How do I move weight forward?

[RoyBell]

I am looking at side by sides for my 320G. On the scales with no bike/water the trailer has 12,120 lbs on the axles and 2,620 on the pin. With 1500 lbs of water and motorcycle, it shifts the weight to the trailer axles by 2,000 lbs and pulls almost 500 lbs off the pin. 14,120 on axles and 2140 on the pin.

This puts my axles at max load (7000 lb axles) despite being under GVWR.

It appears the water tank is towards the front front half of the garage and the fuel cell is at the rear half.

If I look at a 1700 lb side by side, I would have to run no water. However, it would pull so much weight off the pin, that my axles would be severally overloaded, despite being so much under GVWR. If I put more ballast on the pin, would it offset the weight in the garage?

It just blows my mind that adding 1500 lb to the garage adds 2000 lbs to the trailer axles. Adding 1700-1800 lbs would likely add 2400 lbs to the trailer axles

I have about 7" clearance now to the bedrails. Would lowering the pin an 1-2 inches and going with shorter tires (I have 35s), for another 1" gain transfer enough weight back to the truck to make it worth while? It's a little low in the rear currently which is likely contributing to this problem.

I am not sure what else I could do. There isn't much weight in the garage other than a portable grill and spare tire (maybe 100 lbs total) which I can transfer to front storage. We travel pretty light otherwise.

[CA_Traveler]

dedmiston I had a different impression from his post, but you might be right.

"It just blows my mind that adding 1500 lb to the garage adds 2000 lbs to the trailer axles."

[souraider]

You may want to try backing the future SxS in rather than pulling front in first. I also will put a large Rubbermaid box full of firewood in the front of the trailer. I have a trailer rather than a 5th wheel so I have to be very aware of weight distribution.

[dedmiston]

Roy - Do you travel with a full fuel station? This wouldn't help much, but what about traveling with fuel jugs in the bed instead of filling the fuel station? Or what about filling up the fuel when you're closer to your destination?

I can't tell from your post what your hauler is? (I don't recognize the model number.) You talk about your pin instead of your tongue, so I assume it's a fifth wheel. How long is your fiver and what's the configuration? Do you have a dedicated garage or open floor? And how many axles?

If you have an open floor, can you move your bike forward at all? (You said bike, right?) How heavy is the bike? Would it make any difference if you loaded it in backwards?

Can you load a heavy cooler and load it towards the front?

[dedmiston]

CA Traveler wrote:
Add weight behind the wheels and that lifts the other side, think seasaw - add a second kid to one side and the other side becomes lighter, some of the weight is transferred.

Adding ballast on the pin transfers all of that weight to the pin and truck. Adding balast between the pin and wheels distributes the additional weight to both the pin and wheels.

I don't think that's what he's asking. His measurements show that he already understands how the balance works. I believe his question was, "What can I do to move some of my weight in front of the axles?"

[CA_Traveler]

Add weight behind the wheels and that lifts the other side, think seasaw - add a second kid to one side and the other side becomes lighter, some of the weight is transferred.

Adding ballast on the pin transfers all of that weight to the pin and truck. Adding balast between the pin and wheels distributes the additional weight to both the pin and wheels.