Are we unballanced?

[Kmikesell]

I was having a discussion with the DW about the wieght of the TM, and it's distribution in the trailer.

Then the thought occuered to me, "What are the heaviest items in the trailer and where are they?"

(All wieghts are apox when full)

Street Side-

• Refridgerator (70#)
• Water tank (20 gallons - 160#)
• Water heater (6 gallons - 55#)
• Toilet (6 gallons - 45#)
• 2 Trojen 105 batteries (120#)

Curb Side-

• Oven (25#)

Excluting cabnetry (Which i think would be fairly equaly ballances) it seems to me that the TM is VERY street heavy loaded 735# vs 25#. Even with everything empty the distribution is still off ballance.

If this is the case, best be rotating those tires often!

Or am I missing something.

 

[Wavery]

I was having a discussion with the DW about the wieght of the TM, and it's distribution in the trailer.

Then the thought occuered to me, "What are the heaviest items in the trailer and where are they?"

(All wieghts are apox when full)

Street Side-

• Refridgerator (70#)
• Water tank (20 gallons - 160#)
• Water heater (6 gallons - 55#)
• Toilet (6 gallons - 45#)
• 2 Trojen 105 batteries (120#)

Curb Side-

• Oven (25#)

Excluting cabnetry (Which i think would be fairly equaly ballances) it seems to me that the TM is VERY street heavy loaded 735# vs 25#. Even with everything empty the distribution is still off ballance.

If this is the case, best be rotating those tires often!

Or am I missing something.

You have a good point.

What you/we may want to do is park our trailers on level ground and measure the distance from the ground to the bottom of the frame. That should give use a pretty good indication of the balance of the trailer load.

 

[Bill]

In some cases, it may be possible to weigh the left and right wheel independently. I don't think you can do it on a CAT scale, but as an example, if I show up at the transfer station in my town, I can make two passes through their scale. On the first pass, I keep as far to the left as possible, and the TM's left tire runs down the apron instead of onto the weighing platform. Second pass, opposite. Naturally, they prefer that I show up when they are not busy, and pull out of the line if a trash truck shows up and needs to be weighed.

Scales like this are available at a lot of places. Recycling centers, concrete mixing yards, landscaping companies, masonry suppliers, moving companies, and many other places suggest themselves. It is my experience that local businesses are happy to help if you are polite and considerate.

Bill

 

[Kmikesell]

In some cases, it may be possible to weigh the left and right wheel independently. I don't think you can do it on a CAT scale, but as an example, if I show up at the transfer station in my town, I can make two passes through their scale. On the first pass, I keep as far to the left as possible, and the TM's left tire runs down the apron instead of onto the weighing platform. Second pass, opposite. Naturally, they prefer that I show up when they are not busy, and pull out of the line if a trash truck shows up and needs to be weighed.

Scales like this are available at a lot of places. Recycling centers, concrete mixing yards, landscaping companies, masonry suppliers, moving companies, and many other places suggest themselves. It is my experience that local businesses are happy to help if you are polite and considerate.

Bill

I was considering doing the exact same thing.... So if we ARE unballanced, what would be a "solution"? I was considering moving my "stuff" as to better ballance the triler. Also making sure of even tread wear. As an aside... I NEVER travel with full water tanks, but as I noted that still doesn't solve the issue completly.

 

[Larryjb-HILO]

I was considering doing the exact same thing.... So if we ARE unballanced, what would be a "solution"? I was considering moving my "stuff" as to better ballance the triler. Also making sure of even tread wear. As an aside... I NEVER travel with full water tanks, but as I noted that still doesn't solve the issue completly.

We have travelled fully loaded, toilet charged, water full, and even bottled water (ugh, on the street side as well!). We were so heavily loaded with our gear that we were actually overweight by about 100 lbs on the rear axle of our Tahoe. We travelled freeway speeds and up the Coquihalla that way. Other than struggling to keep our speed up on the steep inclines, I did not notice any handling issues.

That said, I'd never ever load it like that again. I wouldn't fill the water tank and toilet until the last water stop before our destination. I think that as long as you pack the heavy items towards the front of the trailer, maybe store canned goods in the cabinets by the stove, you should be fine. These trailers have been in production in some form or other for 30-40 years(?) I forget when they actually went into commercial production.

 

[Kmikesell]

I'm not saying it might be a "ballance" issue or a stability issue pre sey, but I was thinking more along the lines of tire wear. As far as towing stability, my TM tows better than ANY trailer I've owned or borrowed.

 

[Shrimpburrito]

I'm not saying it might be a "ballance" issue or a stability issue pre sey, but I was thinking more along the lines of tire wear. As far as towing stability, my TM tows better than ANY trailer I've owned or borrowed.

I always tow to camp with a fully charged toilet, 20 gallons of fresh water, the water heater charged, and a full fridge. Over 15 years of TM ownership, tens of thousands of miles, and several sets of new tires, I have yet to notice any difference in wear between the tires. You'll replace them due to age FAR before you notice any significant wear, unless you regularly make transcontinental trips. And even then, as we have done those, I have not noticed the wear pattern to be different between the sides.

Dave

 

[Wavery]

I always tow to camp with a fully charged toilet, 20 gallons of fresh water, the water heater charged, and a full fridge. Over 15 years of TM ownership, tens of thousands of miles, and several sets of new tires, I have yet to notice any difference in wear between the tires. You'll replace them due to age FAR before you notice any significant wear, unless you regularly make transcontinental trips. And even then, as we have done those, I have not noticed the wear pattern to be different between the sides.

Dave

Agreed, 100%. I replace trailer tire around every 6-years and they always look practically new (causing some head shaking from my loving wife).

Having said that, I always run "E" rated Maxxis tires. If anyone is running "D" rated tires, weight distribution could be a huge issue.

 

[Kmikesell]

I always tow to camp with a fully charged toilet, 20 gallons of fresh water, the water heater charged, and a full fridge. Over 15 years of TM ownership, tens of thousands of miles, and several sets of new tires, I have yet to notice any difference in wear between the tires. You'll replace them due to age FAR before you notice any significant wear, unless you regularly make transcontinental trips. And even then, as we have done those, I have not noticed the wear pattern to be different between the sides.

Dave

This is a load off my mind. I will do a deep inspection of my NTM 2006 TM when it gets warm enough.. (which is coming VERY soon).

Thanks guys for your input!

 

[Shrimpburrito]

But Wayne's caveat is an excellent point. I was regularly getting blowouts and load range C tires, and even tires rated slightly higher. But that's different than tread wear obviously.

It wasn't till I changed to load range E tires that the blowouts stopped.

Dave

 

[Bill]

I was regularly getting blowouts and load range C tires ... It wasn't till I changed to load range E tires that the blowouts stopped.

Same here. For a long time, TMs were factory-equipped with load range C tires. Though they didn't have a lot of load margin, they worked for most owners. But my wife and I make a cross-country trip twice a year, and we are heavily loaded when we do it. We had a number of blowouts, which pushed me to finally to switch to Load Range D tires. A big help, and LR-E tires are even better.

Bill