Fixed Fifth Wheel.

id just run the fixed, that one looks easy enough to move if it was set wrong from the start. impact gun and 30 mins. but really once the 5th is in the right position it almost never needs to be moved, and in the super rare case you need to you could just have the load re-arranged on the trailer.

 

Nope. Some states allow 36K on tandem axles. North Carolina is one of them.

 

Pardon my ignorance guys I am trying to learn something, by saying $36K is over weight are you talking about the weight of the load or something else. please clarify the 12K and 34K statement to a newbie.

 

a normal 5 axle truck 12,000lbs on steers 34,000 on drives 34,000 on the trailer. =80,000 gross legal you cant be 12,38,30 = 80k but overweight on drives. now there are variations of that some trucks with heavy steers and floatation tires can be 20k on the steers, or say a spread axle trailer could be 12-34-20-20=86k of course then you are getting into state by state laws. concerning over 80k gross but the most common and standard tractor trailer is 5 axles 12k (34k)drives (34k) trailer

as far as what you can load that is going to be determined by your max legal gross minus you're tare weight (empty weight)

 

Most states allow 34,000lbs on the drive tandem axles and 34,000lbs. on the trailer tandem axles and 12,000lbs. on the steer axle.

HOWEVER!!!

Best to read up on the rules!!

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/FREIGHT/sw/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bridge_Gross_Weight_Formula

 

As was already mentioned you can move the fifth wheel. Just remove the bolts, move it where you want it and put the bolts back in.
Once you get it adjusted there should not be a need to move it unless you are using different trailers with different king pin settings.
I have a flat with a 30" kingpin setting and a van with a 36" kingpin setting. When I switch trailers I have to change the 5th wheel setting. No big deal since I have a slider.
My pea brain thinks it should not make a difference but it does.

 

I haven't had to move my fifth wheel but 3 times. One was not to long ago, but general rule of thumb is no.

 

I've had to slide mine a couple of times in almost 15 years pulling vans. With general freight like that it would be very unusual to have to move the fifth wheel once you have it set. If you do have to move it they probably didn't load the truck right and it might even have to be reworked.

 

Not entirely true.

For you to legaly scal 80k in many states you need 12, 34, 34. Adjusting the tandoms shifts weight from truck to trailer. Adjusting the load shifts weight between truack and trailer. 5th changes distribution from drives and steers. Nothing else can change that. Reworking the load could take weight off drives/stears, but then you wont gross 80k. To get to 80, the 5th needs to be set so when your drives are exactly 34k, your steers are exactly 12k. if drives ar 35k, stears will be over also. If drives are 33k, stears will be under as well. Shifting the load changes the total weight on truck vs trailer, but does nothing to change the distribution of stears vs drives. If the 5th is set in the right spot, it should never be a problem. The wrench in the works is fuel weight. taking on fuel does change the weight distribution between driver and steares. If tanks are ballenced well, its no biggie, but many are to far forward and thus a full tank changes the distribution forward.