Another WDH Question

I've always went by, Load it the way you are going camping and adjust the WDH to meet your situation. If you measure your truck (either with fender height or at the scales), what is acceptable drop in the rear and what do you want returned to your front axle? Perhaps half of the ATV weight is behind the truck axle and most of it is very close or in front of the truck rear axle. Pay attention to how much weight or fender height you return to front of truck..

My dad had ATV in back of his truck on his last setup (has toyhauler now) and he set WDH up so it was the fender height he wanted with his ATV loaded.

Your choice, likely not going to make large difference.. but on 1500, it may.

Sorry for the delay in my response. I went ahead and set up the hitch with the FW tank full and without the ATV in the bed.

My truck is a 1500, I have been to the scales and am under on my payload rating, but just barely. Thats with the ATV in the bed and the trailer hooked up. Fortunately I have 1000 lbs of cargo carrying capacity in the camper so I can carry everything in it except for me, my two little dogs and the ATV.

Thanks to everyone for the replies it is much appreciated.

HMM! Water weighs 8.8 lb/Gal take that and measure where the tank is, and figure the moment. It is actually easy and there is a formula for it. Same for the ATV. If you put a 1000 lb ATV over the rear axle, almost none of the wt is going to be on the front axle.

Hi,

While filling the fresh water tank is important (but not critical) to loading up the trailer to set up the WD system, loading the truck is not important at all. The angle of your truck bumper will not change at all with ATV in or out.

Depending on what type of Silverado you have - 2500 or 3500, then the WD bars will not need to be all that tight. 1500 and you need them pretty tight to apply some weight to the front axle.

If you have a 1500 series truck, you probably should take it to a scale. 2500 and you probably have over 2,000 pounds of cargo rating, and are not so likely to exceed your rating. With a dually 3500 series, then the scale will tell you how much you can still load up the truck before it becomes overloaded, more a FYI than any needed item.

I would not take the ATV when going to the scale. If you are 'close' you can add all those extra weights in later. You don't want to take all that extra weight until you know that you are at least 'safe'. IF you have a 3500 truck, then you will find out that your rear axle is only 4,500 pounds and you still can load 2,400 pounds and not exceed the tire rating, the ATV weight will not effect driveability or safety. If you have a 1500, then tanking the ATV might mean you are overloaded and you will have no idea by how much. . .

Fred.

While some instructions want the TV as heavy as it will be I would not setup a WDH for heavy cargo items as the tension on the WDH will be extremely high.

I vary from no cargo weight to over 2K lbs of cargo and using the WDH for cargo would probably damage the WDH system.

It's fine if you don't load much in the bed but leave the ATV out.

Why edit a quote to include part of the signature??

Sorry but WDH is for tongue weight and not truck cargo.

Set it up with the trailer loaded for camping and don't worry about the ATV, as you don't want that force back on the trailer.

A lot of the water weight depends on the location of the tanks, but I don't worry about the weight difference. Set the WDH up for a full TT.

If you find you have more sag than you like with the ATV loaded I would look into a set of airbags. Use the airbags for cargo weight and WDH for tongue weight. Each has a different job/purpose.


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-John

A correctly adjusted WDH is set up with both the trailer and truck ready for camping. If that includes a motorcycle or ATV, then include it in the hitch set-up.

Sorry but WDH is for tongue weight and not truck cargo.

Set it up with the trailer loaded for camping and don't worry about the ATV, as you don't want that force back on the trailer.

A lot of the water weight depends on the location of the tanks, but I don't worry about the weight difference. Set the WDH up for a full TT.

If you find you have more sag than you like with the ATV loaded I would look into a set of airbags. Use the airbags for cargo weight and WDH for tongue weight. Each has a different job/purpose.

you should figure out how to set the WD with and without the atv in your truck. It may effect how the bars are set.

And absolutely water in your tank will effect it too. depending on if your tanks are behind or in front of the trailer axel. 30 gal @ 8 lbs/gal. equals 240 lbs. which in turn effects how you should load your trailer to get enough tongue weight.

X 2. This advice is 'right on'.

you should figure out how to set the WD with and without the atv in your truck. It may effect how the bars are set.

And absolutely water in your tank will effect it too. depending on if your tanks are behind or in front of the trailer axel. 30 gal @ 8 lbs/gal. equals 240 lbs. which in turn effects how you should load your trailer to get enough tongue weight.