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Old 12-01-2009, 09:55 AM   #8
Motor31
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,130
To weigh the rig and get the real pin weight you will need to scale it twice. Use a scale at a truck stop and see that the truck axles are on 2 different weight pads. That way you get the front and rear weight of the truck. Then hook up the trailer and put the truck on the same pads. The trailer axles should be on another pad. Take the new weight numbers of the truck and subtract the other weight figures from them. That gives you the loaded weights and will tell you the real pin weight as the trailer is loaded onto it.

Don't weigh the trailer by itself as the load on the front jacks is different than the load on the pin. That won't give you the proper weights on either the axles or the pin.

The trailer should also be weighed loaded as you are going on a trip and the pin weight will go up as you put "stuff" into the unit. Subtracting the first truck weight total from the overall weight (the truck scale will give you all pad weights and a total overall) will give you the trailer weight as well. That will tell you what the real pin weight is not the factory "estimate" that they publish as well as the real axle weights.

The best weighing situation is to get the rig weighed so that each tire is weighed. That tells you the balance side to side and if any one tire is overloaded. Do not assume the trailer is loaded equally on both sides. It probably is not. That service can be obtained from an RV weighing company. There is a gent here on the board who does that and can explain it better than I.
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Mike Nancy and the fuzzies
Fulltiming since June 2004
Volvo 660 MH tow vehicle
2005 MS 38RL
2007 Saturn Ion "toad"
2010 Gold Wing "piggyback"
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