Overloaded Trailer or Weak Truck?

[btlook1]

Hitches

hey I can personally recommend a site for all your hitch needs! I will paste if for ya....Best hitches on the market! Sorry don't know much about the distribution on your load!

http://www.turnoverball.com/

 

[ktm rider]

I would say there is a weight distribution issue with the design of the trailer for sure. I have a 12K dump trailer that weighs 3,700lbs empty and I can lift the tongue up easily by hand. and it sounds like the cheapest fix for you would be to go to the local RV shop and get yourself a set of distribution bars. They should atleast help considerably. It help with my 32' bumper pull travel trailer that was an absolute hog to pull down the road. ( thank God I sold it !)
You wouldn't need the whole unit, if your hitch will accept the bars.

 

[woodfarmer]

here's my 12' trailer with a 2' table extension on the rear. see where the front axle is, dead center of the trailer(12'). i put 16' logs on and the extra 4' hanging out the back of the trailer caused it to lift the tounge. so i had to cut a few in half to get more weight on the front of the trailer. why then do all equipment floats, highway trailers etc have there axles 3/4 of the way to the rear of the trailer. the problem could be the gvw of the trailer is too much for the rating of your truck

 

[drmiller100]

some interesting comments here.

10 percent tongue weight is a minimum. if you have a little too much tongue weight, your truck squats and you look dorky.
if you have not enough tongue weight, your trailer WILL someday start whipping on you coming down a hill and you will die or kill someone.

dorky, or dead?????? of those two choices, i look dorky.

how many lug nuts on your axles? if 5, then it is a 7k trailer, and i'd wonder if you are overloaded. if 6, then 10k, which is a big load, especially at highway speeds, especially with no equalizer. hopefully your trailer brakes work well????

it is a lot easier to make a taller back gate, and just load the wood further back on the trailer then it is to move the axles.

if it were me, i'd find a scale. weigh the truck empty. then hook up the trailer, and weigh just the truck again, and get your tongue weight. then weigh the trailer axles, and figure out your percentages.

 

[WoodTick007]

I will give you a little background on the trailer....that is only someone opinion..... People who saw it when I first acquired it said it was a carhauler..... Personally I don't think so.. The person I got it from used it to haul skids of brick pavers.

When I acquired it, it had a flat plywood floor with 12" sides and and top rail made out of 2" square tubing. I replaced the floor with 2" x 8" x 8' boards. At the same time I closed the open 12" sides in with 12 guage sheet steel and also added the stake sides and tailgate .
The trailer has brakes on both axles. The tongue is made from 6 or 8" channel that runs all the way back ti the axles. The stringers on the bed are 3" angle iron thats 3/8" think and they are spaced every 18 inches..

Taking a better look at the axles they appear to be 2/3 rd's of the the way back from the front of the bed (not the tongue).

Thanks to everyone that has shared their knowledge and experience with trailers.... Hopefully I can figure out something.!!

Thanks Again

Greg

 

[jerry wayne]

I will give you a little background on the trailer....that is only someone opinion..... People who saw it when I first acquired it said it was a carhauler..... Personally I don't think so.. The person I got it from used it to haul skids of brick pavers.

When I acquired it, it had a flat plywood floor with 12" sides and and top rail made out of 2" square tubing. I replaced the floor with 2" x 8" x 8' boards. At the same time I closed the open 12" sides in with 12 guage sheet steel and also added the stake sides and tailgate .
The trailer has brakes on both axles. The tongue is made from 6 or 8" channel that runs all the way back ti the axles. The stringers on the bed are 3" angle iron thats 3/8" think and they are spaced every 18 inches..

Taking a better look at the axles they appear to be 2/3 rd's of the the way back from the front of the bed (not the tongue).

Thanks to everyone that has shared their knowledge and experience with trailers.... Hopefully I can figure out something.!!

