Buying F350 with an eye towards the future
With my max tow F150 the previous owner had installed air bags to help level the hitch/trailer. If I put 10-15% of my 7000 lb. trailer weight on the WDH will I still need air bags to raise the hitch ...
Forum Discussion
From my experience, the RA capacity decides how much wt is taken off the FA. My Navistar with a 16500 RA, takes all of 100 lbs off the FA with my 12K equipment trailer hooked up. THe SW 3500 crew cab had 300-350 off the FA with stock 6400 lb springs, Increased them to 8400, same amount taken off the FA as my dually with 8500 lb springs, in the low 200 lb range.
I found that it took around 500 lbs off the FA of my CC diesels before I really noticed steerage issues. I would get there sooner with my shorter WB rigs, even if the spring capacity was the same. My reg cab c2500 with 6000 lb springs can handle the ET, but the head lights are pointing to the sky. Fortuneteller I do not have the ability to put a WD on this trailer, you would notice the difference in handling if I could.
Another factor of the 8 lug rigs, the rear sits higher from the get go vs a 15 series. SO it takes some weight to get the truck bed level, to rear end down to make it so you are pulling more wt off the FA vs initially. It is not a simple 10 lbs per 100 lbs of HW off the FA, its more like 5 lbs for first 100, 10 for for next 100, 15 for the 3rd 100 . The more you put on the rear, the higher the % of FA gets taken off.
Marty
I found that it took around 500 lbs off the FA of my CC diesels before I really noticed steerage issues. I would get there sooner with my shorter WB rigs, even if the spring capacity was the same. My reg cab c2500 with 6000 lb springs can handle the ET, but the head lights are pointing to the sky. Fortuneteller I do not have the ability to put a WD on this trailer, you would notice the difference in handling if I could.
Another factor of the 8 lug rigs, the rear sits higher from the get go vs a 15 series. SO it takes some weight to get the truck bed level, to rear end down to make it so you are pulling more wt off the FA vs initially. It is not a simple 10 lbs per 100 lbs of HW off the FA, its more like 5 lbs for first 100, 10 for for next 100, 15 for the 3rd 100 . The more you put on the rear, the higher the % of FA gets taken off.
Marty
