How much of rise on front of truck acceptable when hitched?

Grit dog wrote:



RVing is not totally unique but it’s sort of unique in that most people consider it a right to go RVing when there are no requirements or training necessary to operate something that would otherwise require training or certification in the commercial world. Thus there is an abnormally large % of consumers who are blissfully ignorant about some or many aspects of operating or controlling a heavy vehicle or combo.
When one observes the relatively large % of people who are challenged by simply operating the smallest of passenger vehicles combined with the fact that all it takes is a credit card, cash or a line of credit to instantly be the operator of a heavy vehicle. And not the typical commercial application where there is a greater chance of skill, training or experience or knowledge being gained or passed down then you get information published like this to help people save themselves from themselves.

Reading this statement by somebody that generally knows what he is talking about should scare rational people.

Three Pass Scale Method (Ron Gratz, back in 2010)
All passengers aboard every time. Full fresh water & propane. Both vehicles loaded for a camping trip.

1). First weigh with hitch tensioned.

2). Second weigh with bars fully slack

3) Third weigh is TV only.

I have never understood what useful information is gained with the second pass. TW, the only number for TW that affects handling is TW when ready to hit the road. Can get that by adding S + D together, subtracting gross from third pass. Know if rear axle is overweight before bars are hooked up? Normal hookup, do you get tongue jack off ground before hooking up bars?

valhalla360 wrote:

Also, need to differentiate front rise from change in frame angle. When empty, pickups typically sit a bit high in the back, so squatting a bit without taking any weight off the front axle can make it appear the front is lifting if just doing a visual check.

Can you explain how the "squat without taking weight off"?
Look at a lever on fulcrum. Add weight to 1 end, weight comes off the other end. The fact the fulcrum moves (rear suspension compression) does not change that.