The "weight" is over!

[jdiebold]

Hi All,



My new truck (see signature) is finally setup for towing. My new trailer is due in next week. So, I went down to the local CAT Scales to get the weight of the truck. Here is how it brakes down:



Steer axle = 4400 lbs.

Drive Axle = 3480 lbs.

Gross Weight = 7880 lbs.

That includes my weight = 240 lbs.



My truck's ratings(on the door sticker) are as follows:



GAWR Steer Axle = 4740 lbs.

GAWR Drive Axle = 9350 lbs.

GVWR 11,500 lbs.

GCVWR 23,000 lbs.



The trailer, Arctic Fox 27-5L, has a GVWR of 13,000 lbs.



What do you think, does this look about average?



JD

 

[lawdog]

That is real nice, Dodge only gives you 340 lbs of extra load availiable on the steer axle. Luckily the Trailer will load the drive axle and may take some off the steer if you are lucky.

"Technically" if someone wanted to weigh out your truck... Pretty rare, but if you happened across a jerk copper or you ****** him off, Technically if you exceed your Manufacturer GAWR's front or rear, they could... . Like I said Pretty rare to be checked, but could make you off load or park or worse impound your truck with a ticket for an unsafe vehicle because of exceeding GAWR... .

I deal with that at work where people do not exceed State axle weights, but do exceed GAWR's, but normally that is only in Commercial vehicle type applications,( IE- The junk man with a 1/2 ton truck or even 3/4 ton, stacked with scrap metal, bottommed out on bump stops, half flat tires on their 1974 ford type of thing ( You Know Detroit bumms picking up scrap for extra wine money) ) not RV type. . In 6 -7 years I have done Motor Carrier work, I have NEVER even looked at a RV rig... Just something to be aware of...

 

[Steve M]

Sounds like you're ready for towing to me! How could you possibly load 340 more pounds on the front axle? Passenger weight will be distributed between the two axles. All but 2-3% of the 5th wheel pin weight will be on the rear axle. Congrats and enjoy your new rig! We sure do!

 

[klenger]

I tow the same 5er with a 2500. I'm over my GVWR by a few hundred when fully loaded. You won't even be close. My pin weight is is around 1700 - 1800 lbs. Yours will probably be slightly higher because the model 27-5L has a bedroom slide. Hook up and go.

 

[jimnance]

I wouldn't worry. My 2500 4X4 has had 5900 lbs on the drive axle and 4200 lbs on the steer axle. GCVW was just over 21,000 lbs. Pulls level and strong.



While I'm pushing the envelope a bit, the truck clearly doesn't mind.



With the 3500 DRW you should have no problems at all. Dodge makes a tough truck.



I loaded my '95 2WD CTD with 3 tons of gravel one day. It squatted just a bit, but not bad. Braking was poor, but they've corrected that in '03 with disks all the way around.