Where to put the weight?

Time to head to the scales!

"piled up front of the trailer has already offset that weight"
Are you talking about in cargo area or up in the bedroom? I would think that to offset the weight, you are going to need more weight, or have the weight at the same distance from the axles. Try measuring from the axles to cargo area and then to scooter. I am thinking that the weight in the rear has more leverage, changing your pin weight ratio.

Either put the trailer spare in the basement, or get a frame mount for it and place it under the basement.

I understand the concern for the scooter weight in the back. Scooter, hitch, and carrier come in at a total of 350 lbs. What I have piled up front of the trailer has already offset that weight. So I am starting with a balanced trailer and a empty truck box. Except for 5 gal of fuel and trailer spare in the truck box

I was wondering if there was any advantage to be gained in ride, by where I placed the rest of the cargo.

From what I gather, any advantage to be gained is in pin weight. I will be within all vehicle weight limits, as we travel what I consider light, except for the scooter. Thanks again for the help.

We have towed boats with both our FWs for the last 20 years and find that, when the boats are on the FW, there is considerably less pin weight so we somewhat try to balance that out by loading up the storage compartment in the front of the FW. Also, we have all our clothes in the front bedrooms and fully loaded pantry and fridge. We have not been carrying a lot of water so I couldn't tell you if that makes a difference. Haven't noticed any untoward chucking on our set-up.

msredneck84 wrote:

Bowti wrote:
Thanks for the replies, it looks like, the pin will get the majority of what little weight I will be adding. I will need to pay attention to just how much, so I can make sure I offset the scooter and carrier weight I have hanging on the back. About the only thing I will have in the truck will be a full 5 gal fuel can and trailer spare tire.

This is a real potential problem. You are carrying a scooter and carrier on the very furthermost rear point of your coach. Think of the leverage effect. A little bit of weight becomes a lot of weight exponentially.

X2
How big is the scooter? even a couple hundred pounds will have a real negative affect on any chucking issue.

Bowti wrote:
Thanks for the replies, it looks like, the pin will get the majority of what little weight I will be adding. I will need to pay attention to just how much, so I can make sure I offset the scooter and carrier weight I have hanging on the back. About the only thing I will have in the truck will be a full 5 gal fuel can and trailer spare tire.

This is a real potential problem. You are carrying a scooter and carrier on the very furthermost rear point of your coach. Think of the leverage effect. A little bit of weight becomes a lot of weight exponentially.

Thanks for the replies, it looks like, the pin will get the majority of what little weight I will be adding. I will need to pay attention to just how much, so I can make sure I offset the scooter and carrier weight I have hanging on the back. About the only thing I will have in the truck will be a full 5 gal fuel can and trailer spare tire.

Bowti, Yes it does make a difference, more pin less chucking, the weight of items in the bed don't help the balance of the 5er. What are you loading into the bed of the truck. We carry all our supplies in the 5er, and they stay there between trips, the basement and front compartment are close to full. I have a 11,000# and try to keep the pin at just over 2,000#.
I do carry the pin tripod and the roll up fence in the tool box in the bed, but that is about it.

The dry pin is about 19.6%, you should try to fill the basement to increase the pin percentage. Does the 5er have shocks, installing them on my 5er helped a lot.

Allworth wrote:
Load it up and then Google "CAT Scales".

Take it to the nearest one and the operator will show you how to set up to get a useful set of weights.

This.

Here are instructions for getting weighed:
http://www.learntorv.com/2013/05/how-to-weigh-fifth-wheel-camper.html

And here is a utility for taking your actual weights from a CAT Scale and getting usable numbers out of them:
http://www.towingplanner.com/ActualWeights/FifthWheelCatScales