Is this incorrect thinking??

[Silvertwinkie]

Here are some thoughts on weights and such. Please comment on how warped my thinking may be.....

On the standard Safari SS:
6300 GVWR (of which, 750lbs is riding on the hitch).....or is it.......

5270 Base weight w/o options

1030 is the total left

Now subtract
60lbs for LP gas
374 lbs for water 45gallons (including Hot water heater) @8.3lbs/gal

I came up with 596lbs left over, which matches the spec sheets and the general thoughts of all that know how to add and subtract (I'm not one of those...I flunked Algebra 2x).

Here is where I still get mixed up....

If you use weight bars, that should distribute the 750 hitch weight between the coach and the tow vehicle. Some say it distributes it between the three load areas, front and rear of tow vehicle....and the coach as a whole. That makes 3 areas, but for this let's just say 2. That puts 375 lbs back on the axles on the coach and 375 on the tow vehicle...then the total weight left goes down to 221 lbs??? Even if it does go to 3 places, that still puts 250 on the coach axles, thereby putting the total "extra" usable weight up to 346lbs and not the 596 you think you have..... See when you add the weight bars, you are not placing the full 750 on the tow vehicle as anticipated using the standard calculations that everyone uses....am I wrong?

Now throw into the mix that the axle "system" on that coach is rated for 6000lbs.....and you can see where the weight distribution is really messing with my poor math.....

Comments, thoughts, suggestions (besides taking basic math a few more times).

Eric

[RoadKingMoe]

I believe the 750 lbs is the dry hitch weight. How you load the trailer will determine how much the tongue weight winds up, and what proportion of the trailer's total weight (tongue + axles) it is.

When you drop the tongue weight, whatever portion of the total trailer weight it may be, on the ball of the hitch, it is added to the rear axle of the tow vehicle. It also leverages weight off the front axle of the tow vehicle onto the rear axle.

When you tighten the spring bars, you're primarily moving the weight that was leveraged off the front axle back onto it. In the process, you're also moving some of that tongue weight back onto the trailer axles, and if you tighten far enough, some of that tongue weight onto the tow vehicle front axle.

HOWEVER, that tongue weight was part of the total weight of the trailer in the first place, so you are not losing any of your 596 lbs of cargo weight by moving weight from the tongue to the trailer axles. The total weight remains the same.

The only thing you need to be careful of is to not exceed the axle ratings of the tow vehicle or the trailer, and to ensure that the trailer axle weight, plus the additional weight put on the tow vehicle, doesn't exceed 6300 lbs.

[Pahaska]

As long as the total trailer weight is not over 6300# and the load carried by the axles (including transferred weight) is not over 6000#, you are within the allowable specs. The weight transferred back does not affect the carrying capacity.

The weight transferred back to the trailer axles is a by-product of equalizing the load on the front and rear axles of the tow vehicle. Depending on the particular tow vehicle, various amounts of weight may be transferred back to the trailer axles, but it wouldn't likely exceed 300#.

[wingfoot321]

Eric,

I come at it from a slightly different thought process.


Base Wt 4520 (-750)............ Truck 5200 (nominal)
Tongue 300 ...................... Tongue 450
Propane 30 ...................... Propane 30
Water 374
Subtotal 5224...................... Subtotal 5680

Other 1076

Total 6300


This is a little quick. Thinking may be flawed. I intend to weight mine very soon to see where my rig is in parts and total.