Truck and trailer weight

[Crewdog]

Happy New Year to all:

So Friday, after scraping ice off of the truck windshield in suburban Atlanta, we pulled Blue Merle out of the water and towed it down to Wefings for some maintenance and other work. The Yanmar started up at 28 F with no problem at all.

Right before getting on the highway I weighed the combined rig, F250 Diesel with full fuel and Float-On 123ABB trailer, with axle weights:

Steering axle - 3900 lbs
Drive axle - 3980 lbs
2 Trailer axles - 10320 lbs

I ended up taking out the 2nd anchor, 40ft chain rode, inflatable kayak, extra drinking water to put about 200 lbs in the truck to help reduce trailer sway. Boat fuel tank was about 3/4 and it sure would be nice to figure out a way to transfer that fuel to the truck easily.

It trailered real nicely at 65 mph, and it got a good thumbs up from a passing ambulance crew.

On the return trip, i weighed the truck itself:

steering axle - 4120 lbs
drive axle - 3300 lbs

I hope it's normal and within limits for the loaded trailer to lessen the weight on the steering axle by 220 lbs.

Ok, so the trailering weight of steering and drive axles, both with full truck fuel, was 7880 lbs, and un-trailered weight was 7420 lbs.

Does this mean i had a tongue weight of 460 lbs or will that have to actually be measured on the scale with the trailer jack on one scale section?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Todd]

It is normal for the weight of the steering axel to lessen when weight is applied to a rear bumper hitch as the rear axel acts as the fulcrum point of this big sea-saw you call a truck. To help with this some people use a weight distributing hitch which forces some weight back on to the front axel by sort of forming the hitch into a spring loaded triangle. Not recommended unless absolutely necessary.

For the tongue weight calculation I assume you still had the 200 pounds, you transferred to the truck, in the truck. Then the answer is yes, the difference in the total weight of the truck between the two scalings is the wight added or removed, in this case the tongue weight. You scaled the trailer and boat at 10,320 pounds. If it were not hooked to the truck and just sitting on the scale it would have weighed 460 additional pounds, the portion carried by the truck.

What is more disturbing is the lack of tongue weight. Typically for a bumper hitch set up you want 10% of the trailer weight on the hitch to prevent sway and provide traction for the truck in both accelerating and breaking. That would be a bit over 1000 pounds for your set up. You need to get that boat further forward. Especially as speed increases, that big sail tends to lighten the tongue a bit.

 

[walldog]

I agree with Todd, your tongue weight is a little light. Make sure that your boat is as for forward as it should be on the trailer. You may need to move it a bit more forward. Put the anchor back on the boat. We run ours with the anchor on, and our tongue weight is near 1200 pounds for a similar rig.

 

[walldog]

The additional tongue weight will minimize the swaying. Light tongue weight can make for a dangerous condition, as the swaying can get out of control. Do not ask me how I know. I was much younger and more foolish then.

 

[walldog]

I reread your post. If the second anchor was in the stern, put it forward if possible. Move as much weight as you can forward. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of adequate tongue weight. I do not believe that adding weight to the rear of the pickup will accomplish the same thing.

 

[joempo]

Re: transferring fuel from boat to truck, be careful there. If you are purchasing fuel from a marina where road tax is not charged, you could risk a very hefty fine if you are caught on-road with it in your truck's fuel tank. On the other hand, if you are purchasing fuel from a road-side station, no worries. Off-road diesel has dye added to aid law enforcement in this regard.

 

[Dale777]

joempo,

I noticed your vessel name is "SLO Ranger". Does SLO stand for San Luis Obispo?

 

[joempo]

Karin & Dale,
Yes it does. Was that a "lucky guess"?

 

[Crewdog]

Thanks for the tips.

When I first weighed the boat/trailer, the chain rode and the deflated inflatable kayak were up forward in the v-berth, and the tub of drinking water and 2nd anchor in the midberth. I put those items in the truck at the first fuel stop and it reduced sway noticeably.

Next time i will shift the big toolbox, about 50 lbs, from the head to the v-berth, as well as shifting any other accessories forward.

The bow was about an inch shy of the rollers, could that 1 inch make that much of a difference in tongue weight? I just didn't feel like doing the braking manouver to bump the boat up. Maybe should have.

I wonder also if putting some kind of bracket on the front of the trailer to add some ballast weight would help as well.

The fuel we've put in so far has been about half marina and have auto diesel. It's not worth taking a chance on getting busted for using non road taxed fuel in the truck, but I just wondered if taking a couple hundred pounds of fuel off the boat would help.

We'll be towing from Apalach to Cape Haze for the SW Florida Rendezvous at the end of the month, so I'll get a better idea on weights and balance then.

