Weighing rv
This is a silly question I am sure, but here it goes. I know you can weigh your rig at a truck stop on their scales. I was wondering if you can use those random truck scales on the side of the high...
Forum Discussion
rbpru wrote:
My point is the tongue weight without the WD hitch means little. Unless you have enough weight to bend the frame.
If the the tongue weight is 1000# or 1500#. The purpose of the WD hitch is to redistribute some of that weight from the rear truck axle, to the front truck axle and the trailer axles.
If the hitch is set so the truck and trailer sit level, and all the axle weights are within spec, I am set to go. (Actually I use the yellow sticker max cargo rating, as it is a bit less than the sum of the truck's axle ratings).
If you have enough tongue weigh to bend the frame, you have other issues.
The WD hitch is a lever that distributes load to the front axle, and some to the TT axles. The tongue weight remains right where it is, and must be accounted for.
If your TT had zero tongue weight, and you hitch up with a WD hitch, the spring bars will STILL distribute load from the rear axle of the truck to the front, and some to the TT axles, and a scale would show that. The bars do not distribute tongue weight. Tongue weight is not even part of the calculation.
This subject has been beaten to death around here. There is a lengthy sticky at the top of the Towing subforum that covers this in great detail. There used to be a diagram that illustrated how it all works, but I do not know if it survived the Photobucket purge.
