Was able to hit the scale this weekend on the way to a trip. I did 3 passes, TV - trailer WDH connected, TV/Trailer WDH arms unloaded, and TV on one scale and trailer with jack on middle scale alone and trailer axles on rear.
The numbers were very surprising and not in a good way. I will add this trip was my "MAX" trip when I take 3 teenage boys on Spring Break and just I. I may have this kind of load 2-3 times tops.
Here are the numbers.
2010 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer with HD tow. 10,000# Equalizer WDH, 2015 27RBDS Winnebago Ultralite
Truck sticker has payload of 1402, FGVWR of 3700 and RGVWR of 4250
Trailer has two 3500 axles, and an GVWR of 7700
First Pass, car loaded with passengers, one very small cooler. WDH engaged.
Steer Axle: 3020
Drive Axle: 4520
Trailer Axle: 6800
Gross Weight: 14340
Second Pass, car loaded with passengers, one very small cooler, WDH arms unloaded
Steer Axle: 2520
Drive Axle: 5220
Trailer Axle: 6600
Gross Weight: 14340
Third Pass, car loaded with passengers, one very small cooler. Car completely on pad 1 of scale, Trailer Jack on middle pad, Trailer axles on rear scalse
Steer Axle: 6640
Drive Axle: 1100
Trailer Axle: 6580
Gross Weight: 14340
So if I'm reading this correctly I'm running a hitch weight of 1100lbs. Which is way more than I thought. I was thinking in the 800lb range. I did just last week buy one of those Sherline Weight scales and weighed right as we left my driveway. It indicated 950lbs, so not sure who's the more accurate.
Payload I knew off the bat I was over, but the 270lbs over on the rear axles is quite concerning. I do know I should have added my last washer on the WDH hitch with the added weight of the passengers, so for sure I would have maybe off-set some of the rear weight towards the front axle which was probably running a bit light. But not sure if I can make up the 270lbs of over capacity on that rear axle with just doing that. I know I can move around some of the cargo in the forward hatch, but honestly I'm not really loaded up with much to begin with in that cargo hold. But I can move some stuff to the rear bathroom cabinets I imagine to help out.
So, this brings me to my current dilemma where to go from here. 80 % of trips it's just myself, wife and dog and probably just at or very slightly above that 1402 payload capacity. But I'm not liking being at the limits all the time, especially with an older truck running 145k miles. I was intending to upgrade to a like-new 4th gen Expy soon but even then I fear I'm still going to be right at the limits most the time. I guess I could look at the XLT Max models of the Expys to get max payload but it wouldn't be my choice if I have to, wife does like the bells and whistles of the upper trim models.
So I'm considering moving up to a Diesel F250/2500 class pickup but the idea of this isn't sitting well with the wife and do I want to spend that kind of money on a truck I use 6 times a year for towing? I'd probably then need to buy a 3rd vehicle for a daily driver since I don't necessarily need to drive a tank to work every day. Ok, I"m making my head hurt just thinking about this. ;-)
Open to all opinions and suggestions.