OK I just had my setup weighed today and my total weight was 26,620 lbs by Cat scales at truck stop, {motorhome and stacker trailer loaded, fuel tank full and full fresh water}Fleetwood listed GCWR/trailer at 25,500 but Ford list it at 26,000 lbs, but I have added air bags, frame extension was strengthen and larger hitch so I could tow more weight.My only issue I have is the drive axle weight was 14,460 lbs but the axle is listed as a 13,500 lbs, my front axle was 900 lbs under its max weight, my tires have been increased from F rated to G rated so I am very good as to tires but my rear axle has me concerned, could travel with less fresh water and only fill gas tank to 3/4 but don't like that, so I am planning on shifting heavy stuff forward and removing excess heavy stuff to lighten load and moving Jeep on trailer back 2 inches to make tonged lighter and this should bring the weights down some.But my real question is what is the long term issue with the drive axle being over weight, will this damage my axle or is 960 lbs over its weight for now no concern, planning to bring my axle weight down to 14,000 lbs by shifting things around.

Generally axles can take overload with no problem and you solved the biggest issue what is tires rating. Still sounds like you are on right track limiting the water carrying. With Jeep movement you might be limited with required tongue weight.Can you tow Jeep 4 down and boat on top of it?

Boat weighs about 650 lbs so no on top of Jeep, can remove some stuff on trailer and maybe replace decking with something lighter if need to, Ford list it Gross weight/trailer at 26,000 lbs so I am not to far off from Fords rate, Fleetwood down rated it to 25,500 why I don't know.My biggest concern is the weight on drive axle for now.

X2 - what is the tire rating? Exceeding that is not a good thing.

Tire max carry weight adds up to 19,000 lbs just the 4 in back, total all six is 28,400 lbs.And the trailer tires max carry weight adds up to 10,500 lbs.

I just realized CAT weight cert has the front axel at 6100 lbs and rear axle at 14460 lbs and that adds to 20,560 lbs.My GVWR is 20,500 lbs so I am only 60 lbs over weight as to the motorhome chassis.{But trailer axel was 6060 lbs,} just need to shift weights around on motorhome and lighten trailer some and should be OK, I hope..:h

Over Weight Axle, How Much Is To Much | Good Sam Community

Kayteg1
Explorer II
Sep 28, 2016
usersmanual wrote:
Kayteg1 wrote:
Weight distribution is delicate matter.
When 1000 lb taken off the hitch by WD bars will not do major thing on motorhome, the 1000 lb added to trailer axles can have more consequences.
I think dumping rear gray tank will make big difference, but I would also weight the corners.
With whole axle getting slight overload, one side might have it much higher than other.

what do u mean? that's the whole idea? get the weight off the overloaded rear MH axle and onto the trailer axles that are rated for such weight.I have towed a lot of trailers and the WD bar system is the only safe way to go and increases safety of any high speed sway

I towed quite a bit in my life - several TT and 18,000 lb equipment trailer for tens of thousands miles and never had a need for WD bars.
IMHO they are patch for poorly design set up.
What I meant in this sample is that when you have trailer already 7000 lb and 7000 axles, adding 1000 lb from WD can have bad consequences.
timmac
Explorer
Sep 28, 2016
carringb wrote:

As for the GCWR discrepancy.... Fleetwood didn't really do things by the book, and made all their GCWRs equal to GVWR + hitch rating. The Ford GCWR is accurate for your chassis.

Yea I don't know why Fleetwood lowered the GVWR/Trailer from 26000lbs down to 25500 lbs, they could have installed a 7500lb hitch.
timmac
Explorer
Sep 28, 2016
carringb wrote:
tderonne wrote:

Actually the S135 shares its design with the S150 axle. I've read the S150 has thicker metal in the housing, but the Ford part number for the axle housing was the same when I looked it up a while back. Only difference I could find between the 20,500 and 22,000 chassis relative to the rear axle was the springs.

But that was for my '04 that used an S135 axle. OP has an '08. Hadn't Ford switched to the S110/S130 by then?

