Weight distribution in trailer?

[mdprowash]

How do you get the weight distributed correctly in the trailer? What are the signs that it is not? If a trailer is porpoising.. is that too much in front? Sway.. too much in rear? Any info would be appreciated!

[rbpru]

Hunting dog,

You point out the reasons why I never put much credibility in weight and balance. I can shift the pounds of water weight from the fresh tank over the axles to the black and gray tanks in the rear end of the TT in a few days of use.

Add to this consumption of fire wood, food, propane and shifting of items from TT to the TV bed and cab, plus the periodic dumping of the black and gray tanks and several hundred pounds will change on an extended trip.

When you are hitched to a 6000 lb box on wheels; wind, rain, road surface, hills and traffic are a far greater concern than a few hundred pounds of weight.


While I do not doubt those who say you can never have too much TV; like my TT, I bought the a TV big enough to handle the task at hand.

If you have a stability problem, I would think it is more then the amount of water in your fresh water tank.

[Huntindog]

Lynnmor wrote:

Atlee wrote:
Only if the fresh water tank is all the way forward, or all the way aft. My fresh water tank sits over the axles, so the water doesn't come into play, except if the 40 gal water tank is only half full. The sloshing could conceivably have an effect.

Lynnmor wrote:

rbpru wrote:


My point is, the 1200 lbs of stuff that was added to the dry weight of my TT has an assigned spot. Not a lot of room to "balance" the load.

That's true, you are limited on most items normally carried in a travel trailer. You do have hundreds of pounds of water to play with, so that may be an option.
If you have a trailer that just cannot be balanced with the proper hitch weight, you have two option; camp in the driveway or get a better designed trailer.

Funny thing about water tanks, they may be installed at different locations depending on model. Another thing is that the water can actually find its way into gray and black tanks.

We have a winner!!

Not only can water move around, but many other weights can change in the course of a trip.
Propane gets burned and disappears, food and drink gets consumed and ends up in the waste tanks etc. Many other items for one reason or another can change places..

So for those with marginal TVs that strive for the minimum TW... It can be a fools errand.

I beieve in having a STOUT TV and starting out a trip with a LOT of TW.

The 10 to 15% is a guideline... Understand that the 10% minumum is to keep one out of sway trouble. Going under 10% should never be done.

OTOH...
The 15% often quoted as a maximum is because most TVs, recievers and hitches will run out of capacity at that point.... If your hitch, TV, and reciever can handle more TW, then there is no harm in it.

[Lynnmor]

Atlee wrote:
Only if the fresh water tank is all the way forward, or all the way aft. My fresh water tank sits over the axles, so the water doesn't come into play, except if the 40 gal water tank is only half full. The sloshing could conceivably have an effect.

Lynnmor wrote:

rbpru wrote:


My point is, the 1200 lbs of stuff that was added to the dry weight of my TT has an assigned spot. Not a lot of room to "balance" the load.

That's true, you are limited on most items normally carried in a travel trailer. You do have hundreds of pounds of water to play with, so that may be an option.
If you have a trailer that just cannot be balanced with the proper hitch weight, you have two option; camp in the driveway or get a better designed trailer.

Funny thing about water tanks, they may be installed at different locations depending on model. Another thing is that the water can actually find its way into gray and black tanks.

[Atlee]

Only if the fresh water tank is all the way forward, or all the way aft. My fresh water tank sits over the axles, so the water doesn't come into play, except if the 40 gal water tank is only half full. The sloshing could conceivably have an effect.

Lynnmor wrote:

rbpru wrote:


My point is, the 1200 lbs of stuff that was added to the dry weight of my TT has an assigned spot. Not a lot of room to "balance" the load.

That's true, you are limited on most items normally carried in a travel trailer. You do have hundreds of pounds of water to play with, so that may be an option.
If you have a trailer that just cannot be balanced with the proper hitch weight, you have two option; camp in the driveway or get a better designed trailer.

[rbpru]

I have found that load balance varies considerably from trip to trip.

Loaded heavy for a fishing trip to the Ozarks the scales indicated I had 13% of the TT weight on the tongue. On another shorter local trip the scales showed the TT was 550 lbs lighter and the tongue weight dropped to 9% of the TT weight.

