How do you get the weight distributed correctly in the trailer? What are the signs that it is not? If a trailer is porpoising.. is that too much in front? Sway.. too much in rear? Any info would be appreciated!

Use a tongue weight scale. The weight on the tongue should increase as you load the trailer.

Bring the weight distribution bars up another link (tighter), it will help with porpoising. Do you have the correct bars for your tongue weight?

I have fully adjustable weight distribution bars (as opposed to a chain where it adjusts in large chunks). If I am off enough to make a difference then I notice I have to crank the bars down too much.In practice this rarely happens if you use common sense in packing stuff. Keep heavy stuff over the axles, don't have more heavy stuff than you really really need. Fresh water tank being at the front is usually my only issue, but typically I get water once I am near the site.

Too light a tongue is way more prone to cause issues than too heavy.

There are several methods, the most basic is, "Does the tow vehicle handle OK or not." If it does not handle right (steering is loose, slow reaction, porpoising) your set up is not right. You just confirmed that.Make sure your bars are set tight enough that the tow vehicle and trailer are setting level. If they form a V or a ^, the bars are either too tight or too loose. Adjust them to make trailer and tow vehicle level.Adjusting your hitch head (tilting) forward or backwards will help in adjusting how tight the bars are, to keep everything level (including the bars).Measure the height of your tow vehicle bumper (from ground to bumper - mark a spot) at the front and the back. Measure with trailer off, measure with trailer on. The distance the tow vehicle squats show be the same (or near the same) on both the front and the back.These are the starting points and thing to initially look for. BUT... porpoising may also be caused simply because the shocks on your tow vehicle are wearing out, or simply not strong enough for tow vehicle with trailer attached.We had a Chevy mini-van and purchased our pop-up. The configuration porpoused awful. I had more stout shocks put on the van. Problem solved. Use the van and pop-up for another 6 years and had no problems. (No weight distribution at all on that set-up).

Weight distribution in trailer? | Good Sam Community

22 Replies

rbpru
Explorer II
Dec 18, 2015
Hunting dog,

You point out the reasons why I never put much credibility in weight and balance. I can shift the pounds of water weight from the fresh tank over the axles to the black and gray tanks in the rear end of the TT in a few days of use.

Add to this consumption of fire wood, food, propane and shifting of items from TT to the TV bed and cab, plus the periodic dumping of the black and gray tanks and several hundred pounds will change on an extended trip.

When you are hitched to a 6000 lb box on wheels; wind, rain, road surface, hills and traffic are a far greater concern than a few hundred pounds of weight.

While I do not doubt those who say you can never have too much TV; like my TT, I bought the a TV big enough to handle the task at hand.

If you have a stability problem, I would think it is more then the amount of water in your fresh water tank.
Huntindog
Explorer
Dec 18, 2015
Lynnmor wrote:
Atlee wrote:
Only if the fresh water tank is all the way forward, or all the way aft. My fresh water tank sits over the axles, so the water doesn't come into play, except if the 40 gal water tank is only half full. The sloshing could conceivably have an effect.

Lynnmor wrote:
rbpru wrote:

My point is, the 1200 lbs of stuff that was added to the dry weight of my TT has an assigned spot. Not a lot of room to "balance" the load.

That's true, you are limited on most items normally carried in a travel trailer. You do have hundreds of pounds of water to play with, so that may be an option.
If you have a trailer that just cannot be balanced with the proper hitch weight, you have two option; camp in the driveway or get a better designed trailer.

Funny thing about water tanks, they may be installed at different locations depending on model. Another thing is that the water can actually find its way into gray and black tanks.
We have a winner!!

Not only can water move around, but many other weights can change in the course of a trip.
Propane gets burned and disappears, food and drink gets consumed and ends up in the waste tanks etc. Many other items for one reason or another can change places..

So for those with marginal TVs that strive for the minimum TW... It can be a fools errand.

I beieve in having a STOUT TV and starting out a trip with a LOT of TW.

The 10 to 15% is a guideline... Understand that the 10% minumum is to keep one out of sway trouble. Going under 10% should never be done.

OTOH...
The 15% often quoted as a maximum is because most TVs, recievers and hitches will run out of capacity at that point.... If your hitch, TV, and reciever can handle more TW, then there is no harm in it.
Lynnmor
Explorer
Dec 17, 2015
Atlee wrote:
Only if the fresh water tank is all the way forward, or all the way aft. My fresh water tank sits over the axles, so the water doesn't come into play, except if the 40 gal water tank is only half full. The sloshing could conceivably have an effect.

