What do you think the wpg stands for eh! Thank you btw. ​​​​​​​

 

Are you asking for curiosity reasons or do you have an issue? I just go by whatever the mfg says as the max loaded and take 12-15% of that, it's good enough for me and then I am likely under that estimate by a bit as my camper isn't loaded to the max anyway. You can only move and shift weight on a bumper pull so much.

 

I use a Sherline tongue scale. I bought one when I first bought my camper. It's been helpful to know right away what my loaded/unloaded tongue weight is.

I've also used the CAT Scale to get the various weights that @seventyseven250 listed. I think it was $15. I used the app on my phone. Easy peasy.

 

I’m not sure why it would be $100 to weigh at the CAT scales… sounds like you asked the wrong question, or was given the wrong information. CAT scale prices are the same across the board… for the US it’s $13 on the first trip, and then each subsequent trip within 24 hours is only $3.50 (or $23C for first weigh and $6C for each subsequent weigh). So, 3 trips like mentioned above in the US will cost you $20, or $35C.

Also, the app is very easy to use. Setup a profile and assign a payment option, then drive up to the scales, make sure your axles are on the appropriate separate scales, enter the number at the scales and wait. After the payment is submitted you will get a screen like this:



If you weigh in the order mentioned above starting with the truck only, your first ticket will have 00 lbs for trailer axle. Then just drive off the scales, drop the trailer hitch on the ball and drive back over the scales. Finally, connect your WD bars and drive over again for your third weight. After this, if you need to put more weight back to the trucks front axle, just tighten the bars more. If you want to confirm, drive back over the scales for another few bucks.

Also, IMO, it’s good to do this often, not just once. As you add/remove stuff, or just load your camper differently, the weights can change. It’s also important to drive over the scales with everything you are planning to carry, including passengers and a full tank of fuel, and even full propane tanks. The good thing is once you go over the scales the first time with just your truck, you will know the weight of your front axle, and this is my reference point. For future trips I just go over the scales once with the WDH engaged, and then I can make WD adjustments based on the weight of my front axle.

To simply find the trailers tongue weight, just find the difference between the trucks unloaded rear axle weight and the weight of the rear axle with the trailers hitch sitting on the ball and no WD applied.

 

^^^^This^^^^

 

I use my eyeballs when loading the trailer, and the feeling in my butt when driving.

 

I believe you need to subtract the weight of the entire empty truck from the weight of the truck + trailer to determine the tongue weight.

 

That will give you the total weight of the trailer.

to get the tongue weight you need the axle weights both loaded and unloaded.


you need to add the front and rear axles of the unloaded vehicle to get the total weight of the unloaded vehicle. then you need to add the front and rear axles of the loaded vehicle to get the total weight of the loaded vehicle.

then subtract the total weight of the unloaded vehicle from the total weight of the loaded vehicle.

just looking at the rear axle weights will give you an incorrect answer.

example (from my weight tickets)
unloaded:
F=3160, R=3180
loaded:
F=2580, R=4960

just looking at the rear axle weights, you would come up with a tongue weight of 1780lbs. This is incorrect because there is 580 lbs moving from the front axle to the rear axle.

if you sum the unloaded weights, you get a total unloaded weight of 6340
if you sum loaded weights, you get a total loaded weight of 7540.

The true tongue weight is 7540-6340=1200 lbs

 

First time with a given trailer or same trailer with significantly different load, I'll go to a CAT scale, pull through until the trailer axle(s) is/are on the [drive axle] platform, the tongue jack is on the [steer axle] platform, and the tow vehicle is not on the scale. I use the tongue jack to lift the tongue off of the ball then request the weight. Voila', [steer axle] is tongue weight and [drive axle] is trailer axle(s) weight.

 

Like mentioned, that will give you the weight of the entire trailer. The tongue weight is only the weight being applied to the trucks hitch from the trailer.

Correct me if I am wrong, but what you described is how to get the tongue weight AFTER you set the WDH since the WDH will shift weight back to the front axle. Just dropping the trailer on the hitch without any weight distribution set will unload the front axle. (Of course this is for a bumper pull.)

Like I mentioned above, to find the tongue weight, simply find the difference between the trucks unloaded rear axle weight and the weight of the rear axle with the trailers hitch sitting on the ball and no WD applied. This is easy to do, just drive across the scales with your empty truck, then just drop the trailer on your hitch and drive back across. Now, find the difference in the rear axle numbers and this is your tongue weight.

 

You need to subtract the amount of weight unloaded from the front axle that gets transferred to the rear axle with the TT hitched without WD to get the true tongue or hitch weight.

 

Or, you could just drop the trailer on the CAT Scale to get the tongue weight. Put the tongue jack on the plate where the tow vehicle's rear axle goes.

You could also come over to my house and borrow my tongue scale.

 

Doh! That's right! Too much thinking too early in the morning! LOL. Thanks for clarifying!

 

a lot of scales won’t let you do that. They might if it is abnormally slow, but if it is busy there is a high likelihood that they will not let you unhook on the scale

that’s why the method above is recommended.

 

I can't remember a time that I saw a vehicle on a CAT Scale, other than my own. I use the app, so I don't have to talk to an operator. Sure, it's going to take me longer to disconnect/connect and get the weight taken than it would be for a truck that isn't disconnecting. But were talking maybe 10 minutes extra time.