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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: May have towed too much weight
when I was comparing a pilot vs my highlander, the pilot was rated to tow 5,000 lbs. towing a boat, 3500 towing a trailer.
bumpy
Two tow ratings on one vehicle is the most bizarre thing I've ever heard.
Well if you did much towing you would understand some things slip threw wind better than others.
You would also understand wind resistance has more affect than weight most of time.
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JRscooby
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05/27/23 09:50am |
Towing
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RE: Roosevelt Lake {NE of Phoenix} is full...
new dams/res make good sense . the people in charge have none.
Not to be political, but have you ever worked at building a pond? When the ground is wet, you can't work it. It takes time to do the work. Even after decide where to put it, and how to pay for it.
Been around a old pond that no longer has enough in-flow to keep it full?
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JRscooby
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05/27/23 06:45am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
Ok for those still following this thread and offering advice - I went back to the Cat scale, hope I've got this right.
1st ticket -Steer Axle only 5,780 The truck on only one pad.
2nd ticket Steer Axle 3,260
Drive Axle 3,460
Trailer Axle 5,940
Combination 12,660
Well still can't tell how much lighter the front end is with trailer than without.
And when you where airing tires did you up the pressure in front tires too? Less weight means less traction. More air means less traction plus harsher ride. That harshness could make front end feel, or even act, lighter.
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JRscooby
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05/27/23 05:03am |
Towing
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RE: Fuel gauge calibration
For years I always felt bad because everything on my old truck worked except the fuel gauge. Could make work, but not accurate
Then I heard about space shuttle mission delayed several times because "fuel sensors malfunction". With their budget, and only used few times, they still had fuel gauge problems? I'll just put in what I expect to use today, or fill it up and use my trip meter. If I loose track, carry old CB antenna for dipstick.
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JRscooby
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05/26/23 01:51pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
To Grit dog, By the way, forgot to mention that the previous owner had flipped the axle on this trailer. Not sure why. Seems to me with adjustable hitches it really only makes sense to do it on 5th wheels, not TTs. In any case, could that be contributing to our issues?
That can really make a difference in the way a trailer handles. If done right, raising COG is never a good thing. Add the fact it would be hard to be sure it was done right.
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JRscooby
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05/26/23 07:04am |
Towing
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RE: MGVWR and problems titling trailer
Wait, you're saying the dry weight of your trailer shows it in the 7700 lbs range, yet your trailer with minimal stuff weighs 10,800 lbs?
If true, bad scale, stickered wrong, or fraud.
Sounds like need to unload everything out of trailer, and hit the Cat.
With weights from certified scale would go long way to get them to check their scale.
Also would prove wrong sticker or fraud.
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JRscooby
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05/25/23 04:38am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
The guy gave me two slips, and they ARE confusing. The first one says: Steer Axle 00
Drive Axle 6540
Trailer Axle 5980
Gross Weight 12520
The 2nd sheet says: Steer Axle 00
Drive Axle 840
Trailer Axle 5860
Gross Weight 6700
This WAS confusing to me. I asked the guy to explain, and he said the Drive axle was the truck, and the trailer axle was the trailer weight. I didin't realize the numbers on the 2nd sheet were different until I got home. The more I think about it I think the truck and trailer numbers might be reversed, and that would make more sense. The curb weight of the truck is supposed to be 5209, and the dry weight of the trailer should be 5777. I do have stuff in both the truck, and the camper, but all the tanks were empty, and we had removed a lot of our stuff right after we got back from camping. I'm guessing there's about 300 to 400 lbs of odds and ends in the basement and the pantry and bedroom.
This is the fault of internet. We tell you to weigh with and without the trailer, but just assume you will know how to use scale. I'm sorry.
The Cat platform is divided into 3 sections, normally with blue lines around each. When you pull on you should park with one line under the TV, so front axle is on 1 segment, rear on 2nd, and trailer on 3rd. Parked like that each time you weigh the ticket will have 4 numbers; STEERING,(=front axle) DRIVE,(=back axle of TV) TRAILER, (=the trailer axles) and GROSS (=total weight of unit) The pass w/o trailer the 3rd segment will read 0
With all those numbers we can figure out what adjustments need to be made. Subtract Gross w/o trailer from gross with it, you have weight of trailer. Subtract what scale reads as Trailer from that number, you have tongue weight. Is that percentage in the 10-15% range?
