Hitch pin location

valhalla360 wrote:
Reality is you have such a big truck compared to such a small trailer that you can likely get away with breaking some rules without major effect. That said:

I believe this to be true.

valhalla360 wrote:
- Something is clearly wrong if you only have 360lbs on the pin. The sticker calls for 500lbs empty.

Keep in mind, that is what the sticker says. I am very comfortable in saying there was absolutely nothing loaded in the trailed when I weighed it. The only exception is the Aluminum box in the rear and its hand full of contents.

valhalla360 wrote:
- If you are scaling at 5000lbs, that suggests around 2200lbs loaded in the trailer (a lot for such a small trailer). It could easily be that you've loaded too much stuff at the back of the trailer reducing pin weight. You should be looking at around 1000-1200lbs on the pin if the total weight is 5000lbs.

I had nothing loaded in the trailer, front or back. With the trailer weight of 5100 lb, that is in line with the spec sheet. It says Tandem Axle 2820. Times 2 axles is 5640. Fact is I am 540 lbs underweight.

valhalla360 wrote:
- Pin weight is supposed to be over the axle with a 5th wheel. A couple inches won't make a big difference but it's not like a bumper pull where you have to compensate for the tendency to take weight off the front axle by using a weight distributing hitch. The advantage of a 5th wheel being over the axle is it plants the axle and has negligible leverage if the trailer starts to sway (plus with 20-25% pin weight, there is little tendency to sway).

Generally speaking, that is my understanding.

valhalla360 wrote:
- You might get away with using the slider in the back position but without doing a detailed analysis, I would be hesitant to do so. There might be unexpected side effects (example: what happens during hard breaking, will the hitch give way and slide forward with a great deal of force?)

This is the questions/issues I am trying to answer. I am sure at some point, I will call one or more manufacture, but I thought maybe I could get a little insight from the forum. Maybe someone inadvertently towed with the slider back. I can see a simple fix to prevent the slider from going forward in a panic stop.