I pulled up the '08 ford f53 specs and it was still the 135 or the 145 on the 22k chassis. The 24 and 26k chassis got the 170. Small chassis got the Dana 80.

But between the 135 and 145 I can't find any difference. Wall thickness, bearing sizes etc is all identical. I think the new Dana naming system came out in 2010?

I am also thinking the difference is also the springs and the tire size, I have added air bags to keep it level and up the tire rating so I am not so concerned now from reading the post on here but still going to work on moving more weight forward and maybe less water when I don't need to dry camp.
Dale_Traveling
Explorer II
Sep 27, 2016
Moving items forward will help, a lot. Had my coach checked a few weeks ago and found I was 140 lbs over on the rear axle but plenty of capacity remaining on the front. Moved a heavy two burner Camp Chef Grill and associated accessories from the very ear of the coach about 10' behind the rear axle to storage compartments directly behind the front axles. Dropping my potable water load from 50 gallons to 20 gallons also helped considering the tank is in the very back also. Added a couple of cases of bottles water up front to compensate for less in the tank. Lost 780 pounds off the rear and gained 260 pounds on the front.

Watch the loading and distribution of the trailer weight. Not exactly sure what the dynamics are but somehow its critical to stability of the trailer while going down the road.
carringb
Explorer
Sep 27, 2016
tderonne wrote:

Actually the S135 shares its design with the S150 axle. I've read the S150 has thicker metal in the housing, but the Ford part number for the axle housing was the same when I looked it up a while back. Only difference I could find between the 20,500 and 22,000 chassis relative to the rear axle was the springs.

But that was for my '04 that used an S135 axle. OP has an '08. Hadn't Ford switched to the S110/S130 by then?

I pulled up the '08 ford f53 specs and it was still the 135 or the 145 on the 22k chassis. The 24 and 26k chassis got the 170. Small chassis got the Dana 80.

But between the 135 and 145 I can't find any difference. Wall thickness, bearing sizes etc is all identical. I think the new Dana naming system came out in 2010?
Mile_High
Explorer
Sep 27, 2016
I'm thinking your only option is to sell me that stacker, jeep and boat! :B
tderonne
Explorer
Sep 27, 2016
carringb wrote:
Your rear axle is actually rated for 13,500 (aka Dana 135). Exceeding that may slightly accelerate wear. It will not fail catastrophically. Structurally, its identical to the Dana 145 (14,500) so the only real difference may in fact be a slightly higher price for the 145 to cover potential higher warranty costs. Axles housing, shafts, bearings etc all are the same size. So are brakes.

Actually the S135 shares its design with the S150 axle. I've read the S150 has thicker metal in the housing, but the Ford part number for the axle housing was the same when I looked it up a while back. Only difference I could find between the 20,500 and 22,000 chassis relative to the rear axle was the springs.

But that was for my '04 that used an S135 axle. OP has an '08. Hadn't Ford switched to the S110/S130 by then?
usersmanual
Explorer
Sep 27, 2016
Kayteg1 wrote:
Weight distribution is delicate matter.
When 1000 lb taken off the hitch by WD bars will not do major thing on motorhome, the 1000 lb added to trailer axles can have more consequences.
I think dumping rear gray tank will make big difference, but I would also weight the corners.
With whole axle getting slight overload, one side might have it much higher than other.

what do u mean? that's the whole idea? get the weight off the overloaded rear MH axle and onto the trailer axles that are rated for such weight.I have towed a lot of trailers and the WD bar system is the only safe way to go and increases safety of any high speed sway
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Sep 27, 2016
Weight distribution is delicate matter.
When 1000 lb taken off the hitch by WD bars will not do major thing on motorhome, the 1000 lb added to trailer axles can have more consequences.
I think dumping rear gray tank will make big difference, but I would also weight the corners.
With whole axle getting slight overload, one side might have it much higher than other.
usersmanual
Explorer
Sep 27, 2016
A weight distribution hitch on the tailer will help.

those are a good idea but would find it hard to believe hes towing such a load without one as we speak

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