Tires/Water tank.

[mat60]

I took my TT out last weekend to mess around with WDH and to be honest I just wanted to.:) I have my TT and truck pretty much loaded with everything except I plan to carry water. My TT is closed in underneath so I cant see where tank is but I do see a large bulge in the cardboard covering up near the front. Can I assume that's where the fresh water tank is? I really wanted to keep my 285-16 tires on because I'm 57 and haven't grown up yet but I see that's not going to work because of soft sidewall and I think they make my truck allot more underpowered. I have some stock size Goodyear ultra grip LT- 245/75/16 Load range E that are like new .They are a mud and snow tire and I'm thinking a soft compound but I wanted to ask what you think about using them. Also, I no its best to have the TT level or nose down a little and that is my plan but wondering if nose up takes away tung weight? Thank you.

[mat60]

troubledwaters wrote:
Where is the filler spout and water pump in relation to the "supposed" tank. They both are going to be real close to the water tank.

Well.. As you may have all ready figured out I didn't no what I was talking about. I new the cardboard stuff had a large hump in it but its in the back where the gray and black water tanks are.. My fresh water fill and water pump are centered between the tires. Hard to admit it when you make a dumb mistake. 🙂

[troubledwaters]

Where is the filler spout and water pump in relation to the "supposed" tank. They both are going to be real close to the water tank.

[mat60]

mosseater wrote:
Just a side note...The bulging tank underneath may be a sign of impending doom. I noticed mine starting to seem lower when full, and going on intuition alone, I removed the plastic underbelly to bring into full view the fact that the tank mounting "system" they used was nothing more than a piece of 1/2" OSB between two bar joist flanges underneath the floor. The condensation over the 8 years had gathered at the center of the tank and caused the OSB to rot right in the middle. There was precious little supporting my 400lbs of water. When I took the OSB out, it was visibly rotted and I was able to break it in half with my hands. I replaced it with 5/8" plywood with steel straps underneath and some weep holes to allow water to drain and evaporate, and some plastic strips between the tank and plywood to allow air circulation. No more sag. You may want to check yours.

My TT is new so I'm hoping its just the way they mounted the tank but I guess it wouldn't hurt to look at another TT same model as mine thats 5 miles away.:)

[mosseater]

Just a side note...The bulging tank underneath may be a sign of impending doom. I noticed mine starting to seem lower when full, and going on intuition alone, I removed the plastic underbelly to bring into full view the fact that the tank mounting "system" they used was nothing more than a piece of 1/2" OSB between two bar joist flanges underneath the floor. The condensation over the 8 years had gathered at the center of the tank and caused the OSB to rot right in the middle. There was precious little supporting my 400lbs of water. When I took the OSB out, it was visibly rotted and I was able to break it in half with my hands. I replaced it with 5/8" plywood with steel straps underneath and some weep holes to allow water to drain and evaporate, and some plastic strips between the tank and plywood to allow air circulation. No more sag. You may want to check yours.

[mat60]

Thank you for the info guys. 🙂 I EDIT..I just wanted to add a sorry for being so long winded with my questions. I no you guys get asked the same thing allot.

[ScottG]

I would get a different draw bar with more adjustment. Then get the trailer level or slightly nose down. Makes a huge difference.
Also agree with tires although if they're LT LR E they should be fine. If not, you will have squirmy handling no matter what you do.

[BarneyS]

Almost all hitches need to be re-done after leaving the dealer. First of all most dealers techs do not have experience in actually driving a rig and set up the hitch by the written directions - if they even go that far. Secondly, they are setting it up for an empty trailer and you do not tow it that way when you go camping. You should load your trailer like you are going camping, then adjust the hitch so the proper amount of tongue weight is returned to the front axle of the tow vehicle and the trailer is level. Those are the two main goals of setting up the hitch correctly.

I would switch back to the stock tires, get a shank that will let you lower the tongue so the trailer is level when being towed, and take a good long look at this sticky thread which will help you set your hitch up correctly.

That thread has a lot of information in it via clickable links that you should use to find your particular answers. It was written quite a long time ago but has been updated frequently so it is quite current. Hope it helps you out. 🙂
Barney

[mat60]

Thanks guys.. When I picked up my TT from the dealer I had no WDH. The trailer was nose down and truck had about 21/2 in of rear squat. It went fairly well. Just a little light in the front end and the rear tires in the turns not so go. Didn't have the tires aired up like I should have. So I aired up my tires and installed my WDH and set it up in a flat parking lot using the info that came from my hitch. The trailer was a bit nose up because I ran out of adjustment on the hitch. ( Big Tires )..Anyway I found out how dangerous it is to have to much preload on the bars and it didn't take me long to pull over and fix that. I'm thinking maybe it may be best I change my tires and level trailer out and adjust WDH so my truck drives good and not worry as much about how my truck sits. It seems to me if a dealer sent someone down the road with a hitch that was not set up well it could end up bad. Do you guys adjust your hitch different from what it calls for because it makes your rig handle better or does the stock settings work for you?

[ScottG]

There's probably a tank in the colorplast you see hanging down but it could be any of them.
When it's done right the tank is over one of the axles but they don't always do so. My last TT had the tank where you describe, directly in front of the axle.

[donn0128]

Water tanks are usually placed over the axles to evenly distribute weight.
As for tires?
Stick with a stock size if possible. M/S tires can make for a squirlly ride when towing. The deep groove tread pattern is not the best.
Nose high will tend to unload the hitch. Opposite of nose down which coild unduly load the hitch. Best is perfectly level.

[Mickeyfan0805]

When it comes to the tires - I will leave that to those who are much better versed than I.

As to tongue weight, I don't see the angle impacting the weight significantly. The only way I could see there being a real difference is if you carry partially full tanks. It is conceivable that a nose-down configuration would cause the fluid to rest forward in the tank (bringing the weight forward) while the nose-up would cause it to rest in the rear of the tank, bringing the weight back - resulting in a small change in tongue weight.

With that said, while this is theoretically possible, I also imagine that the real impact would be relatively negligible. The impact of fluids on tongue weight depends heavily on the location of the tank, but shifting 150 pounds of weight 2 feet further back is not going to have an impact worth consideration.