If after loading up your Fifth Wheel the way you normally do to go camping you made a secure enough base using a 6X6 and some supports to keep things stable, chocked your wheels and put a 5000 pound sherline tongue weight scale on top of the 6X6 and then let your pin down on it slowly until the landing gear was just off the ground, would that give you an accurate Pin weight? I don't know if those scales are very accurate and I know most use them for learning the tongue weight on travel trailers and other utility trailers but I've never heard of anyone using one to get the Pin weight on their Fifth Wheel where it could be 3000 pounds or more. Your thoughts?

Supposedly they are fairly accurate. But with an analog dial display with marks every 125 lbs you can only estimate within that 125 lb gap what the actual number is. Unless they have a model with a digital display.

I just looked it up as I'd never heard of it before...Considering the 5000lb model specifically mentions it's for 5th wheels where the hitch weight is much higher...yeah, it should work for 5th wheels.The scale itself appears to be graduated in 100lb increments, so at best, you can measure to the nearest 100lb...which should be fine for most purposes.

Thanks everyone. Sherline actually sells one specifically for 5th wheels that you attach to your hitch but at $265 I'm looking for a cheaper solution. The regular sherline tongue weight scales aren't cheap either at $140 but that's a lot better than $265!. I'm also not sure about the accuracy when you take into account the suspension on the truck. It's like putting foam padding under a bathroom scale. I like having the rigid base which my idea would provide.

Why not drive to a truck stop and use a Cat scale for $10? Then go drop the trailer in the lot and weigh the truck for another $2.

Getting Pin Weight From Tongue Weight Scale | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

RobWNY
Explorer
Sep 05, 2020
Thanks everyone. Sherline actually sells one specifically for 5th wheels that you attach to your hitch but at $265 I'm looking for a cheaper solution. The regular sherline tongue weight scales aren't cheap either at $140 but that's a lot better than $265!. I'm also not sure about the accuracy when you take into account the suspension on the truck. It's like putting foam padding under a bathroom scale. I like having the rigid base which my idea would provide.
valhalla360
Navigator
Sep 05, 2020
I just looked it up as I'd never heard of it before...

Considering the 5000lb model specifically mentions it's for 5th wheels where the hitch weight is much higher...yeah, it should work for 5th wheels.

The scale itself appears to be graduated in 100lb increments, so at best, you can measure to the nearest 100lb...which should be fine for most purposes.
BB_TX
Nomad
Sep 05, 2020
Supposedly they are fairly accurate. But with an analog dial display with marks every 125 lbs you can only estimate within that 125 lb gap what the actual number is. Unless they have a model with a digital display.
jdc1
Explorer II
Sep 05, 2020
That sounds like a good idea.

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Getting Pin Weight From Tongue Weight Scale

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