Approval or Disapproval of setup

tragusa3 wrote:
First pass, the entire rig = 12,180
Pulled truck off the scale completely, and trailer axles were 5,080

Second pass, truck alone, including 36g fuel and me (300) without hitch = 6,320

The weight of the WDH (about 80#) should be included as part of the TV's load.
The "truck alone" weight would be about 6400#

12,180 - 5080 = 7,100 truck and tongue weight (7700gvw). Subtract the 6,320 of truck alone, and we get 780 of tongue.

Was the first pass made with the WD bars tensioned?
If so, the WDH would have transferred some load to the TT's axles -- leaving a load equal to about 80% of TW to be carried by the TV.
With the WDH included as part of the TV load, the amount of load added to the TV, when hitched with WD applied, would be 7100-6400 = 700#.
The indicated tongue weight would be about 700/80% = 875#

Take the tongue of 780 add it to the 5080 of the trailer axles and you get 5,860 for the trailer unhooked with WDH.

The total loaded weight of the TT (which does not include the WDH) would be 12180-6400 = 5780# -- (not much TT cargo given the "dry" weight of 5300#).
The indicated TW% is about 875/5780 = 15%.

I'm left with 600 pounds of payload. Add the following:

150 child
150 child
180 wife
75 dog
-------
555 total

Leaves 45 pounds. Incidentals in the truck cab with us will eat that up.

The trailer is about half loaded for trips, so tongue weight will go up some. I also want to put large but light items in the truck bed (maybe 100 pounds total).

With WDH, occupants,other cargo, and load added by TT, the TV's GVW would be about 6320+80+555+100+700 = 7755#.
Depending on where additional TT cargo is placed, you can assume that a load equal to approximately 10% of the additional TT cargo weight will be added to the TV.

Yes, you're likely to be over the TV's GVWR by a few hundred pounds.

Ron