Cat scale analysis. Question

[sgfrye]

Finally was able to get to a cat scale to weigh rig. Weighed our truck first. Ford F-250 super duty with wife and I ready to camp minus 4 small dogs they camp with us always. 40 lbs total for them. Total steer axle 3800 and rear axle 2840. lbs. total 6640 lbs. then I weighed truck and TT 33 ft wildwood. With WDH hooked up 3420 steer axle and rear axle 3920 lb. 3rd pad weight (TT 6300lbs) Total weight 13,640 lbs. my question so I understand. The WDH transferred 700lbs to tow vehicle? I did not weigh TT with WDH disengaged. My trucks
Gcwr is 19k lbs so I know I'm good there, and it's gvwr is 9k The TT gvwr is 7720. We pack light and tow with empty tanks. Just trying to get an idea of what extra weight we could add if needed.

[sgfrye]

WA4HTZ wrote:
What year is your F-250? Sometime around the 2010 time frame ford changed its recommendation on how much to return to the front wheels. This is using the fender well lip measurement method. The older recommendation, like for the '06 in my signature, was to return enough weight to the front end so the before and after measurements were the same. I believe the new recommendation is to return enough weight to the front end to recover one half of the difference between the before measurement and the after measurement. Folks with newer Fords, please correct me if that's not correct. The proper method is listed in the owner's manual for your truck. In my '06 manual there is no method listed using scale weights. I hope this helps you get the hitch set correctly.

Ken

It's a 2017 f250 2wd cc short bed. 6.2 liter gas

[WA4HTZ]

What year is your F-250? Sometime around the 2010 time frame ford changed its recommendation on how much to return to the front wheels. This is using the fender well lip measurement method. The older recommendation, like for the '06 in my signature, was to return enough weight to the front end so the before and after measurements were the same. I believe the new recommendation is to return enough weight to the front end to recover one half of the difference between the before measurement and the after measurement. Folks with newer Fords, please correct me if that's not correct. The proper method is listed in the owner's manual for your truck. In my '06 manual there is no method listed using scale weights. I hope this helps you get the hitch set correctly.

Ken

[Hannibal]

jim1521 wrote:
Sitting on a plane right now. Here's a quick look. Will follow up when landed. Your numbers look perfect. (This is from a spreadsheet I built using numerous CAT scale receipts to validate). Disregard numbers in parentheses as those are for my truck/trailer. That left-hand column are your numbers.

13,640 Gross Weight (Max 19450. from scales receipt)
6,640 Truck baseline weight (7580 unloaded/8000 loaded)
3,420 Steer Axle Weight (Max 4900. from scales receipt)
3,920 Drive Axle Weight (Max 4900.from scales receipt)
6,300 Trailer axle weight (Max 10200. from scales receipt)
700 Tongue Weight (Max 1260. Calculated. Do not change)
7,340 Truck actual weight (Max 8800. Calculated. Do not change)
7,000 Trailer Gross Weight (Max 10995.Calculated. Do not change)
10% % Tongue Weight (Calculated. Do not change)

This is correct. You don't really need to weigh the truck/trailer with the WD bars disconnected as long as you compare the total weight of the truck's front and rear axles with and without the trailer. With just 10% tongue weight, I would try to load as much of the cargo as possible forward of the trailer axles.

[bfast54]

TundraTower wrote:
Don't want to hijack this thread, but someone mentioned the sticker on the door frame of the truck that specifies the cargo or payload capacity. Mine is on the sticker with the tire size and pressure specs.

Does this payload capacity number from the factory include a full tank of fuel, or do you have to include that weight in your payload tally????

The fuel is part of your payload capacity roughly 6 and a half pounds per gallon for gas.... give or take.

[TundraTower]

Don't want to hijack this thread, but someone mentioned the sticker on the door frame of the truck that specifies the cargo or payload capacity. Mine is on the sticker with the tire size and pressure specs.

Does this payload capacity number from the factory include a full tank of fuel, or do you have to include that weight in your payload tally????

[rbpru]

Also, keep in mind that you can spend a lot of time chasing your tail.

There really is not much you can do to shift weight. Food goes in the pantry, pots and pans go in the kitchen cupboards, camping gear goes in the hold.

If your scales numbers look good, take the rig for a spin and see how it tows.

[sgfrye]

aftermath wrote:
It is nice to know that your combination tows nicely. That is huge. When you are dealing with a WD set up it is pretty important to get three passes over the scales. Follow the link that lawrosa included.

I would like to know how your setup looks. Is everything level? Adding 1000lbs to the back while removing almost 400 lbs from the front does not sound right to me. You should always try to replace as much weight to the steer axle as possible.

