Cargo Weight Estimate

good gauges on the air ride combined with good records are a good way to get
within 500# per gauge.

be sure that your unit is on level ground (for example 1 steer tire on a 2'" rock
can change drive axle reading by 1500#)

my book has a chart from 35# to 85# and room for 6 readings per line
for drives and trailer.

on my unit 53# is 34000 on the drives and 58# is 34000 on the trailer
69# is 37500 on drives and 72# is 37500 on trailer

 

A simple air gauge is good enough with a little trial and error. You can get within 500# with some experience but I've found that ambient temperature and humidity can affect the readings so it's not fool proof but unless you're loading within 500# of gross, it's good enough.


Since I pull a fixed tandem flat, when in doubt, I load heavy on my drives since I can burn off 1000# of fuel and shift any extra onto the steers.

 

i keep my steers maxed out at 12.4 with full tanks. the truck i drive now, won't slide the 5th wheel any farther back so i'm stuck on this particular truck.

if you have a air ride gauge on your truck. and i think most do. learn where it reads when your drives are loaded at 34,000.

if i hit that mark. i roll the truck back and forth a little and use the trailer brakes to park. so i can get a confirmed reading at or under 64 on my gauge. also need level ground.

if i'm over that 64 mark, the load gets repositioned backwards.

if you have an exact type of load front to back. centering the load on the trailer is usually the best way to load. whatever your truck gauge reads, the trailer will be the same, give or take 1,000 pounds. trailers will usually have either a turn signal in the middle of the trailer or a marker light so EVERYONE knows where center is. including the forklift operating loading you.

 

34k lbs on drives on the psi gauge is right above the line on 50 psi on most trucks if fifth wheel is in middle position or the lockd maybe 50% of time need to know your truck. If mine is on line I scale everytime

 

Ritchiespecs.com is what you are looking for.

 

I just google the model number of what I am hauling to get the weight and I use the operating weight not the shipping weight. I don't know how much fuel is in there most of the time.

 

Air gauges can be all over the place depending on what suspension and truck. The only truck I have driven with a suspension gauge (1995 t-800 straight truck flatbed with an 8 bag suspension) was 60psi for 34000 and 80 psi for 44,800.