Need advice on toy hauler swaying on freeway

09KZMXT266 wrote:

BarneyS wrote:

09KZMXT266 wrote:

carringb wrote:

09KZMXT266 wrote:


Okay, now you're scaring the heck out of me. :) Guess I still have a lot to learn. I would have thought that if the truck by itself weighed 5000 lbs without a trailer and 5500 lbs with one, the TW would be 500 lbs. 5500-5000=500?

True, if you have the trailer sitting on a regular ole hitch ball. Not the case with weight distribution, since the trailer axles have to react the same moment which picks up the back of the truck and put weight on the front axle.

So, assuming it was a WD Hitch, would the TW be more or less than 500 lbs.?

It would be less. It would be around 400lbs if you weighed it with the WD hitched up. The extra 100lbs would be found on the trailer axles because the chains on the WD hitch are pulling down on the trailer A frame at the same time they are pulling up on the bars.
Barney

Thanks, I would agree which is why I'm finding it hard to understand the one poster saying my TW is 1000lbs.

I'm reading all the sticky's on WD Hitches, etc. It's a lot to digest. Actually, I find myself getting even more confused.:)

If you are connected without a WD hitch and you weigh your truck with the trailer and then later without the trailer and the truck weighs 500 lbs more with the trailer hooked up, it is simple your tongue weight is 500 lbs. If you took the same truck/trailer back to the scales with the WD hooked up, you'd see the truck axles change as well as the trailer axles change. The total weight would stay the same of both truck and trailer.

Front axle of truck would get heavier than without the WD hooked up.
The rear axle would get lighter than without the WD hooked up.
The trailer axle would get heavier than without the WD hooked up.

The WD bars bend the truck and trailer connection and try to reduce the sag by straightening it up with 2 levers. This reduces the weight on the rear axle by moving it to the trailer and front axles of the truck. Because some of the tongue weight ends up on the trailer axle, the total weight of the truck axles will be lower than without WD hooked up. So the 500 lbs on the truck might reduce to 400 lbs for instance once the WD is hooked up.

For your truck, the 800 extra lbs on your truck with the WD hooked up would be closer to 1000 lbs if you did not have the WD hooked up.

I think you will eventually get this figured out. You've already got the first weigh done with just your new truck. Later you'll get the weights with the trailer hooked on. If I were you I'd just pull off the scale to the truck lot, remove the WD bars, and then drive around to the scale again to get the weights with them off. Then when done getting that weight, you can go back to the lot and put them back on for the ride home. This will minimize driving around with your receiver over loaded. It won't matter just while you're at the scales and the lot there.

The hitch equipment can weight quite a bit and many consider that to be part of the tongue weight, which makes sense to me. When you use your scale for the tongue, put the hitch equipment on the trailer tongue to weight it as well. Do it with and without so you have all the information. Make sure you do it on a level spot as well.