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Old 03-14-2013, 12:06 AM   #101
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I've got weights ( tow front and rear axle and trailer ), but only with the WDH attached. Issue is finding a highways scale that isn't in use, and having the time to unhook and do it again. I looked up commercial scales locally and ended up talking to a guy in Pakistan.
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Old 03-14-2013, 12:39 AM   #102
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We have gone to commercial ones for about $9 plus a dollar every time we come back within 24 hours. We go middle of the afternoon and no trucks are in line.

We have weighed with and without WDH to see what it was doing and dropped off the trailer near the scale to get vehicle alone. Have also done the vehicle alone at an earlier time before hooking up and actually being on the way out.

Seems to me we had three scales to get all axles at the same time without moving.

They do a lot of weighing in Pakistan....
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Old 03-14-2013, 12:46 AM   #103
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Just thinking here. I've a transfer station about 20 minutes away. They only charge for the difference in weight between entering and leaving ( paying for the garbage you leave behind.
So, if I drove through with the trailer and then out, I should get a weight. Drop the trailer near by and go through again without it. Subtract and I should get the weight of the trailer?
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Old 03-14-2013, 01:00 AM   #104
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So, if I drove through with the trailer and then out, I should get a weight. Drop the trailer near by and go through again without it. Subtract and I should get the weight of the trailer?
Yes.
You know highway scales are free in B.C., right?
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Old 03-14-2013, 01:15 AM   #105
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I do. But the only one I know of that doesn't have trucks lined up 24/7 is Yahk. That's about a six or seven hour drive. There was nobody there when I weighed last time a few years ago. No way you could unhook the trailer at Hope, Surrey or Richmond and get out alive. I looked up the locations on the Ministry web site.
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Old 03-14-2013, 01:18 AM   #106
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Gbaglo. 102-700 Evans off terminal between main & Clark is the Vancouver public truck scale 604-683-5788. Have you tried this one without getting run over. Great weather for DUKWs eh?
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Old 03-14-2013, 01:24 AM   #107
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Thanks. I'll give them a call.
What I have been doing is reducing the stuff I carry, trip after trip. A cast iron fry pan can weigh as much as a case of beer.
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Old 03-14-2013, 01:27 AM   #108
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Gotta get the priorities right, you can't eat iron and you might run out of water.
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Old 03-14-2013, 02:08 AM   #109
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Since the single-axle trailer is sitting on a wheel which rotates on a hub when the trailer is tilted (not a leg extending to the ground at the tire contact point, and nothing to do with the frame height), I believe that the relevant height for the shift calculation is the height of the C of G above the axle, not above the ground or the frame. If the C of G were right at the axle height the shift with small angle change would be entirely vertical - no horizontal shift or tongue weight change at all. Although the real C of G is well above the axle, this still means that the effect is small - I don't think it's a big deal for single-axle trailers of a reasonable height.

I did check this experimentally with my single-axle Boler and a scale; unfortunately it was years ago and I do not recall the numbers.
I checked with a tandem-axle cargo trailer that I had rented, and the larger (and opposite direction) load shift for even 2 inches of hitch height change was significant.


I agree with all of this! Despite all the flak we have given him for complicating things, in his situation it is perfectly valid to prop up the tongue to get a correct tongue weight measurement and confirm appropriate loading before a trip.
The example I calculated was based on the C of G being 1.2 ft ahead of the axle and 3 ft vertically above (triangle). I assumed that the frame, axle and hitch were all on the same plane (not quite the real case but close). Frame height was not part of the calculation. The axle location was modeled to be a hinge or pin reaction point. The calculations were based with reactions along the plane of the frame and not the ground. The torsion axle may be a couple of inches below the frame, but it is close to it.
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Old 03-14-2013, 06:08 AM   #110
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What I have been doing is reducing the stuff I carry, trip after trip. A cast iron fry pan can weigh as much as a case of beer.
Amazing what you really don't need, isn't it? And, priorities must be set.
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Old 03-14-2013, 08:53 AM   #111
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tawo333:
A bathroom scale can be used... many of us have done it this way. If you have a trailer with as much tongue weight as a 19', or a 17' with dual batteries on the tongue, the weight will be too high for a common bathroom scale, so a lever set up is required, such as that described by eTrailer.

An affordable scale which is designed specifically to weigh a trailer tongue is the Sherline Trailer Tongue Weight Scale, which was mentioned several times in this discussion, and shown in gbaglo's photo.
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Old 03-19-2013, 06:30 PM   #112
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Photos of RAV4 and Escape 17B with and without Weight Distribution Hitch employed. I will weigh the tongue again when I have the trailer ready for the first excursion of the year.
Attached Thumbnails
NO WDH1.jpg   With WDH1.jpg   No WDH2.jpg   With WDH2.jpg  
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Old 03-19-2013, 06:37 PM   #113
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Talking

If those pictures are recent you are just showing off! Were is the snow ?
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Old 03-19-2013, 06:46 PM   #114
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Just shot the pix an hour ago. I had to hook up so I can haul Toad to my mechanic for wheel bearings and brake adjustment service / checkup.
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Old 03-19-2013, 07:17 PM   #115
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Interesting pictures, it appears when the w/d is attached, your trailer front is raised, maybe 2" , perhaps due to the shift of weight to rear of the trailer?
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Old 03-19-2013, 07:29 PM   #116
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The bubble moved from centre left to centre right when the WDH was employed. The level itself is on the trailer just aft of the door. So, the nose of the trailer rose slightly. I'll do a measurement at the hitch, tomorrow when I'm ready to unhook.
See the wheel wells on the RAV too for reference.
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Old 03-19-2013, 07:35 PM   #117
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Yes, I see the front drops and the rear is raised.
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Old 03-21-2013, 09:27 PM   #118
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Interesting pictures, it appears when the w/d is attached, your trailer front is raised, maybe 2" , perhaps due to the shift of weight to rear of the trailer?
The rise is due to the action of the WD spring bars, prying up in the tug's rear and thus transferring load off of the rear axle (so it rises) and onto the tug's front axle and the trailer's axle. There is a reduction of tongue weight due to tilting the trailer, as a side effect, but that is minor compared to the load changes forced by the prying action of the spring bars.

Of course, to tilt just the trailer you don't need WD - only an adjustment of the ball mount height.
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Old 03-22-2013, 09:02 AM   #119
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This doesn't really add to the topic being discussed, but I would like to say to Gbaglo that your Escape and Tow look really good together.
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Old 03-22-2013, 10:03 AM   #120
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My FJ squats a little hooked up, like your first picture so I'm contemplating a used w/d hitch over on fg forums. It is a 600 lb t/w 6000# gross set up.
Attached Thumbnails
DSCN0364.JPG   DSCN0365.JPG   DSCN0367.JPG  
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