Comparing DRIVE weight to ratings on rear tires, are tires overloaded at 35PSI? (BTW, I have never seen factory recommend tires on 1/2 ton be maxed out on sidewall labeled pressure)
Weight on front w/wo tells how much the TW is subtracting from front. Is that enough to cause issue?
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JRscooby
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05/21/23 11:56am |
Towing
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RE: May have towed too much weight
Before you go to dealer, check your vehicle, by VIN to find out what the ratings are. Not sure I would want to start the discussion with "I did this which is a excuse to void my warranty" when troubleshooting the problem.
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JRscooby
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05/21/23 05:54am |
Towing
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
h. You should have LT tires inflated to I'd guess 40 to 50 psi depending on weight.
You are very likely over your trucks GVWR. You are quite likely over your tire weights if the are P tires.
Yes, LT tires truck will stiffen the ride, even MT.
As to the more air in tires; Bet if you checked the inflation tables you would find the PSI truck manufacturer puts on the post is what is needed to carry the weight rating manufacturer puts on axle.
(For years, part of check trailer tire routine was bump rear tires of TV up about 15%, even after Cat told me I was under rating on all axles. 1 trip I had wife check tires while I was doing something else with TV. Short tow, but drove better. Routine changed.)
Do you have P or LT tires in the truck? 35 pounds of air can't be enough. You should have LT tires inflated to I'd guess 40 to 50 psi depending on weight.
You are very likely over your trucks GVWR. You are quite likely over your tire weights if the are P tires.
I have P tires, and you are right, and actually I should have a 3/4 ton truck, but that just isn't in the cards : ). Beginning to think I just need to sell this camper and go back to something smaller.
Will you break even selling the trailer to buy smaller? Why not weigh your rig, compare numbers to ratings, and make adjustments from there? If you can't get right on tire ratings, need to make major changes, (Pair of LT tires for rear of TV likely would solve that issue) but there is some play in other numbers. There are decisions that can be made to reduce total weight, and to some extent where the weight is carried.
The Cat might tell you your fat on trailer tires. (Are they aired to max on sidewall? Flex there can cause bad handling)
Another thing you should do is pay real close attention to driving TV without trailer. Does it track real good? Any bad manners MT get worse with a load. TW of trailer is a load placed in bad part of vehicle. Lowering the rear reduces caster of front. Lifting the front when unload can change it too. Together, not a lot of change, but maybe enough to put it out of spec.
The bottom line is without a trip to Cat you're using your thumb for a anvil. Getting little done, and hurting yourself while doing it.
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JRscooby
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05/20/23 05:52am |
Towing
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
Not enough hitch weight? That is typical of the issues you mentioned in my experience.
MartyI'm not sure what you mean. Could you elaborate? Here are the specs for the trailer:
Trailer Specs
Hitch Weight 663 lbs
GVWR 9463 lbs
Dry Weight 5777 lbs
Cargo Capacity 3212 lbs
Vehicle Specs
4WD:
Double Cab, 5.8 V8
9600 lbs / 4354 kgs – 5.3L (3.42 axle)
Thanks!
This is the issue; You think somebody looking at numbers like this should be able to tell you why your snot don't tow right. The idea you can't seem to get between your ears is it does not matter what is printed on the paper. The scale is not just something for fun. Until you know what the real weights are there is no way anybody can tell you what you need to change.
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JRscooby
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05/19/23 12:47pm |
Towing
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RE: Will Air bags make a big difference?
Any time I'm reading a question about towing, see the words like "dry weight listed as x,xxx" I wonder how somebody can expect to tow well when they have now idea what weight towing, and how it is distributed.
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JRscooby
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05/19/23 08:08am |
Towing
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RE: Safe route from Mesa Arizona to Rochester NY
There is a place in Fla where you can donate money. If you ask, and donate enough, you can get a Sharpe to change weather patterns.
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JRscooby
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05/15/23 03:51pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Backwards buttons
Take green electrical tape and wrap it around the ground wires. Take red electrical tape and wrap it around the hot wires. Taking photos is great, as long as you can find the photos.
