.

I also measure the truck’s front and rear fenders at each step. It’s interesting to see how much the rear suspension drops when the trailer is on the ball and how much the WD returns the front fenders to the original height. All depends on how much time you’ve got but to me you can never have too much information.

Nailed it Jeff. Without the 'no' WD ticket, it's just a guess as to how much load has been removed from the steering axle.

Bob
🇺🇸

[richard5933]

I like the weight w/o the WD hitch so I can see how much weight the trailer is taking off the steer axle as compared to not having the trailer attached, and can see how much the WD hitch puts back. No way to know this without the trip across the scales.

[hhendrix]

[QUOTE=Fungus;2562983]A

I’ve also done a weighing to get the weight of the individual axles of the AS. Put the rear AS axle only on the trailer platform. Do the math. Make sure the steer axle is still on the steer axle platform; otherwise, the weight on the rear platform will be affected (heavier than actual IIRC).


I think this is the most overlooked issue regarding setting up your WD. I've seen as much as 900# difference between axles on the trailer with an unbalanced WD. I'm fortunate to have a few agriculture weigh stations nearby that get very little traffic during most of the year. Sometimes it can take a couple of hours adjusting the WD and weighing all the axles several times.

[ROBERT CROSS]

^
900lb difference between axles that are what, 6ft apart?

Bob
🇺🇸

[hhendrix]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

^
900lb difference between axles that are what, 6ft apart?

Bob
🇺🇸

I'm referring to the trailer axles only.

[Fungus]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

^
900lb difference between axles that are what, 6ft apart?

Bob
🇺🇸

I ran an experiment. I lifted the tongue six inches to see what would happen to the individual trailer axle weights. I had read that the axles are too close to be affected this way. But I like data.

Total of two axles while hitched is 5520#. Lift the tongue six inches and the rear trailer axle alone weighs 3960#. Doing the math arrives at ~1560# on the front axle of the trailer. Taking the example to ad infinitum you could lift the tongue until the trailer bumper nearly touched the ground. Would the weight remain equally distributed across the two axles?

Of course, I wouldn’t tow the trailer with a six-inch nose-high attitude. I’ve also done this with smaller differences in height of the tongue in order to balance the weight on the trailer axles. It’s really about confirming that while the trailer is level or very slightly nose down I don’t have it loaded improperly. It can be level and still be rear heavy (for example). Inches at the height of the tongue affect the distribution of weight across the axles of the trailer. My experiment is an exaggerated test case. But the test in which the difference in tongue height was just two or three inches resulted in a few hundred pound swing of weight between the axles. The tracking of the trailer was noticeable.