TrailManor Owner's Forum - View Single Post

Mr. Adventure · 09-11-2010, 10:59 AM

"Mr Adventure, I'm a bit confused with your post...
If I'm reading your post correctly, your 3023 actually weighed 3520 lbs."
Sorry, there are a lot of numbers. To clarify, The total 3023 weight was 3940#. The axle weight hitched was 3520#, and unhitched was 3434# (the difference is the extra weight on the trailer axle caused by the WDH).

"A lot of people forget to ad the Ball mount to the tongue weight."
For these weighings, the ball mount stayed with the TV and the hitch spring bars stayed with the trailer, laid across the tongue. So the bars weighed with the trailer (mostly added to the tongue) and the hitch ball mount weighed in like it was part of the tow vehicle.

It is unclear how our manufacturers want the weight of the hitch to be considered. Certainly the weight of the hitch is in there somewhere for GCWR, and it eventually hits the pavement on one axle or another. But I don't remember any manufacturer telling us that we should add the weight of the hitch to the tongue weight of the trailer. It is also unclear whether in limits for tongue weights the manufacturers are addressing the dead weight of the trailer tongue or the effective weight when hitched with a WDH (from a vehicle-handling-on-the-road perspective, the latter is a breeze compared to the former).

"...it would have been nice if the axle had been placed just a foot or two further forward, that would have made for a better use of the truck bed for items brought along."
The best tow vehicles have the rear axle as far back as possible. This provides maximum wheelbase and minimum overhang. Overhang is the distance from the hitch ball to the rear axle, and represents the lever arm your trailer tries to use for lifting the front wheels off the ground and making steering decisions for you on it's own. Things that increase wheelbase or reduce overhang are good things for tow vehicles. A low overhang-to-wheelbase ratio is probably a more important parameter for tow vehicle evaluation than wheelbase (Fifth wheel rigs and Semi trucks drive this number to zero by placing the hitch point on the rear axle).

09-11-2010, 10:59 AM	#18
Mr. Adventure TrailManor Master Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Williamsburg, VA Posts: 668	"Mr Adventure, I'm a bit confused with your post... If I'm reading your post correctly, your 3023 actually weighed 3520 lbs." Sorry, there are a lot of numbers. To clarify, The total 3023 weight was 3940#. The axle weight hitched was 3520#, and unhitched was 3434# (the difference is the extra weight on the trailer axle caused by the WDH). "A lot of people forget to ad the Ball mount to the tongue weight." For these weighings, the ball mount stayed with the TV and the hitch spring bars stayed with the trailer, laid across the tongue. So the bars weighed with the trailer (mostly added to the tongue) and the hitch ball mount weighed in like it was part of the tow vehicle. It is unclear how our manufacturers want the weight of the hitch to be considered. Certainly the weight of the hitch is in there somewhere for GCWR, and it eventually hits the pavement on one axle or another. But I don't remember any manufacturer telling us that we should add the weight of the hitch to the tongue weight of the trailer. It is also unclear whether in limits for tongue weights the manufacturers are addressing the dead weight of the trailer tongue or the effective weight when hitched with a WDH (from a vehicle-handling-on-the-road perspective, the latter is a breeze compared to the former). "...it would have been nice if the axle had been placed just a foot or two further forward, that would have made for a better use of the truck bed for items brought along." The best tow vehicles have the rear axle as far back as possible. This provides maximum wheelbase and minimum overhang. Overhang is the distance from the hitch ball to the rear axle, and represents the lever arm your trailer tries to use for lifting the front wheels off the ground and making steering decisions for you on it's own. Things that increase wheelbase or reduce overhang are good things for tow vehicles. A low overhang-to-wheelbase ratio is probably a more important parameter for tow vehicle evaluation than wheelbase (Fifth wheel rigs and Semi trucks drive this number to zero by placing the hitch point on the rear axle). __________________ 2005 TrailManor 3023 2003 Toyota Highlander 220hp V6 FWD Reese 1000# round bar Weight Distributing Hitch Prodigy brake controller. "It's not how fast you can go, it's how fast you can stop an RV that counts."