Data From Scales / Help Needed

PineForestCamper · 05-14-2013, 01:04 PM

I took the camper out for the very first time this past weekend with the grand finale being a stop at the scales. I weighed the TV back in January right after purchase. I could really use some help with this data. I am trying to find the following information:

1. Tongue Weight
2. What Is The Actual Weight I Should Use For Determining my GVWR of the HTT
2. Other Relevant Information That I Should Know
3. Suggestions

I now realize that I should have had my TV fully loaded in one of my weighs as it would have helped determine how my axle weight is doing. Sounds like another trip I’ll have to do that. We also were dispersed camping and did our local state forest some good by hauling out a bunch of garbage. Four large bags of garbage and refuse that weighed around 100 lbs and that shows up in the scales. We had the bags over the axles when we weighed and originally had them near the front of the camper but it affected the tow in a way I didn’t like (chugging fwd and back action). Once we adjusted that garbage the two dramatically improved.

TV:
GVWR: 8600
GAWR: FRONT 4100
REAR 5360
GCWR: 14,000
TOWING CAPACITY: 8300

HTT:
GVWR: 5964

#1 TOW VEHICLE
(No Passengers. No Cargo. Full Tank of Gas)
SCALES:
FRONT 3460
REAR 3380
TOTAL: 6840

#2 TOW VEHICLE & HTT (WITH WDH)
TV (No Passengers. No Cargo. Half Tank of Gas)
HTT (Full Load of Cargo. 43 Gallons Water (Including 6 Gallons Hot Water Heater)
SCALES:
FRONT 3400
REAR 4040
HTT 5380
TOTAL 12,820

#3 TOW VEHICLE & HTT (W/O WDH)
TV (No Passengers. No Cargo. Half Tank of Gas)
HTT (Full Load of Cargo. 43 Gallons Water (Including 6 Gallons Hot Water Heater)
SCALES:
FRONT 3000
REAR 4660
HTT 5160
TOTAL 12,820

#4 HTT
HTT (Tonge on One Scale and Axles on Second)
SCALES:
TONGUE: 920
AXLES: 4980
TOTAL: 5900

shineysideup · 05-14-2013, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarMovies

I took the camper out for the very first time this past weekend with the grand finale being a stop at the scales. I weighed the TV back in January right after purchase. I could really use some help with this data. I am trying to find the following information:

1. Tongue Weight
2. What Is The Actual Weight I Should Use For Determining my GVWR of the HTT
2. Other Relevant Information That I Should Know
3. Suggestions

I now realize that I should have had my TV fully loaded in one of my weighs as it would have helped determine how my axle weight is doing. Sounds like another trip I’ll have to do that. We also were dispersed camping and did our local state forest some good by hauling out a bunch of garbage. Four large bags of garbage and refuse that weighed around 100 lbs and that shows up in the scales. We had the bags over the axles when we weighed and originally had them near the front of the camper but it affected the tow in a way I didn’t like (chugging fwd and back action). Once we adjusted that garbage the two dramatically improved.

TV:
GVWR: 8600
GAWR: FRONT 4100
REAR 5360
GCWR: 14,000
TOWING CAPACITY: 8300

HTT:
GVWR: 5964

#1 TOW VEHICLE
(No Passengers. No Cargo. Full Tank of Gas)
SCALES:
FRONT 3460
REAR 3380
TOTAL: 6840

#2 TOW VEHICLE & HTT (WITH WDH)
TV (No Passengers. No Cargo. Half Tank of Gas)
HTT (Full Load of Cargo. 43 Gallons Water (Including 6 Gallons Hot Water Heater)
SCALES:
FRONT 3400
REAR 4040
HTT 5380
TOTAL 12,820

#3 TOW VEHICLE & HTT (W/O WDH)
TV (No Passengers. No Cargo. Half Tank of Gas)
HTT (Full Load of Cargo. 43 Gallons Water (Including 6 Gallons Hot Water Heater)
SCALES:
FRONT 3000
REAR 4660
HTT 5160
TOTAL 12,820

#4 HTT
HTT (Tonge on One Scale and Axles on Second)
SCALES:
TONGUE: 920
AXLES: 4980
TOTAL: 5900

Great job at the scales. You are several steps ahead of most people.

I would load that trailer and van up (including the family, pets etc.) the way you would to go camping and check at the scales one more time.

Is your trailer level when you are sitting on flat ground?

How does the steering feel?

Do you have some pics of your setup?

I'm sure many will have opinions on your numbers...

cheers,

MtnGuy · 05-14-2013, 01:54 PM

1. Your tongue weight is 820 lbs. (Van 7660 lbs. with trailer and without spring bars, minus. 6840 lbs. of truck solo).

2. Looks like the 5900 lbs. of the trailer is close to your GVWR of 5964 lbs.

It looks like you are getting good weight distributing with that setup

Great job in getting your weights !!

When getting weights, is usually better to be ready for camping, but you have a good baseline. When doing a set of weights, always have passengers and cargo at in the same position every time across the scales.

MtnGuy · 05-14-2013, 02:08 PM

Something ain't perexactly right with those tickets. The trailer weighs in at 5900 lbs., and the van at 6840 lbs. equaling 12,740 lbs. The combined weight ticket is 12, 820 lbs. Where were the spring bars during each weight ??

Also, the individual tongue weight of the trailer on the scales, differs from the calculated weight by 100 lbs.

jeeplj8 · 05-14-2013, 02:38 PM

The problem is the weight of the TV only was several months prior. any number of things could be in the TV when run across the scales later hence the difference in weight.

