ramyankee wrote:
Trying this out on my truck and 5th Wheel. There are a couple of terms I need a little explanation on. For both units they are asking for Steer(front) axle and Drive (rear)axle. What are those? Are they found when I go to a scale? For the 5th Wheel they ask for Trailer axle weight. As it says, trailers axle weight. Weight of the loaded trailer minus pin weightWould that be another term for my "advertised" dry weight? A figmant of someones imagination. This number is calculated based on engineering calculations. Not really worth a hoot except for something to put in the brochure in an attempt to sell unsuspecting people more trailer than their tow vehicle can handle.
Thanks for any help on there terms.
Based on the little information you have provided, I assume you have a 2500HD? That being said, you need to load it up like your going camping and drive to the scales. To that number add 250 pounds for a hitch, 350 pounds if you need a slider hitch. Now, look on the drivers door post for the factory published GVWR 9200 for a 2500HD and 9900 for a 3500 SRW. Subtract your scaled weight from that number. That is how much weight you can add to the truck before you exceed the manufacturers numbers.
Back when I foolishly bought a Chevy 2500HD D/A it scaled ready to travel at 7500 pounds. Meaning I had about 1700 pounds of payload. I suspect your numbers will be similar.
To make a best guess estimate for what fifth wheel you can tow, use 20% of the fivers GVWR as pin weight. In reality a 10,000 GVWR fifth wheel will have a pin weight around 2000 pounds. Does this make sense now?
