otrfun wrote:
Lantley wrote:
The idea that you need to somehow balance the weight between the axles is a farce. You really want to maintain your original FA weight. You are not trying to equalize the weights between the axles.
A 5th wheel trailer is designed to place all the weight on the rear axle and little to no additional weight on the front axle.
A bumper pull wants to achieve a similar balance. The idea to to maintain the front axle weight.
A bumper pull trailer is attached to the truck behind the rear axle vs. above the rear axle on a 5'er.
The purpose of WDH is to keep the initial weight on the front axle. It is not to balance the weight between the axles.:h
Even a 1 ton SRW pick will benefit from a WDH. There is no way to attach 1500# 3' behind the rear axle and not remove weight from the front axle.:@ A trip to the CAT scales will easily prove this point.
With no weight distribution involved. The FA will weigh hundreds of lbs. less with the trailer attached vs. without the trailer.
Apply a WDH and you can restore the weight to the front axle.
The truck will always handle/steer better with the front axle at it original weight vs. being lighter than when it left the factory.
There is really no debate
To focus exclusively on maintaining front axle weight with no regard to rear axle weight makes absolutely no sense and is certainly open to debate, sorry. Do you have any objective, technical data to back up your claim that striving for a balanced front/rear weight distribution (balanced/proportional in terms of axle ratings) is harmful from a handling or safety perspective?
You are aware that front axle weight is lost (transferred to the rear axle) when a 5th wheel is hitched up---just like it is when a bumper-pull is hitched up, right? I don't see engineers in a panic to get that weight back on the front axle on a 5th wheel. I believe this fact alone makes your claim about keeping front axle weight static at all costs through use of a WDH, baseless.
Again, there are applications where a WDH is effective and there are applications where they are not. To say a WDH is always effective, regardless of application, is, well, nonsensical.
There is no weight transferred to the front axle in a 5th wheel combo. The idea is to carry the weight on the rear axle.
Transferring fiver weight to the front axle can easily overload the front axle. The center of the 5th wheel hitch is placed over or slightly behind the front axle to eliminate/minimize any weight transfer to the front axle.
You are missing the entire point . Engineers are not in a panic to restore weight to the front axle in a 5th wheel set up because the weight was never removed from the front axle.
The weight is place over/on the axle not 3' behind the axle as with a bumper pull. The 5'er does not create any leverage on the front axle as it does with a bumper pull.
