Folks,
I don't know much about towing a trailer so I set about trying to figure
out a few things. Many of you are experts and I would appreciate any
additional comments.
The first thing I did was get all the wheels balanced (already discussed
that).
The next issue to think about was trailer weight distribution.... I
recently went through the following exercise and got some interesting
results. If anyone wishes to comment, PLEASE pass along your experiences.
This is all trial and error for me. I found out the following using a 7 X
14 enclosed, DUAL axle trailer and I am fairly sure the following works for
any dual axle trailer and probably does NOT work for single axle trailers.
In far northern calif.' the CHP leave the truck scales operating when the
weigh stations are closed and they turn the monitors around so you can read
the numbers... very kewl of them! You can go weigh anything you want and
take as much time as you want.
So I took my trailer up and centered it on the scale and unhooked it to
find out the true, loaded weight.
I then re-hooked the trailer and backed it up to where the wheels were off
the scale and just the tongue jack was on the scale and the again unhooked
and weighed the tongue weight.' BUT BUT BUT... I found out something very
interesting (to me). Namely, when you determine the tongue weight you must
crank the tongue back DOWN to a level position... don't leave the up high
after unhooking from the tow truck. If the tongue is up high, the tongue
weight will be HIGH. As you lower the tongue, the tongue weight goes DOWN.
The trailer must be level to get the proper reading. The reason is that
with the tongue too high, weight is taken off the front set of wheels and
put on the back set of wheels. This then sets up a fulcrum between the
tongue jack and the rear wheels. As the tongue comes down, the front set
of wheels take on their appropriate load and the tongue weight decreases.
I had a reading of "several hundred pounds" difference with the tongue at
the proper height as opposed to the tongue being too high (maybe 4" too
high). It was not a trivial amount on a trailer with a total weight of
6000 lbs.
Moral: If you want a 10~12% tongue weight, make sure the trailer is level
when you are doing your total and tongue measurements. Also, if your
trailer is not level when you are towing, you may be overloading the
trailer towing system for no purpose. For me the exercise was a real
eye-opener for why you should own a couple of different height ball bars so
you are truly get the trailer tongue LEVEL for towing. We recently towed
7,500 miles and the trailer towed perfectly the whole trip.
Looking forward to August and the salt...
KEN
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Ken Bond, *
* Prof. of Bus. Admin. *
* Humboldt State Univ. ____________ *
* Arcata, CA 95521 _______| 58 85 99 |_________ *
* / How much horsepower / *
* / Can I have and still / *
* Wk.:707.826.4277 /_________ go to Heaven?______/ *
* Wk Fax:707.826.6666 |_61______61_| *
* Hm.:707.826.7764 I Never Drive Faster than *
* Hm Fax:707.826.0334 My Guardian Angel Can Fly *
* Internet: *
* kmb2@humboldt.edu (office) *
* ragtops@humboldt1.com (home) *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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