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I even said "PLEASE" Scale your rig..

without REAL numbers.. no one is right or wrong.
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I did weigh the whole rig about a year ago. But it had less gear in the bed at that time. It came in at 14,400. That was full propane, full fresh water, food and supplies in the trailer etc. But just a bbq, a couple bundles of firewood, and an ice chest in the bed. The factory GCVWR is 16,700. I just looked up the specs on the trailer and it says the "dry hitch weight" is 795 lbs. I'm guessing (that's for you RV Tech) my actual loaded tongue weight is pushing 1k lbs. My Reese WDH is rated at 10k lbs trailer weight and 1k lbs tongue weight. At the very least I'll bet I'll need a new hitch.


However....I found a cat scale near me. I don't know yet how I'm going to load the truck, but I'll figure something out. Then I'll fill up the tanks on the trailer again and head over. Just to make sure I do this right. Please confirm I have the right procedure:


1. Truck and trailer with WDH engaged
2. Truck and trailer without WDH engaged
3. Truck alone


Is that correct?

 

Thanks for humoring me.

In cases like this, although I am sure others may disagree, all I care about is how much your truck weights loaded and how much with the trailer attached since your concern is whether you truck is overloaded on the rear axle. I think the issue was why the rear end is running low. I think the issue of power is just it is what it is.

I know I am a pain in the *** about this stuff, but that is because I am probably just a pain in the ***!

I will be interested in hearing if your truck is overloaded or just squatting. Although I didn't ask this before, are you unable to bring your truck into level with your WD bars?

Steve

 

You need all three of those weights if you want to make sure your WDH is set up correctly. Yes those are the weights you need to take.

 

Kind of two issues, the first one is "am I overloaded?" the second one being "is my WDH set up correctly" and can trailer load be shifted to correct the overload, although I have a hunch this is not the OP's first rodeo.

Steve

 

Yes they are separate issues, you're right. I should have been clear about that.

 

I agree Steve, he needs to scale the rig. I still stand by my statement that he is overloaded though, as he clearly states in his first post that payload is around 1500 lbs. If the numbers were to come in and he was marginal, then it might be a question of whether or not he's overloaded, but marginal he ain't. Even if the truck payload was 1600 or 1700 lbs, with 1100 lbs in the bed, he'd still be overloaded......just not as much.

So......riddleswest......we'll be waiting for the scale results to come in. And BTW, I really wish you aren't overloaded......I just went through something similar a few months ago with what I thought was enough truck for the trailer, and sadly, it wasn't. I now have one that is more than sufficient for my present trailer and a bunch left over for future upgrades if I decide to do that someday.

 

I would put it on the scales, loaded like you would travel and with the WDH setup as you think it should be.


That is what matters.


Numbers that matter to me and DOT:


GCVWR
What each item is registered for (in MD truck has its own and trailer has its own, I am good for 34K).
Axle ratings (front and rear)
Tire ratings.


If all are good, then I'd roll with it.

 

Ok....so I haven't made it to the scales yet but I have done a bunch more checking on numbers and I've come to two conclusions.....
1. On this trip I most definitely was over the rear GAWR of 4050
2. I don't think I can change that unless I load a bunch of stuff in the trailer.


So here's what I've learned. The hitch dry weight of my trailer is 795lbs. Add another 60 lbs. for the propane tanks and 47 lbs. for the extra battery I installed and that puts me at 902lbs. There is easily 150lbs of gear in the front storage compartment of the trailer which is right behind the tongue so I'm going to add that in and I'm now over 1k tongue weight.


The truck has a 2k payload capacity. However that includes passengers. So if I have 4 200lb adults my payload is down to 1200lbs. The curb weight according to Ford on the rear axle is 2409lbs. With no WDH that would put my GAW at 4661lbs.


So...my WDH would need to be able to transfer 611lbs off of the rear axle in order for me not to exceed that specification. Not sure my current 1k spring bars can do that. The good news is that I'm still under the GCVW. That spec is 16,900 and by my calculations I'd be at 15,595. Assuming I don't overload the truck of trailer.


I know you guys are screaming right now because all of this is speculation....and I PROMISE I will try to get to the CAT scale this weekend. But here's my question....(after all that)....am I realistically going to be able to get a WDH that will transfer that much weight off of the rear axle?

 

I'm not screaming. In fact I am impressed with all the effort you are putting into this. I question you can transfer all that weight with a WD hitch. My thought is your bars are heavy enough for your trailer. Going heavier will at least give you an extremely stiff ride. You can level with air bags, but that will not transfer the weight to the front. That leaves you with putting a lot more in the trailer as long as you are not over your ratings there.

Is it possible to put a 3/4 ton in your drive? That might actually be easier than jumping through more hoops in hopes of arriving at an iffy solution.

Steve

 

I wish the budget allowed for a nice 250 with a monster 6.7, but not for a while. Still got one kid in college. The funny thing is that the truck handles well with the load. The steering doesn't feel light. It brakes very well. If I crank down on the friction bar, even wind isn't a problem. I upgraded to LT tires and that made a world of difference. It's just the squat that's annoying. There's a guy in my neighborhood selling a Reese WDH with 1200lb trunion style bars. I'm wondering if replacing my 1k round bar WDH with that would have a significant impact on the ride height.

 

It is hard to know how much more you can transfer before the truck starts beating on you. Technically you have enough bar for your trailer so its kind of a crap shoot.

Here's the thing (and I am not encouraging this so no flames from anyone) but, I see folks doing the same thing you are doing all the time. My wife and I comment on it when we see it. To the best of my knowledge, there is not a sudden uptick in F150 flying out of control.

So yeah, not a great idea, but maybe watch you speed, leave plenty of space between you and whatever you are following, and post a pic of the f250 when you get it.

On a positive note, having your kids finish college will get you the biggest boost in your checkbook you will ever see short of winning the lottery.

Steve

 

I don't know enough to say one way or the other, but I suspect that it's possible to cause problems if spring bars that are too strong are put on a trailer, especially if you crank them down to their maximum configuration. Can a trailer frame handle too much spring bar?

 

Riddleswest..........Just a quick question for you. Where did you get your payload info? Did that number of 2K come from the yellow/white sticker on the driver's side door post, or from a Ford website or brochure?

One of the reasons I am asking is because when I had my 2011 F250 CC 4x4 Diesel, XLT, the payload on that truck was only 2148 lbs.

 

I just looked up the 2011 f-250 brochure and the lowest rating is over 3k. I'm relying on this information to be accurate. I hope it is.