Carrying Weight in the 5th, Where???

[JohnHaggerty]

I'm going to be towing the RV with lots of stuff as we go to Florida for the winter. I suspect that my DW will include the kitchen sink. I plan to carry whatever heavy stuff I can in the truck. After that I'm thinking most of the heavy stuff up front in the 5th. Seems right to me, any thoughts???

 

[Cummins12V98]

Bottom line a lot of the weight on a 5er goes to the truck rear axle. Not too many 5er's store much behind the axles. I have 4,500#'s pin weight and truck rides and handles it great.

 

[Dieselnerd]

When I used to tow with a SRW I carried all the heavy stuff that I could in the rear of the trailer and weighed the fully loaded rig so that nothing was overloaded. I was about 300# under max load on the truck axle/tire combination that way.

Now that I tow the same trailer with a DRW, I don't worry about it and carry a lot more up front where it's more stable. I don't even come close to overloading the truck axle. You shouldn't have any problems with your rig unless you have one of those super sized fivers that call for a medium duty truck. If you have any real concerns, weigh it.

 

[Cummins12V98]

When I used to tow with a SRW I carried all the heavy stuff that I could in the rear of the trailer and weighed the fully loaded rig so that nothing was overloaded. I was about 300# under max load on the truck axle/tire combination that way.

Now that I tow the same trailer with a DRW, I don't worry about it and carry a lot more up front where it's more stable. I don't even come close to overloading the truck axle. You shouldn't have any problems with your rig unless you have one of those super sized fivers that call for a medium duty truck. If you have any real concerns, weigh it.

It really is nice to just load what you want where you want and have a great towing experience! Dually is truly the way to go for heavier/longer RV's.

 

[jelag]

I personally weighted the truck and trailer and know and understand the weight on each axle... based on this loaded weight I moved some items to keep the weight about equal on the axle's of the trailer... you need about 60% of the total weight from the mid point of the axles to the front.... I don't worry much about 200-300 each time my wife loads it as she puts the same items back to the same location...

Hope this helps..

 

[JohnHaggerty]

It really is nice to just load what you want where you want and have a great towing experience! Dually is truly the way to go for heavier/longer RV's.

I can easily load what all I want (except the boat and fishing gear, that's a special trip (1,000 miles on the IDI:-laf)), now my DW's stuff that's another issue I can only add 2,500# of stuff to the trailer, which is easy when going to Florida for 4 months. I'll put the heaviest in the truck, next heavy stuff up front and the feather pillows in the back.

 

[RVTRKN]

Start with the basic's, I'll assume your camping with full hookups, so fill fresh water tank with enough for toilet operation for the trip. Weigh the truck with a full tank, and trailer to get your empty axle weights. Load the 5ver evenly with the thought to keep as much weight over the 5vers axles as possible and not to exceed the GAWR of your 5ver. Weight the truck and 5ver combo again to get the weight on the steer and drive axle (rear truck axle) to get your remaining weight you can add to the truck, as well as remaining weight (if any) allowed on the 5vers axles. It's a hassle, but when finished you know your legal, but when maxed out in weight like that, keep your speeds slower and your distance farther than you would normally would. Enjoy your winter vacation!

 

[SnoKing]

Make sure that the trailer has good tires! Which means that it does not have ST tires installed, or RV.net will have another failed ST tire thread!!!! Tell us more about the trailer. SNOKING

 

[Gonzo 1066]

I would scale the unit when its loaded and see how close you are to the trailer axle max, then make a decision on where to load that extra stuff.