5th wheel hitch question
It has been a while since I've been here as I sold my TT then sold the truck I pulled it with. Well things changed lol. I now have a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500 Megacab 4X4 with the 6.7L Cummins. We are looki...
Forum Discussion
allimax wrote:
That 2000 lb. pin weight probably doesn't take into account anything added to the trailer. Remember any added weight in front of the axles goes onto the pin.
That's not exactly true. The percentage of the weight applied to the pin depends on how far from the wheels the load is placed. The axles are like the center of a see-saw. Weight placed closer to the wheels in front of them will put more weight on the wheels than the pin. It is a calculation.
Generally speaking, it is easier to calculate the pin weight based on the percentage of the dry weight and reported pin weight. For example, my trailer is 12,000 lbs dry. The reported pin weight is 2040 lbs. That is 17% of the weight. So if I load another 2,000 lbs on the trailer, 17% of that is 2,380. That isn't perfect, but it's a start. The best thing to do is weigh the truck and trailer. We weighed the truck separately (loaded) and got the weight on each axle. Next we weigh the truck and trailer together. The rear axle weight with the trailer is the sum of the truck weight and the pin weight of the trailer. Subtract the truck-alone rear axle weight from the combined rear axle weight and you have your real pin weight.
