Lantley wrote:
RustyJC wrote:
In theory, nothing's wrong with your method. In case 1, you have the total weight of the trailer on the platform - it doesn't matter what it's resting on; jacks, wheels or anything else. In case 2, you have the axle weight of the trailer on the platform - the difference is pin weight.
In practice, for this to be absolutely accurate, in case 1 you must have no pin weight whatsoever left on the truck, but you must also not lift too high such that the pin is pulling upward on the jaws of the hitch and transferring some of the weight of the hitch/truck to the front jacks of the trailer.
Rusty
I agree the OP's method is relatively accurate but itallows for too much subjectivity. When are the front jacks raised high enough to support full weight of truck? When are they too high?
What is the difference between pin weight and jack weight?
If you have taken the time to go to the CAT scale why not just spend the extra time to complete task accurately as possible vs. winging it.
If in doubt, just pull the truck forward a foot. You wouldn't even have to disconnect the cable, and it will be quick to hitch back up too. This would not be an issue with the typical 16k hitch, that usually have thinner jaws. More likely to be an issue with heavier hitches, which have thick jaws and little pin clearance vertically.
