Scale Results, two weighs, two charges. ($21.00 total)1. Trailer hooked to truck: Truck 7860; Trailer 7560; both 154202. Trailer unhooked from truck: Truck 6740; Trailer 8800; both 15540I was not in the truck for the second weigh in, and I weigh a lot more than 120.Tongue weight = 1120 lbs

twxsby89 wrote:Scale Results, two weighs, two charges. ($21.00 total)1. Trailer hooked to truck: Truck 7860; Trailer 7560; both 154202. Trailer unhooked from truck: Truck 6740; Trailer 8800; both 15540I was not in the truck for the second weigh in, and I weigh a lot more than 120.Tongue weight = 1120 lbsI'm not sure what you weighed??1. For weight #1 was the WDH installed and hooked up or was it just the trailer tongue on the ball in a straight weight carrying configuration.2. For weight #2 was the 8800 for both the TT axles and the tongue jack and weight #2 15540 should have been less than weight #1 15420 by your actual weight and not #120 lbs heavier.I appears you tried to subtract the truck weight in #1 7860 from the truck weight in #2 6740 to come up with a tongue wt. of 1120 however that should be 1120lbs less your actual weight and if 200 then the tongue wt. would be 920lbs. This assumes your WDH if installed was not engaged for weight #1.Maybe I'm missing something or reading/understanding what you did, but something doesn't make sense at least to me.However, if weight #1 was w/o any WDH engaged and the TT axles weighed 7560 and if the second weight for the trailer was for the TT axles plus the tongue 8800lbs then the tongue wt. should be 1240lbs.P.S. you shouldn't have to pay for 2 complete weigh ins only pay for a reweigh which is about $1 to $2 at most and IIRC usually no cost. Now if these weights were not done back to back, but some time elapsed then something might have changed weight wise, but that is unclear at least to me.Larry

Larry wrote:P.S. you shouldn't have to pay for 2 complete weigh ins only pay for a reweigh which is about $1 to $2 at most and IIRC usually no cost. Now if these weights were not done back to back, but some time elapsed then something might have changed weight wise, but that is unclear at least to me.That is what I thought, I never left the scale between weighs.My first time trying to actually do it on a scale, and I'm on here to learn the correct way. ThanksI also may have been dealing with the new guy at Loves, he had no idea what I was trying to do, so the newb tried to explain it to the newb.The first time I was on the scale, was with weight distribution, pre-loaded, 400 lbs of fresh water (tank in front), no gear, and me in the truck (+210 lbs) Gross weight 15420(7860 scale #2, and 7560 Scale #3)The second weigh was empty truck on scale #2, and trailer axles and tongue on scale #3. Gross weight without me in truck was 15540.(6740 scale #2, 8800 scale #3)Yes, I subtracted truck weight from each weigh to get 1120 tongue weight. Is that correct?

You need to weigh your truck, separately (not connected to trailer). You can weigh it empty, or loaded up, to include you sitting in it. Either way, plan on the same configuration with trailer hooked up. In otherwords, weigh the truck, with front axle on the first scale, rear axle on the second, full tank of gas, you sitting in cab. Get that weight.Hook up trailer, with weight distribution fully connected, with you in the truck, full tank of gas (again), same config as stand alone. Front axles on one scale, rear axle of truck on second scale, trailer axles on third scale.Subtract weight of truck weighed alone (both axles), from weight of both axles when connected up. Difference should be your tongue weight.Now there are folks who will disconnect the WD hitch so you get deadweight hitch weight, and distributed weight values. I can see the value in doing that, but I haven't done that. I get three weights.. Truck alone, truck with trailer dry (empty), and then truck with trailer fully loaeded ready to go. I just like the dry weight vs loaded weight so I know how much cargo I have in the trailer. If you plan on loading a fair amount of stuff in the bed of your truck, I would weigh the truck fully loaded as if you were heading out camping.The problem with how you did it, if I understand what you did correctly, is you have no idea what your truck alone weight is (without trailer). You need that value as a baseline to start with, in order to understand what weight is added as a result of the trailer, and how it is actually disributed. Knowing individual truck axle weights (stand alone), you will be able to see exactly how much weight is distributed to each axle by the WD hitch.Mike

The Pilot station by me charges $10.00 for the first weigh and $2.00 for the second weigh with in 24 hours.I weigh the TV, then I weigh the TV and TT. I center the TV between the steering axle scale and the drive axles scale and of course the two TT axles are on the trailer axle scale.Since both my TV and TT vary by several hundred pounds between trips, depending on how much stuff I cannot live without; I really do not care about the exact weight of each. I want to know what the axle loads are as I go down the road. From the scale information, I look at the front and rear axel weighs of the TV only. Then I connect the WD hitch so the TT is sitting level and weigh the front and rear TV axle and the combined TT axels. From these measurements I know,* The weight loading of the front and rear TV axles with no TT.* The weight load of each the TV axles and the TT axles with the hitch adjusted for a level TV and TT combination.* If I am within my TV's max cargo weight capacity and each axles allowable load.* If I am within the combined TT axle ratings.One thing I do not know is the repeatability of the scales or their accracy. I do try to center the TV so it is on the front and rear axle scale the same each time.