Then you will have any RV professional that needs to work on it in the future confused. If you want to mark with color, use industry standard. Yes, I understand green is ground when working with AC, you hamn sure do not want to ground AC to the battery. The fact we often use frame for negative on many DC circuits leads to careless use of language when AC and DC are used on same vehicle.
For everyone wondering, it was that I indeed had the wires backwards. Black to positive, white to negative and all is well again. We take the battery completely off in wintertime and keep it in our basement. Even though I try to leave the wires on their respective sides, I suspect that when it was moved in and out of the shed they shifted and I didn’t think about it until I had no power. I’m still trying to figure out which one is supposed to have the inline fuse though, as it’s a red wire. I’m assuming positive. I want to make tags to identify them right on the wires.
Thank you for telling us you found the problem. It is very likely the fact of the mistake will be all the memory aid you need. But in my world everybody has duct tape, and most have a sharpie.
Few inches of duct tape, make a flag large enough to write positive or negative with sharpie
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JRscooby
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05/14/23 05:34am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Backwards buttons
I think you’re exactly right, as when I disconnected the battery, replaced the fuses, and powered back up, all was good.
Now to figure out how I messed that up. I’ve only done this how many times before…You probably blew the fuses on the convertor. There is ususally 4 of them IIRC. They are there just for when the battery is hooked up backwards. To prevent future brain farts, only dissconect 1 battery cable.
Few inches of duct tape, make a flag large enough to write positive or negative with sharpie.
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JRscooby
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05/13/23 04:36am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Backwards buttons
Confusion sometimes occur from people working on house electric and mobile electric. House electric BLACK is hot, white is neutral or return, green is ground. Mobile 12vdc RED is hot/positive and black is return/negative/ground.
And to make it even more confusing, many RVs use yellow as positive and white as negative!
I have not worked on all that many campers, but every one I have used white for ground. Now the positive, I have seen black, red, and brown. Yellow is new to me, but I would accept the possibility.
OP, Disconnect the battery, grab your Ohm meter, and check for continuity frame/end of white wire.
Reversed polarity is all that is needed to reverse direction a DC motor runs. And reversed polarity will blow fuse to protect the converter.
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JRscooby
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05/12/23 03:57pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Backwards buttons
So to clarify, I had the large wires correct-white on positive, black on negative. But what about the little wires? I had the white on positive and the red with the inline fuse on negative.
I think right here is the problem. On all RVs I have messed with white is ground for the house part.
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JRscooby
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05/12/23 04:06am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: VIDEO: TAG AXLE For Carrying Your Heavy Truck Camper
Is the hitch and rear of pickup frame designed to have a great big hammer pounding up on it?
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JRscooby
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05/11/23 07:03am |
Truck Campers
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RE: F53 trailer hitch
I don't know about the light duty stuff, but I do know on the larger trucks you can buy a lot of steel that has near the same cross section but is not near as hard as Ford truck frame.
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JRscooby
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05/10/23 01:03pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Residency and voters rights in South Dakota
Pre-dating even the Constitution is the idea nobody should be forced to pay taxes if have no chance of representation about the taxes.
AFAIK, the advertised reason for declare you live in SD is to avoid taxes.
Of course, "Representation Without Taxation" is a reasonable idea /sarcasm
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JRscooby
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05/10/23 04:40am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Some sites just are not accessible..
I didn't watch this whole video, but I love this stuff. I've watched a lot of "Matt's Off Road Recover" videos from Utah and that guy is a saint.
One thing that seemed pretty shocking to me in this video was that they hooked the winch strap to the tow ball, which is a great way to get decapitated. Don't ever try that at home, kiddies
When I first started watching MORR, any time they had a job needing a winch Paul at Fab Rats got a call. And doing the job, it looked like Paul was in charge. Back then Matt used a 3-ball deal so he was loading 2. Has sense changed to pintle.
About the hitch ball; When first hooked up, it was just to hold the wrecker in place. (BTW, 1972, owner called me out to a job to haul his KW in. He had chained a big loader to the front of KW, was pulling a stuck dozer. Kinked truck frame) No jerking and not a lot of force. Then winching pickup out, was not dug in, did not much force.
But you are right, anytime rigging for lift or pull you must know the forces involved. And a ball is not much for pulling, and a jerk is worse.
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JRscooby
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05/05/23 02:48pm |
General RVing Issues
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