Surprise! Imagine 2670mk Hitch Weight is 1000 lbs!

[Buckaroo]

Just bought a 2020 2670mk. The literature says the hitch weight is 642lbs. I received VIN specific paperwork when I bought it that says it's 726lbs (extra 84 lbs?). I now have full propane tanks and added some basics (maybe 300 lbs total - half in the front storage area) and checked the hitch weight....1000 lbs. Was thinking I might get close to that number fully loaded but not at this point. I guess I need to load the back of the trailer under the desk with firewood? Where are the tanks with respect to the axles? Can I load some water in the back gray tank to lighten up the nose? What about the rest of the tanks? What's behind the axle that I can load?

Buckaroo

[howson]

Just bought a 2020 2670mk. The literature says the hitch weight is 642lbs. I received VIN specific paperwork when I bought it that says it's 726lbs. I now have full propane tanks and loaded it with odds and ends (maybe 300 lbs total - half in the front storage area) and checked the hitch weight....1000 lbs. Not good. I guess I need to load the back of the trailer under the desk with firewood? Where are the tanks with respect to the axles? Can I load some water in the back gray tank to lighten up the nose? What about the rest of the tanks? What's behind the axle that I can load?

Buckaroo

1,000lbs on the hitch is not unreasonable or unexpected for a trailer with a 8495lbs GVWR. In fact, if the actual weight of your trailer is around 8200lbs then 1,000lbs on the hitch is just about perfect (~12%).

Here's what I suggest: take your trailer to a CAT scale and weigh your tow vehicle and trailer together. (Have both loaded as if you're going camping.) Pull off the scale and find a place to park and disconnect your trailer. Now go weigh just your tow vehicle. Do that, post the weights, and then the math will show whether 1,000lbs is too much, too little (!), or just right.

I'll spare you the math part right now...

[sande005]

You are very lucky..or GD changed the axle placement since I got mine. The BIG problem with them has been way too little tongue weight. Yours seems to be right on. Go to a scale and measure it all. TW should not be below 12%, or you will get trailer sway. Do NOT start trying to take weight off, until you have done as Howson advised, and you know for sure it is heavier than the 12-12.5% target. And even if over, I wouldn't try to fix it.

Mine came it at 11% lightly loaded for camping. Nothing I could do to increase it beyond 11.5%. I had to spend the big $$ for the ProPride hitch to defeat the sway.

[classic2step]

We own a 2019. Same trailer, a 2670MK. I just checked my tongue weight this morning before pulling out. My tongue scale has it at 950# which is perfect for towing. When we first was using it I carried less stuff up front so had to add fresh water to get the tongue weight up. With all the extra stuff I can now tow with empty water tanks. I would hold off on the firewood idea until after you get both fridges and the pantry full.

I know from experience if I get any lighter on the tongue it tows worse. For the record I tow with a Chevy 1500 and use an Equalizer E4. I get no sway and can maintain they speed limit even when 70. Still no sway. However, if I every decide to tow anywhere near mountains I'm upgrading to a 2500 Duramax.

[Jims94vmx]

Your hitch has to ad to the weight.....don't think a hitch was on at factory weighing......just a thought.

[Gimpyknee]

What about the rest of the tanks? What's behind the axle that I can load?

Buckaroo

Listen to @howson - he's wise. In fact, I'm taking my brand new 2670MK to the scales this weekend, now that DW has done some outfitting. I need to get a TW scale.... hmmm.

Anyway - behind your axles you have only your kitchen GW tank and the water heater, apart from the fridges, pantry and desk knee hole.
@classic2step - we'll see you around!

[howson]

Listen to @howson - he's wise. In fact, I'm taking my brand new 2670MK to the scales this weekend, now that DW has done some outfitting. I need to get a TW scale.... hmmm.

Anyway - behind your axles you have only your kitchen GW tank and the water heater, apart from the fridges, pantry and desk knee hole.
@classic2step - we'll see you around!

"Wise" only because I've been there, done that. "Experienced" at this point I will accept, but only because of the many, many members of this forum that selflessly tutored me through my "newb" days.

This might stray just a bit from the OP's original post, but to your TW scale reference--keep in mind your weight distribution hitch (WDH) changes the tongue weight "felt" by your truck. Look at this spreadsheet as an example:



Note the two columns where I put a red arrow, especially the weights from 25 Apr. Exact same trailer and truck, the only difference is the number of links used on my Blue Ox WDH. Now look at the calculated tongue weight--it changed! A TW scale can't account for the leverage action of the WDH. My point is that, unfortunately, IMO nothing beats quality time spent at the CAT scale as you learn how to setup your rig.