twxsby89 wrote:Larry wrote:P.S. you shouldn't have to pay for 2 complete weigh ins only pay for a reweigh which is about $1 to $2 at most and IIRC usually no cost. Now if these weights were not done back to back, but some time elapsed then something might have changed weight wise, but that is unclear at least to me.That is what I thought, I never left the scale between weighs.My first time trying to actually do it on a scale, and I'm on here to learn the correct way. ThanksI also may have been dealing with the new guy at Loves, he had no idea what I was trying to do, so the newb tried to explain it to the newb.The first time I was on the scale, was with weight distribution, pre-loaded, 400 lbs of fresh water (tank in front), no gear, and me in the truck (+210 lbs) Gross weight 15420(7860 scale #2, and 7560 Scale #3)The second weigh was empty truck on scale #2, and trailer axles and tongue on scale #3. Gross weight without me in truck was 15540.(6740 scale #2, 8800 scale #3)Yes, I subtracted truck weight from each weigh to get 1120 tongue weight. Is that correct?I assume for weight #1 by "pre-loaded" you mean you had the WDH system engaged. Thus the total increased load on the TV axles will be less than the actual tongue wt. by the amount of weight that the WDH is redistributed back to the TT axles. For the second weight the total TV weight will be off by your weight of #210lbs so the truck weight alone should be 6740 + 210lbs = 6950. This of course assumes you were also not standing on one of the scale weight pads even though you were not physically in the truck. I'm not even sure how you could do this with the normal commercial scale setups I have been through.To get the actual tongue wt. you would have needed a third weight where the trailer was hooked up with the WDH bars disconnected, but still in the hitch or at least on the same scale pad as your TV rear tires. With this weight then the tongue wt. would be the TV wt from weight #2 adjusted for your actual wt. or 6950 subtracted the TV weight from weight #3.However, with this issue with the total weights that seem to be off by at least 320lbs, I'm thinking something went amiss and you need to start over since I'm not sure we can reconstruct anything meaningful from the info and weights we have now. What is somewhat concerning is if you take that 8800 for the TT in the second weighing which includes the TT axle wts and the tongue wt. and subtract it from the TT weight of 7560 which is the TT axles wt. plus some portion of the tongue wt. that is being redistributed by the WDH systen back onto the TT axles you true tongue wt. will be way in excess of 1120 lbs and in this case is 8800 - 7560 + the weight redistributed by the WDH back onto the TT axles or a tongue wt. of at least 1240lbs + this redistributed wt which I bet is in the neighborhood of 150 to 200lbs making your actual tongue wt. closer to 1400lbs.I think I got all or at least most of the above correct, but this is a little confusing to try and sort out the way I'm understanding it.Larry

Truck / Trailer weigh in | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

twxsby89
Explorer
Feb 17, 2016
RCMAN wrote:
Minor item but where did the little man go in the last drawing?

He's there now. lol As mentioned, I want the #3 weight to see the difference the WD makes.
RCMAN46
Explorer
Feb 17, 2016
twxsby89 wrote:
I believe I know what I need to do, but just for the sake of clarity, I had my 5 year old come up with a drawing to illustrate this thread, and maybe someone in the future will find this handy.
Comments welcome (+ or -)

Minor item but where did the little man go in the last drawing?

I agree you are right on track and I agree with what will be your true tongue weight.
twxsby89
Explorer
Feb 17, 2016
1L243 wrote:
twixby have you checked the rating on your trucks OEM hitch? When I had my last toy hauler my TW exceeded the OEM hitch on my F250 and I had to upgrade to a heavier hitch. I upgraded to a 1600/16000 WDH rated hitch.

I have modified my OEM hitch.
twxsby89
Explorer
Feb 17, 2016
I believe I know what I need to do, but just for the sake of clarity, I had my 5 year old come up with a drawing to illustrate this thread, and maybe someone in the future will find this handy.
Comments welcome (+ or -)
1L243
Explorer II
Feb 16, 2016
What's the point of knowing the TW with the WDH disconnected, Don't you want to know the TW as it's towed?

twixby have you checked the rating on your trucks OEM hitch? When I had my last toy hauler my TW exceeded the OEM hitch on my F250 and I had to upgrade to a heavier hitch. I upgraded to a 1600/16000 WDH rated hitch.
IDoMyOwnStunts
Explorer
Feb 16, 2016
RCMAN46 wrote:

At my local CAT scale which is usually busy if I were to disconnect a trailer while on the scales I may have some trucker that is waiting for the scales ventilate my head.

