Stopped at a weigh station

[IDoMyOwnStunts]

I stopped at a weigh station this past weekend on my way home from camp. Washington state leaves the scales on at this particular station. Since there are two sides so I wouldn't be blocking anybody, I decided to play around a little and get some numbers:

Truck in signature towing toy hauler in signature. Eaz-lift with 1400 lb bars. Max number of washers for max tilt. Tanks mostly empty with 1/3 of a 100 gallon fresh water tank left (sits on top of axles). 1/2 tank of fuel (sits behind axles). So here are the numbers. Note: I wasn't able to get truck alone yet.

Truck axle ratings
F: 5500
R: 7000
Payload (Yellow sticker): 3840
GVWR: 10800

Trailer axle ratings are 5000 each axle.
Dry weight on trailer sticker: 7020
Brochure weights
Tongue: 987
Unloaded weight: 6671
GVWR: 9980

Actual numbers (scale is in 20 lb increments)
First weigh hooked up with 1 link dangling
Truck front: 3880
Truck rear: 5020
Trailer (both): 7440

Weigh with WD bars undone:
F: 3520
R: 5560
T: 7240

Then I unhooked the coupler and weighed the tongue.
Tongue: 1660.

Holy bleep! I knew the tongue was heavy, but I didn't realize it was that heavy.

Just for fun, I managed to tighten up the bars and leave 2 links dangling.
F: 3980 (surprised only 100 lb difference)
R: 4680
T: 7460

Lessons: I'm really glad I got rid of my F150 for this trailer. I can't believe I was towing that. My F150 receiver was only rated to 1050 lbs(!). Even after upgrading my hitch to a Torklift Superhero with a 1600 lb WD rating, I was still overloaded. That tongue also must have took up nearly all of my cargo rating. 1660 actual - 987 dry = 673 lbs over the published weight. That should be a lesson to anybody who assumes that they can tow the dry weight of a trailer. Yes, it's a toy hauler, but I'm now within all ratings on my Ram 3500 and it makes a huge difference. It's amazing how naive I was when I bought that.

The only concern I have now is that my bars are apparently still undersized even at 1400 lbs. The receiver is rated at 1800 lbs and I'm obviously still getting some Weight Distribution, but there are no bigger bars for this system. I really don't want to get a different system (translated: my wife thinks I've already spent too much switching trucks and doesn't want to put any more into it), but it appears a Blue Ox may be in my future. Other than a Torklift which would require a different receiver, I'm not sure what other system could handle that tongue weight. Any thoughts? It tows fine now.

[APT]

I think you are doing fine with the WDH you have. Your truck does not need to restore all the weight to the front axle. It would be good to know what the truck weighs empty/unhitched by axle as well.

[IDoMyOwnStunts]

nickthehunter wrote:
Seeing as it is a toy hauler, move 500 lbs of toys off the tongue and onto the trailer axle and you'll be good to go. You're only 1900 lbs over the published weight, if 637 (33 percent) of that is on the tongue then that is on you.

While, yeah, I agree that it's on me, I honestly don't want to unpack and repack cabinets forward of the axles (which is nearly all of them) or move what's in the basement to the people space (I don't have a separate garage) just to take some weight off the tongue. I don't think that brochure weight included the generator either since that was an option. The truck drives fine and still has an 1800 lb receiver. The Blue Ox (or other) is just more of a want than a need right now. It'd be nice to get rid of those friction sway bars.

I guess the point of it was that if I still had my 150, I'd be panicked about now. It's a shame I wasn't educated about it when I bought the thing or I wouldn't have had to spend so much to get it right after the fact. I wish dealers would be more forthcoming about what these trailers really weigh instead of trying to push them out the door. There's no way I should've driven off with that trailer with only a half-ton.

[nickthehunter]

Seeing as it is a toy hauler, move 500 lbs of toys off the tongue and onto the trailer axle and you'll be good to go. You're only 1900 lbs over the published weight, if 637 (33 percent) of that is on the tongue then that is on you.

[Need-A-Vacation]

Reese trunion system has wd bars rated up to 1700lb tw w/ the Titan 2.5" shank. Only other option as you mentioned is the BO that I know of besides the torqlift system.

It is surprising just how much the trailer do end up weighing (total and tw) compared to the manufactures "brochure" weights. Weight adds up quick!!!