You asked "how much weight can I add?" Add where? Are you planning on loading up the bed of the truck or are you going to put extra stuff in the trailer? It will make a difference.

What kind of WD hitch do you have? You can do an estimate by measuring the height of your truck above the drive wheels. When you connect the trailer adjust the hitch to return this height as close to the original as possible. Mine is something like 1.5 inches. Load the truck and trailer with what you will typically be using and get it weighed using the worksheet. There should be a weigh station close by.

very good info thank you

wd is an eazlift
any extra weight added would be in TT, (extra clothes, food, reading material, etc) for a longer trip than 2 or 3 nights.. extra weight in TT would be added from trailer axles to TT tongue

i need to get a photo on here of the rig hooked up and tow ready.
tt and truck sit level.

[rbpru]

The information I have gathered says the WD hitch is adjusted so the TT and TV sit level and the fender wells return to near their pre-load heights. Mine are about 3/4" difference.

If you know the weight of the TV without the TT. and you know the weight when you add the TT. You know the amount of tongue weight transferred by the WD hitch and the TT weight.

If you add those two you know the total weight of the TT and can calculate the percent of tongue weight.

This is perhaps not as accurate as weighing the TT without the draw bars but I am interested in weight distribution is when traveling with the WD bars attached.

The amount of tongue weight transferred back to the TT by the WD hitch is interesting but I really only care about the tongue load when traveling.

Also keep in mind that the CAT scale readout is only a snapshot in time. Over the course of your trip you can easily swing 200 to 300 lbs. by adding and subtracting the consumables such as gasoline, water, LP, food etc. not to mention the items that start out in the TT storage hold and end up in the back of the truck.

Generally speaking, if you are close to your max cargo limit you increase the wear and tear more quickly. As to the actual ride, that is such a personal issue it is hard for another to judge.

Safe travels

[sgfrye]

Chuck_thehammer wrote:
I like the front axle to have the same weight, with and without trailer...

so 3800.. without and with trailer.. up the chain link by one... or 2 if needed.

based on you without weight.. its a Gas 6.2L 4 wheel drive ?
or a fully loaded 2 wheel drive 🙂

6.2 gas 2wd i should have mentioned that thanks

[aftermath]

It is nice to know that your combination tows nicely. That is huge. When you are dealing with a WD set up it is pretty important to get three passes over the scales. Follow the link that lawrosa included.

I would like to know how your setup looks. Is everything level? Adding 1000lbs to the back while removing almost 400 lbs from the front does not sound right to me. You should always try to replace as much weight to the steer axle as possible.

You asked "how much weight can I add?" Add where? Are you planning on loading up the bed of the truck or are you going to put extra stuff in the trailer? It will make a difference.

What kind of WD hitch do you have? You can do an estimate by measuring the height of your truck above the drive wheels. When you connect the trailer adjust the hitch to return this height as close to the original as possible. Mine is something like 1.5 inches. Load the truck and trailer with what you will typically be using and get it weighed using the worksheet. There should be a weigh station close by.

[Chuck_thehammer]

I like the front axle to have the same weight, with and without trailer...

so 3800.. without and with trailer.. up the chain link by one... or 2 if needed.

based on you without weight.. its a Gas 6.2L 4 wheel drive ?
or a fully loaded 2 wheel drive 🙂

[Walaby]

I echo the suggestion of cranking up the WD hitch a chain. You want to try to add as much of the weight back to the steering axle as you can. You're about 400lbs light there.

You don't HAVE to go back immediately to reweigh. If you are on level ground, measure the distance from ground to top of your front wheel well. Then, hook up trailer and WD hitch and adjust until you get the same front wheel well measurement. You'll be dang close weight wise there. Then, next time you're near a scale, you can double check.

Mike

[lawrosa]

You should weigh with WD not engauged...

But IMO yeah crank up on the WD one chain..

I dont know how one calculated you @ 10% TW above?

Put your #'s in here..

http://towingplanner.com/ActualWeights/TravelTrailerCatScales

[sgfrye]

thanks for all the input guys. i always like to hear from experience. im still learning. after about 1500 miles of towing i like the wdh and sway control setup. living in north carolina we are fortunate to have mountains and coastline and ive towed this rig in both situations. it tows great. on a long trip my wife will take her turn driving and she feels comfortable with it also. so far we have done 2 and 3 night trips but in the near future will be doing longer trips. i wanted to get a general estimate on how much weight i can add. the closest scale is 1 1/2 hour round trip from my house so not really looking to weigh often. also forgot to mention that on the scales i bubble level checked tt and it was level front to back and side to side.