That right there is why I'm very happy the state of Oregon leaves their scale houses on. I wish Washington would, at least near me.
RCMAN46
Explorer
Feb 16, 2016
No need to disconnect trailer while on the scales.

At my local CAT scale which is usually busy if I were to disconnect a trailer while on the scales I may have some trucker that is waiting for the scales ventilate my head.

A bumper pull trailer requires three separate weights.

Truck and trailer with everything on board as if ready to go RV'ing.

Driver always in the truck or always out of the truck and not on the scale pads when weight is logged.

Fist with WD system engaged. Truck front axle on pad #1 Truck rear axle on Pad #2 Trailer axles on pad #3.

Pull off scales so others can use it and disconnect the WD system.

Do the same with WD disconnected.

Pull off scales and find a safe place to drop the trailer.

Weight truck only with front axle on pad # 1 and rear axle on pad #2.

I have the DW help me make sure each axle is on its pad and not bridging two pads. She is off to the side so her weight does not enter into any of the weights.

With this you will have the needed information to determine if you have the system set up properly.
lbrjet
Explorer
Feb 16, 2016
Next time tell them '2nd weigh' on the subsequent weighing and that weigh will only be a dollar or two.
Walaby
Explorer II
Feb 16, 2016
Totally agree something is amiss and you should start over. And yes, a portion of the tongue weight is distributed to the TT axles. The only real way to figure that out is as Larry says - remove the WD bars so you take that weight off the TT axles and back on the tongue.

Looking at the numbers again, I "think" your tongue weight is 1240. I come up with this as follows.

Trailer weights 8800 not hooked up to anything. 8800 would presumably be the TOTAL weight of the trailer, including axle weight, and tongue weight.

Weight of trailer hooked up to truck = 7560, which tells me approx 1240 lbs are being "distributed" to the truck axles, and the TT axles.

Problem is, not knowing how you are sitting on the scales, and what "disconnected from truck", really means. Was the tongue jack resting on the same platform as the rear axle of the truck? If so, there's no way you would know what portion of that is the trailer, and what portion is the truck, without running each one separately.

Best to start fresh.

Mike
LarryJM
Explorer II
Feb 15, 2016
twxsby89 wrote:
Larry wrote:
P.S. you shouldn't have to pay for 2 complete weigh ins only pay for a reweigh which is about $1 to $2 at most and IIRC usually no cost. Now if these weights were not done back to back, but some time elapsed then something might have changed weight wise, but that is unclear at least to me.

That is what I thought, I never left the scale between weighs.
My first time trying to actually do it on a scale, and I'm on here to learn the correct way. Thanks

I also may have been dealing with the new guy at Loves, he had no idea what I was trying to do, so the newb tried to explain it to the newb.

The first time I was on the scale, was with weight distribution, pre-loaded, 400 lbs of fresh water (tank in front), no gear, and me in the truck (+210 lbs) Gross weight 15420
(7860 scale #2, and 7560 Scale #3)

The second weigh was empty truck on scale #2, and trailer axles and tongue on scale #3. Gross weight without me in truck was 15540.
(6740 scale #2, 8800 scale #3)

Yes, I subtracted truck weight from each weigh to get 1120 tongue weight. Is that correct?

I assume for weight #1 by "pre-loaded" you mean you had the WDH system engaged. Thus the total increased load on the TV axles will be less than the actual tongue wt. by the amount of weight that the WDH is redistributed back to the TT axles. For the second weight the total TV weight will be off by your weight of #210lbs so the truck weight alone should be 6740 + 210lbs = 6950. This of course assumes you were also not standing on one of the scale weight pads even though you were not physically in the truck. I'm not even sure how you could do this with the normal commercial scale setups I have been through.

To get the actual tongue wt. you would have needed a third weight where the trailer was hooked up with the WDH bars disconnected, but still in the hitch or at least on the same scale pad as your TV rear tires. With this weight then the tongue wt. would be the TV wt from weight #2 adjusted for your actual wt. or 6950 subtracted the TV weight from weight #3.

However, with this issue with the total weights that seem to be off by at least 320lbs, I'm thinking something went amiss and you need to start over since I'm not sure we can reconstruct anything meaningful from the info and weights we have now. What is somewhat concerning is if you take that 8800 for the TT in the second weighing which includes the TT axle wts and the tongue wt. and subtract it from the TT weight of 7560 which is the TT axles wt. plus some portion of the tongue wt. that is being redistributed by the WDH systen back onto the TT axles you true tongue wt. will be way in excess of 1120 lbs and in this case is 8800 - 7560 + the weight redistributed by the WDH back onto the TT axles or a tongue wt. of at least 1240lbs + this redistributed wt which I bet is in the neighborhood of 150 to 200lbs making your actual tongue wt. closer to 1400lbs.

I think I got all or at least most of the above correct, but this is a little confusing to try and sort out the way I'm understanding it.

Larry