Weight Distribution

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89Layton

89Layton

Active member
Joined
Jul 29, 2015
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30
When we bought our TT the previous owner sold us the hitch with it. He helped get it setup on our van too. My question is this: it appears that we are sagging a tad on the back of our van. When I load the TT I have centered much of our load over the axles or towards the rear. I typically have the fresh water tank filled. In our van we have our 6 kiddos and 8 bicycles. Would adjusting the hitch higher help? By higher I mean there are several holes that I can set the hitch on. Overall the ride is not bad but occasionally I can feel the weight affecting the front end of the van.
 
The hitch height is to make the trailer tongue level. If the van is sagging after hitching up the trailer, you want to tighten up the spring bars on the WD hitch. However, your sag may well be just those 8 people and their bikes.  Kids may not weigh that much individually, but 6 of 'em adds up! Probably would be a good idea to get the van weighed axle-by-axle with kids & bikes onboard. You may find you are already pushing its weight limits.

Get everybody in the van and check the levelness of the van. Measure the height off the ground at the back, then hitch up the trailer and adjust spring bars to get back to about the same height with everybody onboard.
 
Does the front seem light when steering. If it does, your hitch is probable not adjusted correctly. There is an article in our library explain the procedure.

http://www.rvforum.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79:correct-adjustment-of-a-weight-distributing-hitch&catid=26&Itemid=132
 
steveblonde said:
my guess on an 04 you should replace the springs and add air bags or a set of supersprings that should help huge
Click to expand...

Why?  just askin'  ??? I tow a 28' TT with a 1995 Chevy 2500 WITH original springs and no sag... I don't believe springs are a problem unless his van was used to haul cargo at or over rated capacity... no, there's
some other problem/cause.

Keith
 
Get some actual measurements to go along with your explanation of "sagging a tad" ... then you know exactly what hitch adjustments might need to be made.

The library link above it a good reference, and there are several helpful & complete Youtube videos that explain the process also.
 
Here is why E450 from 2004, probably not the origanal owner my bet its been used as a shuttle van which means lots of people and lots of bags , probably short trips to the hotel and airport , very well maintained oil changes etc etc but its really hard on suspention. He has 6 kids and lots of stuff  which is why be bought a e 450 in the first place. Lets ask the OP I WILL BET .25 lol on a almost 20 year old van it probably runs awesome Hotels really look after their stuff, as far as regular maintanence then they trade it off and a E 450 is almost always bought by hotels or church groups lol
 
We are the second owner of the van when we outgrew our suburban  :(. The van was approximately 6 months old with 13k miles on it when we bought it. We have not towed much with it. We do use it 4-6 times a year to get firewood. Other than that it is just our family car.

I need to find a local weigh station and get some data.
 
89Layton said:
We are the second owner of the van when we outgrew our suburban  :(. The van was approximately 6 months old with 13k miles on it when we bought it. We have not towed much with it. We do use it 4-6 times a year to get firewood. Other than that it is just our family car.

I need to find a local weigh station and get some data.
Click to expand...

look like i loose a quarter  :mad: what was the van used for before - is there a place local to you that makes springs that can do a spring test?
 
Steve I'll take that quarter...  ;D But the van had an exceptional amount of mileage for being only six months old (2x national average) not necessarily a lot of weight to effect the springs though... all that is neither here or there... I think Scott's advice is right on  8) no need for spring tests here ::)

just sayin'  :-X

Keith
 
kwbush said:
Steve I'll take that quarter...  ;D But the van had an exceptional amount of mileage for being only six months old (2x national average) not necessarily a lot of weight to effect the springs though... all that is neither here or there... I think Scott's advice is right on  8) no need for spring tests here ::)

just sayin'  :-X

Keith
Click to expand...

where i live we drive trucks more than anything else Standans our LOCAL spring gurus will do a spring test free - which i why a suggested it

ALSO where do i mail the quarter to? Remember im in Canada and it cost $1.08 to mail a letter lol

https://www.google.ca/search?q=standens+calgary&oq=standans+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.4594j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=0&ie=UTF-8
 
89Layton said:
I need to find a local weigh station and get some data.
Click to expand...

One of our local sand & gravel places lets people use their scales and even leaves them turned on Sundays when they're not otherwise in use.  If you can find a place, I'd suggest getting the weights both with and without the trailer and keep a weather eye on that rear axle weight.
 
Here is another question... the article:

http://www.rvforum.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=186:weighing-travel-and-fifth-wheel-trailers&catid=26&Itemid=132

Talks about getting three different weights. The local weigh station uses a CAT scale and has 3 scales built into it. Does this mean I only need to get on it once?

See:
http://catscale.com/how-to-weigh


 
Scroll down in that CAT scale link you posted, and you'll see how they recommend you park over the three zones... so 1 readout from the scale should give you front axle, rear axle with tongue weight, and trailer without tongue weight.  The difficulty there will be determining your exact tongue weight.  You'd either need the vehicle weight alone, or complete trailer weight alone.  The CAT scale can do that, it will just require you unhooking the trailer for a minute or two.
 
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