Advice on travel trailer weight

You can "adjust" the tongue weight by how the trailer is loaded.

Tongue too heavy = move some cargo behind the trailer axle.
Tongue too light = move some cargo ahead of the trailer axle.

Need to remain below the limits on truck tongue weight, GCVWR, Truck GVWR and Trailer GVWR.

It is a balancing act.

 

Ok I’m not going to give up yet. I’m literally losing sleep over worrying about these weights. I’ll get the TW scale set up and go from there. In the meantime my tonneau cover is coming off. The dealer I bought from swapped out the 17” wheels for 20”. Same 31” diameter but I’m sure they’re heavier. Then I’ll stop at CAT scale for empty truck + full fuel measurement.

 

Good ideas.

Start with the CAT weight of the truck (full fuel and you only) and the dry weight of the trailer. Subtract these from the GCVWR of the truck. The result is the amount of cargo that is shared/distributed between the truck and trailer.

Might be a good idea to pull the empty trailer to the CAT scale at the same time.

 

When I helped a friend do this the best thing we did was make a list that assigned items in the trailer to where they are supposed to go to keep the weights correct. Do that once and there's no wondering later down the line if the campfire pit was supposed to be in the front or the rear storage compartment.

 

Keystone confirmed the TW is 520lbs with TT empty. Items such as propane and battery will almost certainly be completely applied to this correct? As in little to none of that extra weight is carried by the TT axle.

 

Not exactly. It depends where the battery/propane are located from the axle and the distance from the hitch to the axle.

Think of a teeter toter. The axle is the pivot. 100 lbs at 10 inches from the axle, the hitch at 20 inches from the axle.......places 50 lbs on the hitch.

 

Wheel/tire question next; The dealer I bought the truck from removed the stock 265/65/R17’s and installed 285/50/R20. I initially liked the look but am indifferent now and thinking they may not be completely appropriate for towing. I read I lose about 2% towing capacity with the added height. Does the wider tire also then add some resistance? Does the lower profile tire hurt in anyway? Do the bigger wheels add a ton of weight?

Going back to stock specs seems likely.

 

Here is a photo of the rig attached



before the sumosprings and w/full fresh water tank (drained before leaving)

 

Water is really heavy and consumes a large amount of cargo capacity.

1 gallon = 8.3 lbs

Suggest to use the campsite hook-ups or the water fill station at the camp. Don't haul water when its avoidable.


The larger tires will have 2 primary places of effect. Pulling torque and empty weight of the truck. I doubt either will have a beneficial impact.