Big cross country tow - am I missing anything?

[Nightfire]

I will be towing a 26' travel trailer from the Pacific NW to the east coast. I weighed truck and trailer empty (I mean if it wasn't bolted down, it was removed!). Truck was 6280# and trailer was 6520#. Trailer will likely be 8k#+ when loaded.
Setup has the following:

-Trailer brake controller
-e2 weight distribution hitch. (weight tickets below were done with conventional hitch)

Just checking to see if there is anything significant I did not consider. Thanks!

 

[mwl001]

Ideally you should do this again, but with everything loaded and your weight distribution engaged to make sure you’re not overloaded anywhere. (Empty tow vehicle alone can be a useful baseline). I’d definitely shoot for an empty truck while towing how many passengers? Your tongue weight empty appears to be nearly 1000lbs.

 

[shane_th_ee]

The tongue weight is only 780lbs. You can’t just look at the change in the drive axle weight as weigh is transferred from the front axle to the rear axle. To account for this, the tongue weight is calculated by taking the gross combined weight, subtracting the weight of the truck (to give the total trailer weight) and then subtracting the trailer axle weight to leave just the tongue weight. In this case we have 12,800lbs - 6280 - 5740 = 780lbs.

780/6520 ~ 11.9%, which is a little light for a travel trailer.

That said, my recommendation is going to be same: load it up, hook up the WDH and re-weigh it.

Also, go download the Flying J app. Many of them offer free overnight parking for RVs, they’re easy to access and almost all of them have dump stations.

 

[JasonH]

I agree with shane_th_ee, you'll need to re-weigh once you're hooked up. I suspect if you add 1,500 lbs of gear, you're going to exceed the max tongue weight. What are you putting in the trailer that weighs that much? Are you moving an apartment or something?

At any rate, make you carry several cans of fix-a-flat, bottle jacks, and other tools for tire changes. It sucks changing a tire on a trailer in the middle of a trip. Having the right gear can make it a bit easier. Ask me how I know.

 

[Nightfire]

The tongue weight is only 780lbs. You can’t just look at the change in the drive axle weight as weigh is transferred from the front axle to the rear axle. To account for this, the tongue weight is calculated by taking the gross combined weight, subtracting the weight of the truck (to give the total trailer weight) and then subtracting the trailer axle weight to leave just the tongue weight. In this case we have 12,800lbs - 6280 - 5740 = 780lbs.

780/6520 ~ 11.9%, which is a little light for a travel trailer.

That said, my recommendation is going to be same: load it up, hook up the WDH and re-weigh it.

Also, go download the Flying J app. Many of them offer free overnight parking for RVs, they’re easy to access and almost all of them have dump stations.

Correct. I will have more weight but tongue percentage should be similar (I will be adding g back the batteries and propane tanks to the front but will counter it in the rear with a generator and other equipment. Awesome tip on the Flying J app!!!

 

[Nightfire]

I agree with shane_th_ee, you'll need to re-weigh once you're hooked up. I suspect if you add 1,500 lbs of gear, you're going to exceed the max tongue weight. What are you putting in the trailer that weighs that much? Are you moving an apartment or something?

At any rate, make you carry several cans of fix-a-flat, bottle jacks, and other tools for tire changes. It sucks changing a tire on a trailer in the middle of a trip. Having the right gear can make it a bit easier. Ask me how I know.

Yeah I will be adding around 2k in gear which should be closer to 1000 lbs of tongue weigh total. I will be adding about 400 lbs in the truck as well so GVWR will creep a little north of the 7500 lb rating on my truck.
Yes, I am doing a partial move. I have a nice floor jack and some jack stands. Good idea on the fix-a-flat cans.

 

[JasonH]

Yeah I will be adding around 2k in gear which should be closer to 1000 lbs of tongue weigh total. I will be adding about 400 lbs in the truck as well so GVWR will creep a little north of the 7500 lb rating on my truck.
Yes, I am doing a partial move. I have a nice floor jack and some jack stands. Good idea on the fix-a-flat cans.

I suggest testing your floor jack on the trailer frame to ensure it has enough lift. The issue I had was that the frame was too high for a regular jack. The best solution I found was using leveling blocks positioned below the bottle jacks to raise the frame. Also, not sure if you'll have this issue, but on my trailer one axle pivots down as the frame is raised, so you need enough lift to get both tires off the ground together.

 

[Nightfire]

I suggest testing your floor jack on the trailer frame to ensure it has enough lift. The issue I had was that the frame was too high for a regular jack. The best solution I found was using leveling blocks positioned below the bottle jacks to raise the frame. Also, not sure if you'll have this issue, but on my trailer one axle pivots down as the frame is raised, so you need enough lift to get both tires off the ground together.

I used it to change out the rear shock dampers. It's a 3 ton aluminum jack. Of course I will always use jack stands along with it.

 

[Nightfire]

Here are my weights fully loaded:

 

[Steve Beckman]

You may also want to check your Rear Axle Max Weight rating on the door sticker. You are at 4600 in your 2nd weigh. I've got a 15 XLT and the rating is only 4300. I struggle to get under this number when I am towing.