Thanks Again

Greg

mega ditos on that there parking job man do you gotta get that thing in there every time woowww....also are those dog runs or something all in a row none of my beeswax just awonderin fool:taped:

 

[drmiller100]

does each wheel have 5 lug nuts or 6???

 

[WoodTick007]

Nuts Behind the wheel

Each wheel has 5 nuts.... except the steering... that has one Nut, a Ridgeback and a Lab.

I think the axles are 3500lb Dexters.....Hmmmm

 

[woodfarmer]

lets put another axle in front of the two and have a tri-axle, i once saw a ford 350 towing a tri-axle horse trailer go around a corner and the front inside wheel of the truck come off the ground, now that is tongue weight.

 

[parrisw]

What kind of hitch do you have on your truck??, hopefully your not using your bumper. Like others said, it sounds like you have way too much tounge wieght. I would move the axle's forward to midway, as well as get some Camper/Trailer, load leveler's. What year is your truck, I have a 1990 F250,
4x4 with a 5.8 and 5sp, it has 8900gvw, whats yours?? It has factory overload springs on the back, they work real well.

 

[drmiller100]

5 lugnuts is 7000 pound gvw trailer.

load it further back, and run it. keep your tire pressures at the max.

 

[WoodTick007]

New Kidney Belt

I decided how to resolve the problem... I am going to replace the rear springs with new spring packs. I found them brand new for $129 per side.... they will increase my loaded spring rate by 1900lbs.... Now I need to watch Ebay for a used Kidney belt..:bang:

 

[Erick]

Just curious did you ever get the load to the scales?? Like some others have said here I think your carrying more weight than you realize. At 16 x 8 and 3ft high you are carrying about 3 cords of wood on that trailer. The oak and hickory your hauling can weigh between 3500 and 5000 pounds per cord depending on if is dry or green. That means your hauling between 10 and 15 thousand pounds on that 7000 pound trailer!! My guess from the wood you describe is that your probably hauling around 13,000 to 13,500 pounds, which (if your trailer is set up right) should put around 1300 to 2000 pounds on the tongue, no wonder your truck has a bad case of the draggnass. From the pics it looks like you even stacked the wood above the rails in the center of the trailer which adds even more weight to the total. I've got a 16 x 6 1/2 ft 7000lb trailer with 2 ft sides and a level two foot load is about all my trailer and Expedition want hauling oak or hickory. Run that thing by the scales next time out I think you will be a little shocked to find out what you've been hauling.

 

[Erick]

Oops not sure where I got you were hauling oak and hickory but then again I've been wrestling with a turkey.

The Maple you said you were hauling should be close to the same weight (unless it's silver) about 4700lbs wet and 3700lbs dry per cord, still pretty darn heavy and well over the 7000lb weight limit.

 

[GRAYSTONE]

Jeep Cherokee with 7000 lb trailer.

Here is a picture of my 6 x 10 - 7000 lb capacity dump trailer behind my Jeep Cherokee with 1 cord of wood loaded. I have no problem towing the trailer and have electric brakes on only 1 axle. Jeep is rated for 5000 lbs but the trailer and wood come in about 6000 lbs and the Jeep seems to handle it ok.
Axles are quite near the center and this trailer tows great even at 60 mph.

 

[Frog]

a little over weight

As others have mentioned You are running a lot more weight than you believe. For over a year I ran a F-350 with a 7.3 pulling a 8 x 20 with 4' sides tandem, tandem 18,000lb . It is a goose neck trailer. I added 2 extra springs in the pack with a 1000lb helper. I figured that I was running 15,000lbs over the GVCW of my truck. The truck ride did not seem to have changed after the springs were added. It did raise the rear about 2", but loaded with all the weight the truck looked level. I have since came to my senses. I got a bigger truck to haul with. I just can't see killing myself or someone else running way above and beyond the recommended GVCW. Sure the truck will pull it, but can the brakes and trailer brakes stop it in a safe distance. Just my thought.