We do a cross-country trip every six months, closing one house and opening the other. As a result, we take a lot of stuff with us beyond normal camping stuff, so I try to be aware of our weight. In previous years, the extra stuff has been divided between the trailer and the tow vehicle, and the weight of the trailer got pretty high. This year we have a different tow vehicle, and we could pack all of this stuff into the truck. Sionce we have had a number of tire failures on the TM over the years, we aggressively packed the truck and unpacked the TM.
During this year's trip from Maine to Arzona, we stopped at a CAT scale in PA.
Our TM is a 2720SL. The heavy options are air conditioner and awning.
At the time of weighing, our conditions were these.
- Two people in the front seat of the truck, totalling about 400 pounds - no other passengers
- Spring bars snapped up
- One empty propane tank, one half full tank
- Fresh water tank - empty
- Gray tank - empty
- Toilet - empty
- Water heater - full (6 gallons is about 50 pounds)
The scale showed:
Truck front axle 3460 lb
Truck back axle 3960 lb
Trailer axle 3380
Total 10,800 pounds.
I did not reweigh without the spring bars, and I did not reweigh the trailer or hitch weight alone. Wish I had. But if I run through the math that describes a WDH operation, it tells me that the Gross Trailer Weight is between 3800 and 4000 pounds. This is the minimum "tow rating" that our vehicle should have, and our truck does.
It also tells me that about 270 pounds remains on the hitch ball after the springbars are snapped up. Without the WDH, this would have been over 500 pounds, so this shows the value of a WDH.
The take-away from all this? Even lightly packed, our trailer weight was around 3800 pounds. And a WDH is needed.
Bill