TRUCK ONLY FRONT 3660, REAR 3280
Without WD
TV and TT front 3200, rear 3760 (+960 TW), TRLR Axle 7000
With WD
TV and TT, front 3400, rear 3480 (+960 TW) ,TT 7220 )
The total trailer weight may have changed by 200+ because the hot water heater and 12-15 gallons in the fresh water tank behind the axle was added between weighs.
The trailer pulled on the freeway in light winds better than this trailer has ever pulled. I hope that I can get some comment on whether the transfer is enought to be in an acceptable range. As I said everything is level and the trailer pulls better than ever (without my dealer provided round bar setup that had become worn at the receiver bar holes.
I am very happy unless someone bursts the bubble necessarily.
Renojack
* This post was edited 06/02/12 07:44pm by renojack *
RENOJACK
"The journey IS the destination"
2014 Denali 287RE TT
NV Plate "THETRLR"
2016 Ram 2500 Laramie Cummins 6.7
NV Plate "THE RAM"
Equalizer 1400#
also include the terrain conditions too? Inclines, cross winds, etc.
You are on the heavy side of the users so far and always good to have both ends,
light and heavy, along with the majority's middle info to compare
Weird that they didn't get back to you, but can't do much about that for now
Your TV weight is about where mine is...7.4K lbs with me (180) and the
misc/tool box (+250). Both big blocks, which is right up there with diesels.
Is your's a 4x4? The 4x4 Suburban's has the front bump stops touching all the
time and WD'ing over to that front axle has two spring systems working
Ron knows the new setup that the OEMs recommend best. I'm old school with even drop and
my GMT400 does NOT have the 4x4 front bump stop touching at all. I understand
that new setup to avoid over steering and the subsequent jack knifing 'potential'
Again, please post as it goes for both how the Andersen behaves and how this
double front spring system of GMT800/GMT900 4x4 Suburbans does.
Am seeing or my opinion is that the Andersen bushings has a lot to do with how
they tow vs the traditional WD systems and their steel springs. Bouncing and
porpoising seems to NOT be as prevalent with the Andersen and think the release
speed of the plastic bushings key to that
Does your Suburban have Automatic Level Control?
If so, did it cause the rear to rise after you adjusted the load on the WDH bushings?
Ron
* This post was edited 06/02/12 07:20pm by renojack *
renojack wrote:
---The trailer is dead on level, and the suburban is level within a 1/2".---
Can you explain what you mean by "the suburban is level within a 1/2"? ---The trailer is dead on level, and the suburban is level within a 1/2".---
TV and TT front 3200, rear 3760 (+960 TW), TRLR Axle 7000Does this mean the scaled rear axle weight was 3760+960 = 4720#?
Quote:
The total trailer weight may have changed by 200+ because the hot water heater and 12-15 gallons in the fresh water tank behind the axle was added between weighs.
Scales data indicate the WDH transferred 200# to the front axle.The total trailer weight may have changed by 200+ because the hot water heater and 12-15 gallons in the fresh water tank behind the axle was added between weighs.
This, in turn, indicates the WDH would have transferred about 100# to the TT axles.
The additional 120# on the TT axles could have been the weight of extra water.
The scales data indicate 460# was removed from the front axle when the TT was attached. The WDH replaced 200# of this.
Ford now recommends about 50% of the removed load be restored via the WDH.
However, Chevrolet/GMC still specify approximately 100% of the removed load should be restored.
Ron
* This post was edited 06/02/12 08:18pm by Ron Gratz *
renojack wrote:
--- It seemed that even if I had a deeper socket I could not have gotten more compression. The urethane spring is now compressed to 2 17/32".---
Is the 2-17/32" the length of the sping after it is compessed? If so, what is the uncompessed length?--- It seemed that even if I had a deeper socket I could not have gotten more compression. The urethane spring is now compressed to 2 17/32".---
Do the instructions give any indication of the maximum amount of compession which can be achieved?
Do the instuctions give any indication of the maximum chain tension which can be achieved?
Ron
In my last conversation the rep basically said if it rides good go with it. The instructions pretty much say the same thing. The instructions show example drawings of good and bad scenarios showing drawings of sagging tongues, level truck and trailers, high tongues and saying " After hundreds of installations we have found that it is just as effective to basically "sight level" the tow vehicle and get it as close to level as you can by tightening /loosening the tension nuts. Trying to get the tow vehicle to be perfectly level is NOT necessary- you just don't want to be too extreme....we have illustrated some good and bad examples below."
There is no discussion of scaling (weighing) the finished installation or axle weights other that a warning to adjust loads or adjust tension to obtain level units.
Personally, I am super happy with the results and the way it drives. It looks like I am not going to be able to acheive total restoration of the front axle weights. I think that my last WD must have been horrible on distribution (even though all was level) based on the performance of this unit as seen / felt from the driver's seat.
When I developed the table that I shared on this forum on March 11, I had assumed they were 3 inches. Since the compression figures were developed by subtracting the compressed length from 3", they are off by 1/16".
Last March I determined that the best compression for my lightweight rig (Honda Pilot 4WD, Lance 1575 trailer with gross weight of 3500 lbs) is a compressed spring length of 2 7/8". Turns out that is a compression of 1/16", not the 1/8" I thought it was.
The new corrected table is below. The amount of WD per spring compression setting makes more sense now, IMO.
Sorry for the dumb error.
Bruce H.
![[image]](http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii568/lodilinkster/AndersenChainTension-revised.jpg)
* This post was last edited 06/03/12 12:51pm by Bruce H. *
2012 Lance 1575 TT pulled by 2013 4WD Expedition with HD Tow Package
Thanks for an excellent presentation of heights, weights, and spring compression.
The load transfer results are in very good agreement with both theory and other scale data.
The numbers show a consistent load transfer to the front axle of 60# per 1/16" of compression.
That indicates the 1/4" of compression reported to have been suggested by Andersen would correspond to a front axle load transfer of about 240#.
Renojack's recent measurements indicated a front-axle load transfer of 360# with a compression of 13/32" (assuming an unloaded spring length of 2-15/16".
This corresponds to a load transer of 221# per 1/4" of compression. So Renojack's indicated value of 221# per 1/4# agrees well with your 240#.
Based on this small amount of information, I would guess that an Andersen WD hitch would adequately compensate for front-axle load removed by a 400# tongue weight if the spring compression is to be limited to 1/4".
I it would be good if Andersen's could let us know how much compression is acceptable.
Ron