[funpilot]

I post this with all the appropriate disclaimers for TM and with their permission. This was just an email discussion in response to some questions I had and all of us need to follow manufacturer's specs and if not sure, get expert opinions. I am not taking this as an expert's response.

The email started out with this paragraph that I sent TM:

Hooked up and using the blue ox, the trailer axle weighs 3380 pounds on the CAT scale. I unhooked it and weighed the tongue weight using a tongue weight scale, and it currently weighs 650 pounds. ​ So, I think that means the total weight of the trailer is 4030. On your website you list the dry weight as 3185, the tongue weight as 490 pounds and the load capacity as 1227. I presume I add those 3 numbers up (3185+490+1227 = 4902 for max weight leaving me almost 870 pounds of weight capacity left? Is that correct?

Here is Joe's response:

Robert,


We weighed this trailer at the factory before it was shipped out and it weighed 3,785 pounds overall. The tongue weight at the factory was 595.5 pounds. (We use aircraft scales that have been calibrated to the nearest 0.5 pound.) The dry weight listed in the brochure does not include any options, batteries, filled propane tanks, or any gear.

When you weighed the unit you came up with a total of 4,030 pounds overall and 650 pounds tongue weight. This is 245 pounds heavier the weight we got at the factory. (The variance is from adding the battery & propane and scale error.)

We can use the following formula with your figures of 4,030 & 650 pounds to determine load capacity.

Axle capacity: 5,200#
Tire capacity: 2,540# each (5,080# total)
This makes the tires the lower weight rating and you should use the lowest rating when determining load capacity.

So 5,080# max capacity - weight at axle 4,030# = 1,050# of additional storage capacity. You don't include the tongue weight since that weight is not sitting on your axle. (It's supported by the tow vehicle.)

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So, for me, the last paragraph was somewhat new to me.

I then asked what would be the benefit of going to "E" rated tires. Here was that response:

The "E" rated tire would give you more capacity. The axle rating is 5200# and that does not include the axle itself (around 350#) or the wheels & tires (around 50# each.) So the overall weight at the axle can be up to 5650# if you have higher capacity tires that match or exceed that.

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More info that I did not know. One more thing on the difference of weights. I believe the Blue Ox adds about 50 more pounds of weight as well.