Oh, and for the diesel truck owners, I found an app for the iPhone called Fuelbook that lists truck stops and diesel prices along highways, with a pretty good search function. Kind of nice to plan fuel stops with.

Bill

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Bill:

Two things, ok three. Have a great time at the Florida Rendezvous, we're jealous of everyone that will and are boating this winter.

Not having your boat all the way snugged up onto the bow stop is the same as adding weight to the cockpit of your trailered boat. How much who knows but the further your bow is away from the bow stop the less tongue weight you'll have, the more sway you could get and therefore less safe. If the distance was an inch or so and you were just going a few blocks that would be one thing however driving any distance I would want my bow snugged all the way onto the stop. Also by being all the way onto the bow stop keeps the boat secure and prevents it from bouncing any which in turn reduces sway, assuming the rest of the weight is evenly distributed.

Lastly what is the name of the fuel app you referred to?

Jim

 

[Crewdog]

Thanks Jim:

will definitely snug up before departing next time.

The fuel app is called Fuelbook.

http://www.fuelbook.com/

It's on the app store.

Bill

 

[walldog]

Thanks for the tips.

When I first weighed the boat/trailer, the chain rode and the deflated inflatable kayak were up forward in the v-berth, and the tub of drinking water and 2nd anchor in the midberth. I put those items in the truck at the first fuel stop and it reduced sway noticeably.

Next time i will shift the big toolbox, about 50 lbs, from the head to the v-berth, as well as shifting any other accessories forward.

The bow was about an inch shy of the rollers, could that 1 inch make that much of a difference in tongue weight? I just didn't feel like doing the braking manouver to bump the boat up. Maybe should have.

I wonder also if putting some kind of bracket on the front of the trailer to add some ballast weight would help as well.

The fuel we've put in so far has been about half marina and have auto diesel. It's not worth taking a chance on getting busted for using non road taxed fuel in the truck, but I just wondered if taking a couple hundred pounds of fuel off the boat would help.

We'll be towing from Apalach to Cape Haze for the SW Florida Rendezvous at the end of the month, so I'll get a better idea on weights and balance then.

Oh, and for the diesel truck owners, I found an app for the iPhone called Fuelbook that lists truck stops and diesel prices along highways, with a pretty good search function. Kind of nice to plan fuel stops with.

Bill

HI Bill, yes I agree that with Jim that you should be as far forward as possible snugged up against the roller. I have found that the bow has some up and down movement as I travel. Based on a suggestion by Russ of Traveler, we add a ratchet strap from the bow eye straight down to the frame of the trailer. This stops the movement and saves the bow roller from being chewed up as we tow. Newer trailers may have more support from the bow bunks. I believe our boat was one of the first 27s with the all aluminium EZ Loader trailer.

I found the actual weights of our loaded rig during our first trip back to Texas from the PNW. My tongue weight is considerably higher than yours. My tools were in the cockpit. The only thing in the berth was our clothes and bedding. Willie can pack a ton of clothes in a small place, but I seriously doubt that she has 600 pounds of clothes. Although it may have seemed like it when I unloaded them this fall. Take a look at where the stern of your boat is on the trailer. Mine sits even on the rear bunks. It does not extend past them. The swim grid is the only thing that extends beyond the rear of the trailer. With as much difference in forward weight, it has to be placement on the trailer that is shifting weight off the tongue.

We towed Willie's Tug into a Flying J yesterday and used the scales to get an accurate weight of our rig. Our gross combined vehicle weight is 19,620#. Our truck weighs 8380# by itself, giving us a net weight of 11,240# for the boat and trailer. The tongue weight of the trailer is 1260#. Interesting that the front axle of our truck weighs 320# less when the trailer is attached, 4440# vs 4760#.

As you can see our front truck axle lightens up quite a bit with the trailer attached as yours does. We do not have any sway at all.

I will look for Fuel book, we use an app called "Gas Buddy" that has worked well for us. Another alternative can be helpful when coverage in an area is sketchy.

 

[Crewdog]

Thanks Herb:

I've put a cargo strap around the cockpit gunwales with some faux shearling seatbelt pads to protect the gelcoat to hold the rear of the boat down, and yes, i'll put a strap on the bow eye next time. Thanks for that sage advice.

Blue Merle has the FloatOn trailer, and I don't know if the bunks are the same as the EZ loader, but would a better comparison be to measure the distance from the rear trailer axle to the stern? I'll be able to get to the boat/trailer in 3 more weeks to see what ours is.

I've got a hunch that moving the boat forward one more inch might get us 200 more pounds of tongue weight; will have to wait and see when we weigh on the way down to S Florida.

Thanks to the Tugnuts for helping newbies like myself learn some good info.