With a total weight of 5900 pounds, your tongue weight on the HTT is a little high. I am not sure how the 100 pounds of garbage would affect that.

The great news is you have basically the same weight on your steer axle as empty. that is perfect.

OldCoot · 05-14-2013, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeeplj8

The problem is the weight of the TV only was several months prior. any number of things could be in the TV when run across the scales later hence the difference in weight.

With a total weight of 5900 pounds, your tongue weight on the HTT is a little high. I am not sure how the 100 pounds of garbage would affect that.

The great news is you have basically the same weight on your steer axle as empty. that is perfect.

Would think if the wdh is doing it's thing, the front axle should be a little heavier than when empty otherwise the load is all on the rear axle. Just my thoughts. I always measured the wheel openings without air in the airbags, the front and back always was less loaded (wdh engaged) than empty. Front about 1/4"-3/8" lower and rear about 3/8"-1/2" with wdh engaged. Would pump airbags enough to get rear back to normal and front would stay @ 1/4" to 3/8". Might not have been right, but for a tt, they all towed just fine.

BTW, the front measurements are close to the same with the 5er with the rear dropping about 1"-1-1/2" which I get back with the airbags in the rear and the front remains 1/4"-3/8" lower.

PineForestCamper · 05-14-2013, 03:19 PM

Here we go….
I made a couple mistakes that are throwing the numbers off. I should have weighed the TV by itself on Sunday along with the other weighs.

1. I am using a weight for the TV from when I first purchased the vehicle.
2. When did the weight w/o the bars I set the bars next to the scale.

I need to probably do this all over again because that tongue weight seems awfully high to me. Oh well. It was a busy day Sunday and I got in as many weighs as possible. The co-pilot wanted to get home asap and it was after all mothers day and it was turning into a time consuming ordeal and to be honest if I would have asked for one more weigh (TV Solo) there might have been a mutiny. As far as passengers we will have different amounts of passengers depending on what trip we are taking. So that is going to be hard to get a consistent number. Anyhow…this probably gave me some insight into my situation but I made some errors which will throw off the numbers and the biggest being I needed a weight of the TV that day solo. Am I right?

MtnGuy · 05-14-2013, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeeplj8

The problem is the weight of the TV only was several months prior. any number of things could be in the TV when run across the scales later hence the difference in weight.

Ah, I didn't notice the date difference, which makes a big difference. If the weights are not done all with the same load at the same time, then much is speculation, including whether the WDH is setup properly.

PineForestCamper · 05-14-2013, 03:25 PM

One more thought...
About a month ago I was having trouble getting the WDH setup properly. I was in contact with Blue Ox customer support and they told me to higher the ball two notches and add more chains as they wanted to see more bend in those bars. At the time I did measurements before and after setting up the WDH. They said that all looked fine but then those were numbers with an empty TV and empty HTT as I hadnt even loaded it up yet. I am learning that getting a good setup takes lots of time finding that sweet spot. Also, if my cargo is different on different trips as well as passengers in the TV that is going to throw things off. Lots to think about. I am all new to this WDH thing as I just moved up from a popup. The good news is that it towed fantastic. I was less than an hour from home but wanted to get some miles under the belt before I do a five hour trip on Memorial Day weekend. Any input is extremely welcome and helpful. Thank you.

**Herk7769** · 05-16-2013, 09:42 AM

There are several files in the Library (Towing area) on how to read weight tickets and how to weigh your campers.

Click on "Library" on the green menu bar and select the towing area.

PineForestCamper · 05-16-2013, 01:11 PM

Good post Herk. I read thru the file you posted today and have determined (hopefully correctly) that I did indeed need to have done only three weighs but didnt need to have the HTT only on the scales. That was unnecessary and if I would have had the TV only on the scales I would have gotten all the info I needed. I do think that what I did was still informational. It was interesting to see just how fast that weight adds up when you load up cargo.

I am heading out of town Memorial Weekend for a 5 hour drive and am going to try to get all loaded up and to the scales before we leave town. Have a redo at the scales.

**Herk7769** · 05-16-2013, 01:39 PM

OK, to keep the peace with the family, you could buy some sack lawn fertilizer in approximately the same weight as the family. DO NOT tell them why you are buying so much lawn fertilizer!

Stack a few sacks where each person will sit and spend as much time getting your weights as you need.

I typically weigh on a Wednesday if I plan to leave on a long trip on Friday. (but then again, I am retired and can go when I want). if the scales are busy (almost never at my CAT scale) I will bring a book and wait in the yard till I can do all my weighs without getting in the way of the "Working men and women".

OldCoot · 05-16-2013, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herk7769

...I typically weigh on a Wednesday if I plan to leave on a long trip on Friday...

Do you weigh before every trip with all your checklists as to where everything goes? What would change and what would the corrective action be?

**Herk7769** · 05-16-2013, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Do you weigh before every trip with all your checklists as to where everything goes? What would change and what would the corrective action be?

I have a set of "weekend" tickets; a set of "week tickets" and a set of "LONG trip" (months) tickets.

I only reweigh when there has been significant changes to my load outs or new mods that alter the unloaded weight of the camper.

There have been changes as I am continually amending my checklists. New ones coming out (again) before the Goshen Rally (the start of a two month road trip to San Diego) and a reweigh is in my future for all three sets

Mostly the differences are in how much homemade wine and Limoncello I have on board. Several cases of wine does add a significant amount of weight and on long trips I am right at the max for truck AND camper payload.

While it is true that "less than max" is safe, I like to know where I stand for the three scenarios.

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