[Rovers]

"Wise" only because I've been there, done that. "Experienced" at this point I will accept, but only because of the many, many members of this forum that selflessly tutored me through my "newb" days.

This might stray just a bit from the OP's original post, but to your TW scale reference--keep in mind your weight distribution hitch (WDH) changes the tongue weight "felt" by your truck. Look at this spreadsheet as an example:



Note the two columns where I put a red arrow, especially the weights from 25 Apr. Exact same trailer and truck, the only difference is the number of links used on my Blue Ox WDH. Now look at the calculated tongue weight--it changed! A TW scale can't account for the leverage action of the WDH. My point is that, unfortunately, IMO nothing beats quality time spent at the CAT scale as you learn how to setup your rig.

Appreciate your insights, Howson!

Couldn't agree more on your thoughts on tongue weight - with a WD hitch the weights aren't static, they're more dynamic. Using a CAT scale weighing both the tow vehicle alone and hooked up to the trailer is the only way to get a true reading on the combined unit's weight and weight distribution. My goal is to get the front axle weight on my truck as close as possible to it's unloaded weight while also moving weight to the trailer axles - it's truly a system instead of a group of separate parts with separate weights.

I'm still fiddling with my hitch to get it just right - I think I'm pretty close


Bob

[Buckaroo]

1,000lbs on the hitch is not unreasonable or unexpected for a trailer with a 8495lbs GVWR. In fact, if the actual weight of your trailer is around 8200lbs then 1,000lbs on the hitch is just about perfect (~12%).

Here's what I suggest: take your trailer to a CAT scale and weigh your tow vehicle and trailer together. (Have both loaded as if you're going camping.) Pull off the scale and find a place to park and disconnect your trailer. Now go weigh just your tow vehicle. Do that, post the weights, and then the math will show whether 1,000lbs is too much, too little (!), or just right.

Did some work today and have the following data.....

CAT Scale Results 8/15/2019:
2670MK Hitched up to 2017 4WD Tundra DC w/ Trailer Towing Pkg, Equalizer 10,000/1,000 4pt Sway Control Hitch and nothing in any of the trailer tanks. Tundra has full 38 gallon fuel tank with wife & I in the truck. Just very basic essentials in the trailer - no clothing, food, etc
Truck Front Axle: 3440 lbs
Truck Rear Axle: 3560 lbs
Trailer Axles: 6720 lbs (nothing in the tanks and very little in the trailer)

Unhitched - Truck Only (myself, wife and hitch components in the truck)
Truck Front Axle: 3520 lbs
Truck Rear Axle: 2800 lbs

Hitch Weight measurements were performed using bathroom scale method with both a fancy glass digital scale and a cheap mechanical analog scale at varying levels in the fresh water tank as indicated by the pilot lights on the control panel. When full, fresh water capacity is 374 lbs. All other weight in the camper the same as when weighed using CAT scales:

Digital/Analog Results

Empty Tanks (843/899 lb)
Fresh Water 1/3 Full (990/1005 lb)
Fresh Water 2/3 Full (1030/1055 lb)
Fresh Water Full (1084/---- lb)

FYI, picture of hitch weight scale rig follows. Sorry can't get it to rotate....So what do you make of all this?

Buckaroo

[Buckaroo]

1, So shouldn't my measured hitch weight (~875 lbs empty tanks - about 13% of measured axle weight) line up with the difference in the truck weight hitched vs unhitched (680 lbs - about 10% of measured axle weight)? Why the difference and which one is right?

2. As I added ~374 lbs of fresh water (likely less as I shut off when the "full" red pilot light lit up), I added maybe 225 lbs to my hitch weight. Seems like a lot. My GVWR on the Tundra is 7100 lbs, it weighed 7000 lbs with the trailer hitched (tanks empty) so if I fill my fresh water tank, should I expect the Tundra weight to be 7225 lbs which exceeds it's GVWR? Can I offset this by loading some weighty things in the back of the trailer behind the axles?

3. I have two dogs - a yellow lab and an irish setter/golden retriever mix. They weigh about 60 lbs each and I intend to take them with us....do they need to go on a diet? Why are these pics rotating when I attach them?

Buckaroo