pin weight balancing

[Rich C]

HI, II got the washer dryer and that increased the pin weight and want to know if I put equal weight at the rear would it balance it out. (not actual weight but our stuff in the back under the couch and in the upper cabinets.

 

[geotex1]

No, not entirely because the length of the moment arms are different. Equal weight will reduce a portion on the pin.

 

[Rich C]

I understand. Do you know in a 310g if weight in the back affects the pin + or -?

 

[CoChris-MGRV]

I understand. Do you know in a 310g if weight in the back affects the pin + or -?

Short answer is "more weight behind axles" = "less pin weight". "more weight in front of axles" = "more pin weight". The axles are your pivot point. Think of a teeter-totter and how weight effects it. The closer the weight is to the pivot (axles) the less effect it has on the end of the teeter-totter (king pin). This is true for all trailers.

On a Solitude 310GK the fresh water tank is just behind the rear axle. the kitchen grey tank is just in front of the axles and the bathroom grey and black tanks are in front of those. at roughly 8.34#/gallon, water is heavy. I often will use the fresh water to trim the pin weight. 70 gallons of fresh (~585#) takes about 107# off the king pin (vs an empty tank)

chris

 

[BobKilmer]

This post I created a while ago may help you decide how much weight you would need and where.
https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/showthread.php/33087-Estimating-Pin-Weight-Changes

 

[ajg617]

This post I created a while ago may help you decide how much weight you would need and where.
https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/showthread.php/33087-Estimating-Pin-Weight-Changes

Did you mean that Xp is negative? Would have thought that would always be a positive value where Xw might be negative. So in the case CoChris describes above where the fresh water tank is behind the rear axle, is Xw negative?

 

[BobKilmer]

Did you mean that Xp is negative? Would have thought that would always be a positive value where Xw might be negative. So in the case CoChris describes above where the fresh water tank is behind the rear axle, is Xw negative?

Whoops. my mistake and good eye! Xw can be negative, not Xp. This is the case that CoChris described with the fresh water tank. Since the tank is behind the axles Xw will be negative.

I will try to edit the post I made to fix this.

 

[Rich C]

Thanks for the info
I've recently added about 400 # to the pin weight which puts me over what I should be and plan on taking our dog on the next trip and am adding a rack on the back hitch to hold the dog pens which weight 300# . Is there a way to figure how much negative weight reduction on the pin from doing this.

 

[BobKilmer]

Yes there is. You need to take two measurements to do this. The first is the distance from the center of your axles to the center of the pin (Xp). The second is the distance from the center of your axles to the center of the back rack (Xw). The pin weight should then be reduced by 300*Xw/Xp pounds.

 

[DECelt]

HI, II got the washer dryer and that increased the pin weight and want to know if I put equal weight at the rear would it balance it out. (not actual weight but our stuff in the back under the couch and in the upper cabinets.

FWIW, I had the same concern when we added the Splendide to our new Solitude 310-GK. I decided to add a cargo carrier to the back hitch with an aluminum cargo box. I plan on keeping about 150 lbs of my heavy stuff in there during transit (the carrier and box come in at about 50 lbs.). The hitch receiver is rated for 300 lbs, so I feel comfortable with that. It won't completely offset the washer/dryer, but considering that the stuff stored in the box would have been in front of the axles, it's a pretty good counterweight.

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[geotex1]

Another nice counterbalance - replace the RV sofa bed with a really nice residential quality sofa sleeper with a mattress that is actually comfortable!

 

[riverdrifter1]

I have a couple strategies for reducing tongue weight (have a Splendide unit as well). One is we keep 2 cases of wine in the overhead cabinet over the couch as well as several gallon sized waters. I store my golf clubs behind the recliners. I used a Harbor Freight 750 lb rated rack in my receiver hitch and added two Yakima high roller bike racks for our Electric bikes (60 lbs each). And I put a few things in the storage bin on the rack. I also use a ladder rack for our four outdoor chairs. My RAM truck has factory Air Suspension and will give me a notice if I’m over weight. If so I can put more water in the fresh water tank. BTW I had a local hitch shop beef up my receiver for 500 lbs rating. I also find a ratchet strap from the bike rack to the ladder reduces movement when under way.

 

[Roll With The Changes]

I had the same problem with my 300GK. When I installed the washer dryer it used up most of the weight I could put in the pass through.

I now have about 500# behind where the rear bumper was and that offset everything nicely.

 

[DECelt]

View attachment 34309
I have a couple strategies for reducing tongue weight (have a Splendide unit as well). One is we keep 2 cases of wine in the overhead cabinet over the couch as well as several gallon sized waters. I store my golf clubs behind the recliners. I used a Harbor Freight 750 lb rated rack in my receiver hitch and added two Yakima high roller bike racks for our Electric bikes (60 lbs each). And I put a few things in the storage bin on the rack. I also use a ladder rack for our four outdoor chairs. My RAM truck has factory Air Suspension and will give me a notice if I’m over weight. If so I can put more water in the fresh water tank. BTW I had a local hitch shop beef up my receiver for 500 lbs rating. I also find a ratchet strap from the bike rack to the ladder reduces movement when under way.

Can't have too much wine [emoji41] How big of a deal was it to beef up the receiver?

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