I suspect most of the weight change was in the front storage hold.

I cannot say there was much difference in the handling; wind, trucks, roads and hills seem to have a greater impact. I do adjust the WD hitch to keep the TT level.

[mdprowash]

Thanks for all the replies and useful info. Need to get weighed and pick up tongue scale!

[Ron_Gratz]

mdprowash wrote:
---I need to get the trailer weighed while loaded. I believe dry weight is 6500 according to tag.

If the dry weight is 6500#, you'll probably be at least 7500# when loaded and the tongue weight should be around 1000#.

My weight distribution hitch is 800# rated. I usually hook it on the 6th link and have tried the 5th link but like it on 6th.. seems to ride better. I could use some heavier bars.

Yes, you'll probably need 1000# bars.

Ron

[horton333]

The hitch rating should be for the dynamic weight, I.E. static weight minus the amount the weight distribution reflects back to the trailer. It's complex to calculate, but from my experience take a guess at 150#s less and the 850 was specified as "dry" weight so it's more like 700 vs the 800 specification.

[mikebte]

mdprowash wrote:
Thanks for the replies. The sway and porpoising is nothing significant but there is a little bit. I believe my TV is adequate.. 99 2500 Cummins.

I can get fairly level hooked up. And when I measured.. the height variance at my wheel wells with weight distribution bars hooked up is about an inch.



When I had the trailer inspected I had them weigh the tongue.. it was 850# (dry) if I remember correctly. I will pick up a scale soon to see where I'm at loaded. The kitchen/pantry is up front and bedroom/storage is in back. Water tank is under sofa before the axles but usually travel with it empty. I need to get the trailer weighed while loaded. I believe dry weight is 6500 according to tag.

My weight distribution hitch is 800# rated. I usually hook it on the 6th link and have tried the 5th link but like it on 6th.. seems to ride better. I could use some heavier bars.

Truck has a leveling kit installed by previous owner that I plan on removing and i would like to add airbags in rear. I think that will help some. Shocks are Bilstein 5100s and are good.

I was looking to see if there was any rule of thumb for loading and how to distribute inside.

So..... If I am reading this right, you weight is 850 and your hitch is rated at 800?

May be passed the upper limits of that hitch. Also front leveler does not help the way it sits.

[Campfire_Time]

Some of your issues can be caused by loss of steering control. How much does your front end rise? Have you brought it back down to factory spec when adjusting the WDH? A big reason to use WDH is to restore weight back on the front end and regain proper steering control.

[Lynnmor]

rbpru wrote:


My point is, the 1200 lbs of stuff that was added to the dry weight of my TT has an assigned spot. Not a lot of room to "balance" the load.

That's true, you are limited on most items normally carried in a travel trailer. You do have hundreds of pounds of water to play with, so that may be an option.
If you have a trailer that just cannot be balanced with the proper hitch weight, you have two option; camp in the driveway or get a better designed trailer.

[rbpru]

The dry weight to scale weight on my TT is about 1200 lbs. How can you distribute it?

The propane goes in the tanks on the hitch, so does the battery. The food goes in the fridge or pantry. The toiletries and towels go in the bathroom closet, pots, pans, dishes etc. go in the kitchen cabinets, clothing goes it the closests and drawers. Finally tools and equipment in the storage hold.

My point is, the 1200 lbs of stuff that was added to the dry weight of my TT has an assigned spot. Not a lot of room to "balance" the load.

[3oaks]

jmtandem wrote:

How do you get the weight distributed correctly in the trailer? What are the signs that it is not? If a trailer is porpoising.. is that too much in front? Sway.. too much in rear? Any info would be appreciated!

Go to the scales. Be sure you have approximately 13 percent of the total trailer's weight on the tongue. That is it, that simple!

You got it. Simplified.

Also road conditions will cause proposing which cannot be entirely eliminated. Specifically concrete highways where the joints have curled over time. In this case, the only thing that helps is to adjust your speed to reduce the purposing.

[jmtandem]

How do you get the weight distributed correctly in the trailer? What are the signs that it is not? If a trailer is porpoising.. is that too much in front? Sway.. too much in rear? Any info would be appreciated!

Go to the scales. Be sure you have approximately 13 percent of the total trailer's weight on the tongue. That is it, that simple!