Trouble with tow capacity
10-24-2014, 07:57 PM
#31
Id like to see proof of this. I was always told gooseneck and 5th wheels need to have around 20% hitch weight or they wont handle well. Everything ive seen says 20-25%
10-25-2014, 09:11 PM
#33
Could not find the old weight slip. I will try to get out and reweigh this week. I towed today but had time constraints that did not allow for a scale stop. I watched the rpms today and it's about 2300 at 70 in 5th and 2500 at 75. Truck as usual pulled strong in the hills in Ohio today even accelerating easily in 5th uphill. Would estimate load today as a little light (6500)as we were moving stuff not loaded to show for a long weekend with all our gear plus hay and feed etc
Last edited by 5.0GN tow; 10-25-2014 at 09:15 PM.
10-26-2014, 01:49 PM
#36
A new trailer will tell you the EMPTY pin weight, which is an absolutely meaningless number unless you plan on pulling the trailer around with nothing in it. A more accurate way of determining what the loaded pin weight will be is to take the trailer GVWR and multiply that number by .2. That won't be perfect but it will provide you with a realistic loaded pin weight
10-26-2014, 02:06 PM
#37
Really no way to know but to weigh it.
Here's my enclosed car hauler tongue being weighed with my Sherline tongue weight scale (in that picture I'm just weighing the tongue with the trailer empty except for 4 spare wheels/tires on a rack in the front):
My scale only goes up to 1000 lbs because the trailer is only 6200 to 6500 lbs loaded, and the tongue weight isn't usually over 700 lbs.
Check on eBay for a Sherline that goes up to 2000 lbs. With a good tongue weight scale you can check every time you hook up, and adjust the load a little if necessary (or if you're able).
I'd be very wary of numbers spouted out by a salesman or sales brochure! I don't know about horse trailers, but travel trailers will be touted to have low gross weights and low tongue weights, but when you buy the same trailer with a few options both those weights will go UP^^^!
Below is the weight and tire sticker on my car hauler:
That is a generic sticker!!!
it shows on the left sticker that my GVWR is 7000 lbs (based on two 3500 lb axles), and on the right sticker it shows my payload is 4700 lbs.
That's for a bare-bones/no options trailer. That 4700 lbs is for their base trailer with no options. Subtract that from the GVWR:
7000 - 4700 = 2300 lbs and that's what a no-frills trailer weighs.
My trailer came from the factory with a cargo compartment in the floor, a storage compartment in the v-nose, a winch, a battery, and a tire rack. They just stuck a generic sticker on it, but when I took it to the local CAT scales it weighed 2450 lbs empty. So the factory add-ons weigh 150 lbs that is not reflected on the sticker.
Bottom line - only way to know what the trailer REALLY weighs is to take it to your nearby CAT scales, and if you tow much get a Sherline tongue scale to weigh the tongue whenever you hook up.
.
Here's my enclosed car hauler tongue being weighed with my Sherline tongue weight scale (in that picture I'm just weighing the tongue with the trailer empty except for 4 spare wheels/tires on a rack in the front):
My scale only goes up to 1000 lbs because the trailer is only 6200 to 6500 lbs loaded, and the tongue weight isn't usually over 700 lbs.
Check on eBay for a Sherline that goes up to 2000 lbs. With a good tongue weight scale you can check every time you hook up, and adjust the load a little if necessary (or if you're able).
I'd be very wary of numbers spouted out by a salesman or sales brochure! I don't know about horse trailers, but travel trailers will be touted to have low gross weights and low tongue weights, but when you buy the same trailer with a few options both those weights will go UP^^^!
Below is the weight and tire sticker on my car hauler:
That is a generic sticker!!!
it shows on the left sticker that my GVWR is 7000 lbs (based on two 3500 lb axles), and on the right sticker it shows my payload is 4700 lbs. That's for a bare-bones/no options trailer. That 4700 lbs is for their base trailer with no options. Subtract that from the GVWR:
7000 - 4700 = 2300 lbs and that's what a no-frills trailer weighs.
My trailer came from the factory with a cargo compartment in the floor, a storage compartment in the v-nose, a winch, a battery, and a tire rack. They just stuck a generic sticker on it, but when I took it to the local CAT scales it weighed 2450 lbs empty. So the factory add-ons weigh 150 lbs that is not reflected on the sticker.
Bottom line - only way to know what the trailer REALLY weighs is to take it to your nearby CAT scales, and if you tow much get a Sherline tongue scale to weigh the tongue whenever you hook up.
.
Last edited by KR Kodi; 10-26-2014 at 02:10 PM.
