Forum Discussion

Bemota's avatar
Bemota
Explorer
May 17, 2015

Well, Made a decision

We were torn between a motorhome and a FW, anyway decided on a FW cause we already had a truck, 2002 Chevy 2500HD Duramax/Allison. I think I'm good on weigh, this is my first big trailer.
Truck Tags (door) Scaled Empty to pick up trailer
GVWR 9200 Truck 6760
Ft GAWR 4800 Ft Axle 4000
RR GAWR 6084 RR Axle 2760

Cargo 2621

Trailer Wt. 12000

GCWR 22000

Truck/Camper on Scales

Ft Axle 4000
RR Axle 4640
Truck 8640
Trailer 10200
Truck/Trailer 16980
Pin Wt. 1880 ???
Looks good to me, how about you guys ?????
I got 21.2 MPG going to pick up trailer, and 14.1 on the way home, set cruise at 60-65, rolling hills no. Minn., it down-shifted 5 times on grades. Pulled real nice, there was one area on Interstate 94 where it started bouncing/jerking the truck, speed change made no difference, would that be shocks or springs or what. Wife says "fix that!!!!)
Anyway that's what we got.
OH it's a 2011 Keystone Cougar 326 MKS
She's thinking Alaska in August and anyplace South for the winter 4-6 mos. Thanks for listening, Dan/Jan
  • C_Schomer's avatar
    C_Schomer
    Explorer
    May 18, 2015
    Experiment with how you load the RV.... More weight fore or aft makes a difference. I had one that rode badly if the water tank was empty. Anything you can do to make the trailer ride better will make the truck ride better. I've added shocks to a trailer, changed springs, rubber aftermarket equalizers and our current 5er came with an air pin box. I've had airbags and Rancho adjustable shocks on two trucks now and I can tune out bad roads really well. Craig
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    May 17, 2015
    Like stated.........looking pretty good

    How much truck bedrail to W overhang clearance do you have? 6" is minimum

    And with more stuff in trailer....especially towards front....pin weight should go up (you have room for higher pin weight) That will help with the 'chucking'.

    Get it loaded up......go camping and then see how it behaves (post back)

    Enjoy!
  • kzspree320's avatar
    kzspree320
    Explorer
    May 17, 2015
    I think you look good on all weights unless you load really heavy. I would not worry about being slightly over GVWR on truck if you are well under FAWR, RAWR and rear tire capacity. Enjoy your new Cougar fiver. We had a Cougar fiver years ago and it served us well. Keith
  • Cummins12V98's avatar
    Cummins12V98
    Explorer III
    May 17, 2015
    Swap your shocks for Bilstein 4600's you will thank me and others that will agree.
  • Bemota's avatar
    Bemota
    Explorer
    May 17, 2015
    HI again, thanks Old-Biscuit for your comments, I really didn't know the procedure for weighing. This is the third FW my wife had her heart set on, the other ones, just by checking the tags, I knew were too heavy!!! So it ended up being a " kin we, kin we, Pleeeeesssseee", So now I have to figure out if I can safely pull it!!I think you have the info you need to tell me where I sit? If you need more let me know. I did have a small level with me, on the scale, the truck rails were a little high back to front and the FW was a little high front to back, it looked really good over-all. Also there was some wt. in the FW, two full 30 lb. propane tanks, two batteries, same water in all tanks (why, I don't know).Knowing that, makes it more confusing!! Anyway thanks again, Dan
  • OutdoorPhotogra's avatar
    OutdoorPhotogra
    Explorer
    May 17, 2015
    Yeah, that's frustrating about the scale. I had the same issue when I did weights at a Feed Store scale. They had farm trucks in and out all day and even if no one else was there, they wanted you off that scale in case a farm truck drove up and had to wait because someone was weighing their personal rig.

    Price was cheap but always felt like I was an annoyance to them rather than a paying customer.
  • Bemota's avatar
    Bemota
    Explorer
    May 17, 2015
    Hi, morning, I weighed at a local farm scale going and returning, they are very busy this time of year. On our return with trailer I pulled on to scale in this order, front axle, truck, whole unit, then trailer. The lady at the scale was not happy, wasting her time !!!, I paid. Anyway those are the numbers I had to work with, I added and subtracted to get these wts. I did not drop trailer on scale, my pin wt. is the before and after with trailer???. Trailer wt. is the trailer on the scale. I have to do more math, thanks again for the feedback. Dan
  • craig7h's avatar
    craig7h
    Nomad II
    May 17, 2015
    What you have is called chucking. You have a couple ways to help. One is the air,shock combination king pin. I put on a 5th Airborne which took care of 90% chucking. The other and more expensive is air hitch.
  • MinnCamper's avatar
    MinnCamper
    Explorer
    May 17, 2015
    Hi Bemota
    We have a 32RL Laredo FW pulled by my 06 Sierra D/A. Perfect combo. Like many said you will be ok. Enjoy your new set up. Happy camping??
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    May 17, 2015
    Just couple of questions concerning numbers posted
    Truck/Camper on Scales

    Ft Axle 4000 (FAWR 4800) 800# left--------plenty

    RR Axle 4640 (RAWR 6084) 1444# left..good wiggle room

    Truck 8640 (GVWR 9200)Only 560# before reaching trucks GVWR. Passengers, stuff in truck and then all the stuff in trailer you will be over trucks GVWR. By how much???


    Trailer 10200 Did you include 1880 pin weight in this number??
    If you did..shouldn't. Pin weight is already added to trucks rear axle weight. This should only be trailers axle weight

    Truck/Trailer 16980 This is combo total so minus truck (with pin) 8640# is 8340# which would be trailers axle weight

    Pin Wt. 1880 ??? This represents a 18.4% pin weight (based on trailers total weight of 10220#) So if you add 1000# to trailer pin weight should be close to 2065#

    Payload left of 560# minus increase in pin weight of 185# leaves you with 375# for passengers and stuff in truck (in bags, backpacks etc.


    SO you will be very close on trucks GVWR.......OK on axle weights
    Over all good match/combo.

    Chucking is probably due to light pin weight %...better when % is 20% or higher

    Is FW nose up/down or level when hooked up to truck?

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