How do i find the weight that i am actually towing with my 5th wheel hitch?

[Radioherd]

Hey All,

We jumped on the cat scales yesterday and got the following readings:

Steer Axle: 5380
Drive Axle: 7460
Trailer Axle: 12760
Gross Weight: 25600

What i really need to know is how much weight is my hitch actually dealing with - i know its not as simple as adding the drive axle to the trailer axle (as that would include some weight from the back of the truck), so how do you actually calculate the weight of the 5th wheel only? Do you have to disconnect on the weigh scales?

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Weigh the truck without the trailer!

 

[Joe Hogan]

At a CAT scale you can re weigh, within a certain time limit, for no additional charge I believe.

 

[Rich W.]

I have just dropped the jacks on the scale and taken the load off the hitch with the rear wheels of the truck off the scale. That way you can also determine the pin weight.

 

[Radioherd]

I have just dropped the jacks on the scale and taken the load off the hitch with the rear wheels of the truck off the scale. That way you can also determine the pin weight.

ahhh, thats a good idea for future ref - thanks

 

[Radioherd]

Ok thanks all - we are at 16480lbs

The GVWR of our rig is 16,995lbs - so basically we have just over 500lbs before we are at our safe limit yes?

 

[Rich W.]

Rated limit is meant to be interpreted as safe limit, but it‘s also important to consider it a legal limit in terms of liability and culpability. If over the legal limit and involved in an accident, one could easily imagine being cited, fined, and/or sued, as well as having possible problems with the insurance company. I’m sure there is a safety margin and your rig can probably handle more but to me it’s just not worth the risk.

 

[Radioherd]

Yeah - not planning to go above the 16995 either

 

[mjeds]

Might look into a haul gauge.

I’ve been using for several months and it is 98% accurate when compared weighing on a scale.

Haul Gauge: Know what you tow.

Haul Gauge is a simple module that plugs into your vehicle's OBDII port and through an app on your smart phone, tells you your vehicle's tongue weight, pin weight, payload, and total vehicle and trailer weight combined.* *2008 or newer. Weigh functions excluded on Toyota vehicles.

www.haulgauge.com

 

[Travelskip]

Interesting little device. Read some reviews about it. The accuracy varied. It can be 10% off.
I used mostly the 20% rule. 20% of our total 5th wheel weight for the tongue weight.
It is not accurate, I know, but gave me a good idea.