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Old 03-03-2012, 07:27 AM   #1
brulaz
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Default Elkmont weights again

I've made some changes to our Elkmont 24 last summer and so visited a CAT scale to see how they affected its weight distribution. The biggest change was mounting a rear hitch receiver, bike carrier and moving the bikes out of the truck's bed. I also doubled the size of the black water tank to 30 gal (weighed empty though).

Both these changes added weight behind the Elkmont's axle and so should reduce the tongue weight, which is what happened:

Before Trailer GVW: 3920#
After Trailer GVW 4040#

Before Tongue Weight: 620#
After Tongue Weight: 580#

To get the above #'s I went through the CAT scale twice, once with the trailer (no WDH) and once without. Subtract the total weights to get the trailer GVW. Subtract the trailer GAW from the trailer GVW to get the tongue weight. "Before" comes from last year, before the mods.

The CAT scales appear quite accurate, even when comparing weights made at different CAT scales and about a year apart. The 120# increase in trailer GVW is entirely reasonable, as is the 40# reduction in tongue weight. In addition to the bikes (and receiver and rack), we're probably carrying more stuff inside the trailer this year.

That 4040# GVW is getting closer to the trailer's GVWR of 4230#, and an additional 120# + 40# = 160# over last year is riding on the trailer axle:

Before Trailer GAW: 3300#
After Trailer GAW 3460#

That's getting pretty close to the trailer's GAWR of 3619#. So I have to be careful about my WDH (800# spring bars) settings, as I could potentially throw too much weight back onto the trailer axle.


Ford gives pretty specific instructions about setting up your WDH for the F150. As I understand it, the truck's suspension is designed for carrying weight in the rear; you can see how the bed is lifted over the rear wheels more than in the front. So adding weight that lowers the rear and raises the front is apparently expected. Ford's recommendation for the WDH is to measure the distance between wheel and fender at the front, before and after hitching up the trailer w/o WDH spring bars. Then adjust the spring bars to reduce the front lift by half.

This is quite different from what I was doing with the old truck, where I tried to remove the front lift completely. But Ford's method is better for the trailer, as it puts less weight on the trailer axle.

So this time I set the # free links to 3 (6 active; last year it was 4 free, 5 active links), which is still tighter than Ford recommends, and went through the CAT scale again. This time the trailer's GAW was 3620#, 1# over its GAWR.

So I've now adjusted the WDH down to only 2 free links and am thinking about not using it all. But first I need to get some LT rated tires because with all that weight on the rear of the truck, and no WDH, the current P rated tires feel too squirmy, although doable.

Here's the raw data:

Truck Only
Steer 3260#
Drive 3120#
Trailer 0#
Total 6380#

Truck+Trailer
With No WDH
Steer 3000#
Drive 3960#
Trailer 3460#
Total 10420#

Truck+Trailer
With 3 link free WDH
Steer 3280#
Drive 3520#
Trailer 3620#
Total 10420#

Ratings:
Steer GAWR 3600#
Drive GAWR 4050#
Truck GVWR 7500#
Truck GCWR 16900#
Trailer GAWR 3619#
Trailer GVWR 4230#
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Old 03-03-2012, 10:32 AM   #2
T and C
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Default

Thanks for that! Educational!


Tom
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