Forum Discussion

LMyers14's avatar
LMyers14
Explorer
Jun 04, 2015

Counter weight for added back storage area/deck

We recently purchased this travel trailer, that had this back storage area on it. We use it to carry firewood and misc things.. My husband was changing the tires and laying underneath the trailer ...
Huntindog's avatar
Huntindog
Explorer
Jun 06, 2015
rbpru wrote:
Perhaps it is my TT and TV combo but I have towed it heavily loaded with the fresh water tank full and enough stuff for a six weeks trip across the country; or a lightly loaded two week jaunt.

The only adjustment I make is a chain link or so to keep the TT level.

Others seem to have great difficulties with sway etc. I believe you simply have to load up and see what you combo does.
Has your TT been highly modified in a manner that will drastically change the weight balance that it had when it left the factory?

The OPs has. And since I doubt it's previous owner loaded 600# of concrete on it for thr heck of it.... It is very likely that he had a scary sway moment.

For those of us that have experienced this, we know how serious it is.
In my case I wrote about earlier, it was like a switch had been flipped. It went from perfectly fine to Oh **** in an instant. This not something that you want to experiment with.

Now most all manufacturers are well aware of the balance requirements needed and design their TTs accordingly. So with a STOCK TT it will normally take some unusual effort on the owners part for the unit to end up with a dangerously light TW.

TH OP needs to get the TT scaled,(loaded for a trip) getting all weights. He should be prepared for what will probably be some shocking numbers. The balance is likely OK with all of the concrete on board, but the overall weight will likely be over it's ratings. The axles and tires are almost assuradly overloaded.
With this info in hand, he can then decide how to proceed.
There are options. Upgrading axles and tires, packing lighter, removing the concrete and replacing this weight with gear that will be coming anyways...Or even removing the platform/box and going back to stock. And yes in this case a sherline TW scale is almost a necessity....

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