Towing a Gooseneck Empty

[LesStallings]

I'll be off on my first cross country trip soon and I've been able to read up on how to load the trailer properly to get the correct weight distribution and pin weight.



BUT what about towing an empty gooseneck? My first leg will be empty and I won't have much if any way to adjust the distribution. Sure, I'll put my spare, jack, tie-downs, etc. over the gooseneck, but that will really be insignificant.



Should I do anything special on tire pressure, or put some concrete blocks in the front of the trailer? In the grand scheme of things it doesn't seem anything I can do will make much impact.



Suggestions?

 

[ndurbin]

IMO as long as it's set-up to pull good when it's loaded down it should trail fairly well empty. Might get a bit more road feel (bumps and stuff like that), or atleast I do with my trailer empty versus when it's loaded. But it's nothing that major. One thing ya might try is, if the trailer has an adjustable hitch, play with the height to get it to ride better. But that might be more of a hassle than good if your only going a short distance before ya have to load the trailer and readjust the hitch. If ya do adjust the hitch, readjust it back to where it was before ya load it. Might get interesting trying to adjust it with a load on.



Just my . 02

Nathan

 

[KOdegaard]

I pull my 25ft to wyo full (from cal) and empty back, on the concret sections

of road it is choppy and have had releif by lowering tire press on the trailer and

truck. I have gone as low as 20 psi on trailer,keeping as eye on heat and

no problems. These units are made to be loaded and do not "work" empty.

I need to get loads back from wyo?????

Kirk

 

[jelag]

I do a couple of things... .



1 - trailer design should be good enough that you can tow it empty with no problems... the axles should be placed so that it tows well... .



2 - I carry a point and shoot digital temp gauge... . a Raytek Mini Temp that ran my about 90 bucks... . I walk around the truck and trailer at each stop before I head to the rest room... . looking at tire temp... . axle temp. . and brake temp.....



Each time I've seen a tire temperature 30 or 40 degrees more than the rest its because of under inflation or the tire is about to die... I never run tires under 40 psi even with the trailer empty... . I've found bearing issues... . before failure by looking at the spindle of the trailer axle... . etc... .



Hope this has been some help...



Jim

 

[Forrest Nearing]

Jim, that's a great suggestion... getting stranded once would cost well over $90 in headache alone!



Forrest