Cat Scale front Axle is #360 more than rear axle this ok?

Grit dog wrote:
And forget most of this thread, leave the wdh at home if your tongue weight is really that low.

The tongue weight is >500lbs. He's got the WD hitch cranked down so tight that he's transferring ALL the tongue weight off the rear axle, on to the front axle, AND THE *TRAILER*.

If 340lbs is being transferred to the front axle, there's another 200lbs or more being transferred to the trailer axles.

500lbs is the limit of most 1/2 ton pickup receivers before a WD hitch is required. Realistically, probably nothing bad will happen if he just gets rid of the WD hitch, but why take a chance on "probably" if he already has the hitch? Just adjust it right and hit the road.

One risk of leaving it as-is is bending the tongue on the trailer.

bid_time wrote:

CaLBaR wrote:

kc8suj wrote:
Here are the dry weights of truck from GMC
Curb Weight - Front 3176 lbs
Curb Weight - Rear 2098 lbs
A difference of 1,078 lbs

so I am more evenly distributed with the trailer attached. than with out. Hum?

Based on these numbers and your hooked up number your WDH is too tight. Check GM's instructions for WDH setup. After connecting you should not have anymore weight on the front than you did prior to connecting. Need to loosen up the WDH hitch a bit.

What numbers you looking at? He has 300 lbs less, which is less than 10%, everything is fine like it is.

Loaded up in the OPs first post he has nearly 3500 lbs on the front axle and unloaded he is at nearly 3200 lbs. In my book that means his front axle with the trailer hooked up has 300 lbs more weight. He is transferring too much weight to the front and needs to loosen up the WDH. You should never add more weight to the front axle with the trailer hooked up than dry. A little less is fine but never more.

And forget most of this thread, leave the wdh at home if your tongue weight is really that low.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I am just going to measure fender and before loading and after then adjust from there and forget axle differences as long as I am in tolerances. Thanks again..!

wnjj wrote:

bid_time wrote:

CaLBaR wrote:

kc8suj wrote:
Here are the dry weights of truck from GMC
Curb Weight - Front 3176 lbs
Curb Weight - Rear 2098 lbs
A difference of 1,078 lbs

so I am more evenly distributed with the trailer attached. than with out. Hum?

Based on these numbers and your hooked up number your WDH is too tight. Check GM's instructions for WDH setup. After connecting you should not have anymore weight on the front than you did prior to connecting. Need to loosen up the WDH hitch a bit.

What numbers you looking at? He has 300 lbs less, which is less than 10%, everything is fine like it is.

The front axle is 300 lbs more with the trailer than without. That is restoring more weight than was lost.

Yup - you're right. I guess time for remedial reading comprehension for me.

schlep1967 wrote:
There is no where in that manual that they weigh the truck. Everything is based on measurements. You are adding weight to the back of the truck and then using a fulcrum to even out the weight. The only way that is going to happen is to transfer weight to the front.
OP. Look at the linked manual and follow the instructions to measure for the proper adjustment. Once you do that, ignore the weight changes. They just don't matter unless you are going over your axle ratings.

I think you'll find that the height of the fender correlates to the weight on the axle. That's what springs do. So if you return the fender to somewhere between where it was when unhitched and where it was when hitched but without weight distribution, the weight on the front axle will be something less than what it was when unhitched.

The instructions don't use weight because people don't have truck scales at home where they are setting up their hitch.

Either way, I can agree that reading the manual is good advice.

wnjj wrote:

The weight is supposed to be RE-distributed to the front, as in the weight that was lost when the trailer was attached to the ball behind the rear axle. It is not supposed to add more weight than was originally carried by the front when uncoupled. It’s even ok to not restore all of the lost weight. Refer to the middle of page 20 on Equalizer’s own instructions here: https://www.equalizerhitch.com/documents/manuals/EQ-Owners-Manual_2016-06.pdf

Trucks are designed to carry their cargo (tongue weight) entirely on the rear axle with no issue.

There is no where in that manual that they weigh the truck. Everything is based on measurements. You are adding weight to the back of the truck and then using a fulcrum to even out the weight. The only way that is going to happen is to transfer weight to the front.
OP. Look at the linked manual and follow the instructions to measure for the proper adjustment. Once you do that, ignore the weight changes. They just don't matter unless you are going over your axle ratings.

kc8suj wrote:
Here are the dry weights of truck from GMC
Curb Weight - Front 3176 lbs
Curb Weight - Rear 2098 lbs
A difference of 1,078 lbs

so I am more evenly distributed with the trailer attached. than with out. Hum?

Looks like a difference of about 300lbs and the rear stayed the same.
You do not want or need a wdh with a trailer this size, period. No matter what the RV dealer and the 20 posts arguing bout how to adjust for a couple hundred lbs on a full size truck tell you.

Put some weight on the back of the truck and drive away.
It's a capable truck and a little trailer. Go camping and leave the wdh home.
One minor observation is the 300+ lb total weight difference on the truck hooked vs bobtail seems light for tongue weight. Heck the wdh is what 100lbs of that weight?
Seems like you actually need more weight on the tongue if your numbers are right. Need a couple propane bottles and battery on the trailer tongue or something.

schlep1967 wrote:

It is a weight distributing hitch. If the weight is not being distributed to the front axle, where is it going? He removed 300 lbs from the rear of the truck and put it on the front.
Unloaded the rear is carrying approximately 66% as much weight as the front. After attaching the trailer the rear is carrying approximately 90% as much as the front end. Technically when looking at front to rear ratio's as a total system, the front got lighter.

The weight is supposed to be RE-distributed to the front, as in the weight that was lost when the trailer was attached to the ball behind the rear axle. It is not supposed to add more weight than was originally carried by the front when uncoupled. It’s even ok to not restore all of the lost weight. Refer to the middle of page 20 on Equalizer’s own instructions here: https://www.equalizerhitch.com/documents/manuals/EQ-Owners-Manual_2016-06.pdf

Trucks are designed to carry their cargo (tongue weight) entirely on the rear axle with no issue.

kc8suj wrote:
Here are the dry weights of truck from GMC
Curb Weight - Front 3176 lbs
Curb Weight - Rear 2098 lbs
A difference of 1,078 lbs

so I am more evenly distributed with the trailer attached. than with out. Hum?

You need scaled weights of your truck, not web site/brochure weights. Your two sets of weight would suggest you have over 1500 pounds of TW on a 6000 pound trailer. I don't believe that.

There is no requirement for amount of front axle weight vs. rear weight when towing a TT, at least with respect to your measurements of front weighing 360 pounds more than rear. Unloaded I expect your front axle to weight more than rear for a pickup. Read this primer on WDH adjustment.


You should take 3 passes on on the scales.
Truck alone
Truck with trailer without WD bars
Truck with trailer with WD bars.