Lynnmor wrote:
rbpru wrote:

My point is, the 1200 lbs of stuff that was added to the dry weight of my TT has an assigned spot. Not a lot of room to "balance" the load.

That's true, you are limited on most items normally carried in a travel trailer. You do have hundreds of pounds of water to play with, so that may be an option.
If you have a trailer that just cannot be balanced with the proper hitch weight, you have two option; camp in the driveway or get a better designed trailer.

Funny thing about water tanks, they may be installed at different locations depending on model. Another thing is that the water can actually find its way into gray and black tanks.
Atlee
Explorer II
Dec 17, 2015
Only if the fresh water tank is all the way forward, or all the way aft. My fresh water tank sits over the axles, so the water doesn't come into play, except if the 40 gal water tank is only half full. The sloshing could conceivably have an effect.

Lynnmor wrote:
rbpru wrote:

My point is, the 1200 lbs of stuff that was added to the dry weight of my TT has an assigned spot. Not a lot of room to "balance" the load.

That's true, you are limited on most items normally carried in a travel trailer. You do have hundreds of pounds of water to play with, so that may be an option.
If you have a trailer that just cannot be balanced with the proper hitch weight, you have two option; camp in the driveway or get a better designed trailer.
rbpru
Explorer II
Dec 17, 2015
I have found that load balance varies considerably from trip to trip.

Loaded heavy for a fishing trip to the Ozarks the scales indicated I had 13% of the TT weight on the tongue. On another shorter local trip the scales showed the TT was 550 lbs lighter and the tongue weight dropped to 9% of the TT weight.

I suspect most of the weight change was in the front storage hold.

I cannot say there was much difference in the handling; wind, trucks, roads and hills seem to have a greater impact. I do adjust the WD hitch to keep the TT level.
mdprowash
Explorer
Dec 17, 2015
Thanks for all the replies and useful info. Need to get weighed and pick up tongue scale!
Ron_Gratz
Explorer
Dec 17, 2015
mdprowash wrote:
---I need to get the trailer weighed while loaded. I believe dry weight is 6500 according to tag.
If the dry weight is 6500#, you'll probably be at least 7500# when loaded and the tongue weight should be around 1000#.

My weight distribution hitch is 800# rated. I usually hook it on the 6th link and have tried the 5th link but like it on 6th.. seems to ride better. I could use some heavier bars.
Yes, you'll probably need 1000# bars.

Ron
horton333
Explorer
Dec 17, 2015
The hitch rating should be for the dynamic weight, I.E. static weight minus the amount the weight distribution reflects back to the trailer. It's complex to calculate, but from my experience take a guess at 150#s less and the 850 was specified as "dry" weight so it's more like 700 vs the 800 specification.
mikebte
Explorer
Dec 16, 2015
mdprowash wrote:
Thanks for the replies. The sway and porpoising is nothing significant but there is a little bit. I believe my TV is adequate.. 99 2500 Cummins.

I can get fairly level hooked up. And when I measured.. the height variance at my wheel wells with weight distribution bars hooked up is about an inch.

When I had the trailer inspected I had them weigh the tongue.. it was 850# (dry) if I remember correctly. I will pick up a scale soon to see where I'm at loaded. The kitchen/pantry is up front and bedroom/storage is in back. Water tank is under sofa before the axles but usually travel with it empty. I need to get the trailer weighed while loaded. I believe dry weight is 6500 according to tag.

My weight distribution hitch is 800# rated. I usually hook it on the 6th link and have tried the 5th link but like it on 6th.. seems to ride better. I could use some heavier bars.

Truck has a leveling kit installed by previous owner that I plan on removing and i would like to add airbags in rear. I think that will help some. Shocks are Bilstein 5100s and are good.

I was looking to see if there was any rule of thumb for loading and how to distribute inside.

So..... If I am reading this right, you weight is 850 and your hitch is rated at 800?

May be passed the upper limits of that hitch. Also front leveler does not help the way it sits.
Campfire_Time
Explorer
Dec 16, 2015
Some of your issues can be caused by loss of steering control. How much does your front end rise? Have you brought it back down to factory spec when adjusting the WDH? A big reason to use WDH is to restore weight back on the front end and regain proper steering control.