Unfortunate Accident

[escape artist]

Hi: Eric T... I'm only allowed to drink "Ultra Light" beer. Does that still count as :P WEIGHT? Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[thoer]

Originally Posted by escape artist

Hi: Eric T... I'm only allowed to drink "Ultra Light" beer. Does that still count as :P WEIGHT? Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

Alf - I don't think Ultra Light even qualifies as beer let alone weight!

[gharms]

Alf, of course WATER HAS weight....

[Donna D.]

Life is too short to drink cheap beer.... or lite beer for that matter

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Life is too short to drink cheap beer.... or lite beer for that matter

Amen......
If you want the effect of lite beer, just drink a good one, and follow it with a glass of water. It will mix up in your stomach to effectively create a lite one.

[peter]

Let's not forget....you can't buy beer, you can only rent it.

[Garand]

yep...it passes through so quickly because it doesn't have to slow down to change color.

[dbailey]

Heh... Tongue weight is something that hadn't yet occurred to me while considering buying a "real" trailer. I have a small pop-up now. If I can pick up the tongue by myself, I know I need to add more weight to the front of the trailer. Guess that won't work with an Escape 19'... :

[cpaharley2008]

Getting back to the topic of the thread, tongue weight must monitored as often as you monitor your tire pressure. Before heading out in your Escape, checking tires, wheel lugs and your tongue weight is critical. Knowing your tongue weight is within the limits of the your tow vehicle, hitch & ball is important and can prevent accidents like this from happening. Here is a link to a reputable scale
http://www.sherline.com/lm.htm

[daveandsandyclink]

I am curious how weight distribution affects 5.0's? Will they sway when loaded with bikes, water, dual batteries, and camping/trailer stuff in the rear storage? What should be my weight ratio at the kingpin?

David

[barry]

The king pin should be 15 to 25% of the total weight of the trailer. I don't think you will have a problem with the 5.0 pin weight being too light as the wheels are so far towards the back of the trailer and most of the storage is either over or in front of the wheels. I have a harder time trying to keep the pin weight down.

I run mine with two bikes on the back, I have dual batteries (in the back) and put all my bottled water and heavy canned goods in the rear seat compartment behind the fridge and still find I have to fill the fresh water tank full of water to keep the pin weight under 700 lbs. on a total weight of about 3600 lbs. (19.5% pin weight ). If I don't I run the risk of going over the GVW of the truck even though I'm 1400 lbs. under the CGVW. I've found that the kerb weights published by the vehicle manufactures is a bit like the dry weight of trailers. When I weigh my truck empty with a full tank of gas it's 300+ lbs greater than the published kerb weight. This brings down my payload to 1200 lbs. When I add everything up .......... two people, 310 lbs, pin weight 700 lbs, hitch 130 lbs, I only have 60 lbs to spare!!

Barry

[daveandsandyclink]

Someday while on a trip I am going to get weighed. Truck & trailer combo. Then just the trailer. Then the truck. And learn how much weight the kingpin has as loaded. My tow is a 2500 Dodge Ram and I should never come close to exceeding the CGVW of 9000lbs. In fact I haul the heavier items on my truck as a precaution against trailer tire problems. I just never hear of sway problems on 5th wheel trailers and wondered about it. Thank you Barry for your response.

David

[MMarvin]

Hi David,

The spec for the 5.0 is 4400 lb max gross (2200 kg), 3500 on the axle and 900 on the pin (20 percent).

I weighed our trailer last spring, fully provisioned for a four-month trip, including full fresh tank (220 lb of water). We were 3915 total, with 780 on the pin, 19.9 percent.

I bet that Ram doesn't even know the Escape is there. Does it even deflect when you hitch up? My F150 sags about 1.5 inches at the axle.

Marv

[daveandsandyclink]

Hi Marv,

Thanks for that weight information. The Ram did well in July. Some would say it's overkill but I like the safety margin of a full size truck. I took my overload springs and spacers out to level the ride. Sandy was very comfortable behind the wheel towing the 5.0. I hope everyone has safe traveling. Check your tire pressures, keep your speed reasonable to the road conditions, don't take what you can do without a few days, and watchout for cell phone users.

Now that it's cooling off here in Texas we are going...going...gone most every weekend.

David