I need some advice on getting weight off my steers.
Tractor Empty Steer Axle 11,220
Drive Axle 7,660
Total 18,880
w/Empty Trailer Steer 12,520
Drive 10,980
Trailer 8,240
Total 31,740
Loaded Steer 13,560
Drive 26,480
Trailer 33,000
Total 73,040
King Pin is exactly centered in the drives but the slide is all the way back. My first thought was I needed to slide it back. The rails are mounted all the way forward so I can move the whole unit back if needed.
Suspension load gauges is 50%. Front differential runs 10-15 degrees hotter than the rear. But that is the case bobtail, empty or loaded so I don't think that is anything.
Scale ticket shows the load weight at 41,300 but I have a load ticket from the shipper showing 46,700. Is it possible I weighed wrong? Load was centered on the trailer.
I'm supposed to load 47,000 on Monday and be on the road for awhile. I'm hesitant to load and go if I'm always going to be 300 lbs on the steer.
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Weight on Steer Axles
Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by AgPilot1, Sep 23, 2022.
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When you scale, was that a cat scale or shipper scale? Also if not a full platform scale it needs to be perfectly flat
When scaling, get in position, no movement or rocking, then let off on your brake pedal, then set tractor brakes only, do not set trailer brakes (though doing that wrong usuallyy results in it looking heavier, not lighter)
Thats wood, wood products shippers are mostly useless for knowing what their product weighs, usually the other way "it only weighs 46k" vs it actually being 52k
Depends on your steer axle setup, personally i would like a bit less weight up front, but you may be rated for it (depending on tires) so yeah id move the rails back to get just rear of center a bit of the drives, move it far enough that you have 1 or 2 holes extra behind your normal pin location though -
to permanently solve this problem you need to unbolt the slides and move them back 6" or so. 1 or 2 holes depending on the spacing.
Find out what the actual front axle rating is.
Frequently trucks will have g rated tires which on a front axle are only good for 12350 (6175 lbs x 2)
You can get H rated tires which ups that to 13,220. See Bridgestone link:
https://az184419.vo.msecnd.net/schneider-trucks/PDF/maintenance/TireLoadRangeGvsH.pdf
In all cases you must stay below the rating of the axle, or tires, whichever is lower.Last edited: Sep 23, 2022
Bean Jr. and blairandgretchen Thank this. -
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You get the picture.
The authorities are more sensitive to overweight on the steer than anywhere else because in the event of a failure, you will have immediate control issues.Bean Jr. Thanks this. -
Others can speak to it better than me, but i somewhat anecdotally think scales just assume 12500 (depending on state) is too high, so they may look at you more often)
Running 12 32 36 steer drive trailer (spread) usually gets me no second lookW923 Thanks this. -
A thought, do you have a chain and tarp storage headache rack on the truck (yet?)
If not, thats going to add some weight in the future, if you do, that might be part of the problem, truck set up for vans, but you added a rack... -
If the kingpin is centered over the drives, the change in steer weight should only be scale variation, not 1000's of pounds. It is it centered on the front drive?
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4' and 6' tarps are in the trailer tool box.
W923 Thanks this. -
W923 Thanks this.
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