Weighed in the Jayflight 274bh on CAT SCALE

[RRS 274bh]

I wanted to get an empty trailer weight to see if it agrees with the Jayco tag information, but also wanted to see if I had the weight distribution set up right. I did the initial setup measuring the wheel well heights to and setting the bar angles to get the correct lift. With these weights I will have a good reference starting point for when I start loading trailer. I probably didn't need this info, but I'm kind of a nerd that likes to research and overthink things.

There's 4 - Cat Scale attachments, the first 3 are without moving off of scale.
1) weight of truck/trailer as driven in, with Equalizer bars set on 4th chain link from end.
2) disconnected weight distribution bars, just left hanging from hitch
3) reconnect bars using the 3rd chain link for extra data point
4) truck by itself with weight bars and sway bars in truck. I wanted to get the best unloaded trailer weight by difference of the gross combined weight to check against Jayco sticker weight.

I've heard a lot of different opinions on how accurate the trailer sticker tongue and dry weights are. Some manufacturers may weigh the trailer before adding certain options or filling propane tanks or installing batteries.
I can tell you that Jayco's posted numbers are spot on. My tongue weight using a Sherline scale was 650lb, exactly as stated. The trailer weight from factory was listed as 5273lbs, I got ~5300 lbs from the Cat Scale by gross weight - trailer weight. So Jayco does weigh in with filled Propane tanks and batteries installed.

I just wanted to point out how much difference in changing load on rear axle to front axle by the small change on the weight distribution bars can make. I have an older style Easy-Lift weight distribution with separate sway control (see attached picture), but I'm sure that some of the newer equalizers with built-in sway control should have incremental adjustment. Compare the truck axle weights on #1 and #3, this was only moving chain 1 link. And then look at the truck by itself, you can see how well weight distribution helps distribute the weight across the whole rig.

I just thought this may be useful to newer RV'ers to understand the concept better.

[RRS 274bh]

I didn't finish the post last night I just wanted to document the vehicle weight ratings and make a few comments. I haven't had to look at all this data since about 5 years ago when I got my new truck. While it's fresh in my memory, I thought I'd post some of what you need to look at when you get a new tow vehicle or trailer.

I want to acknowledge that most if not all of this information is already available in two sticky's in links below:
https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ting-3866.html
https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ions-3872.html
I just thought I'd throw in my actual Cat weights for people to check out against my vehicle information in a different set of words.


The weight ratings for the trailer are all available on the stickers on the trailer.
For the truck or tow vehicle, some of what you need to look at is on the stickers usually on the driver's side door post. You can see the pictures below.

My truck is a 2019 Ram 1500 Bighorn with 5'7"box 4x4, 5.7l hemi (non-etorque), and a 3.21 rear axle ratio. From the stickers, you can find the max axle weight ratings and the GVWR, and the max cargo capacity, but where is the actual truck weight and the GCWR or vehicle max tow rating? These are things you need to look up from the tow vehicle manufacturer. The attached partial chart is from the 2019 Ram towing and payload guide chart.

This isn't complete, but I'll continue later. There is a lot to decipher here.

[JKyle]

Thanks RRS, for posting about this. I think it helps many who may just be introduced to towing because they have a new trailer. I did a little towing in the past; tiny pop-up and a small landscape trailer. There wasn't a whole lot I had to calculate as it was obvious I could haul/tow them.

Today for me is different. I have an actual 1/2 ton truck and a new travel trailer. There were calculations to be made. There are many sources to help calculate but this forum is where you can bounce your findings and calculations off others with true knowledge, who can scrutinize and help you confirm or find fault with your numbers.

Also, becoming fluent in these calculations is a good learning experience and knowledge tool to obtain.

You could be my brother. I too kind of geek out on this stuff. I'm not purposely overthinking due to uncertainty, but more just interested in theory and practice of the skill.

[RRS 274bh]

Even though I've been towing travel trailers since 2000, I had the same trailer since 2002. Over that time, I've had three tow vehicles. The first time when I didn't know anything about towing and I was assured by both the RV dealer (I bought my 2670 Sunline first) and then by the 2002 Chevy Express Conversion van dealer, they both said that this truck could easily pull the Sunline trailer and I believed them because I was green. After that not so good of a decision, I researched things more for the second truck, and that's what this thread is about, knowing your truck and trailer requirements and buying the correct vehicles the first time. I will preface this with I am no expert, that's why I am including links that may help define some of the things you need to know like this sticky from this forum on how to weigh your truck and travel trailer on a Cat scale:
https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...v-tt-3871.html

I have attached a pdf of my Excel spreadsheet since I can't attach a .xls extension. Since you can't see the calculated cells, I tried to explain the calculations in the comment section. All of the green cells are calculated.

The main thing to point out is the vehicle options and added payload affect the Max trailering capacity. You can see that what was stated in the Towing/Payload guide is very deceiving at best.

Here are some links for the people that don't know but want to understand things better. This better explains the towing/payload ratings from 2019 5th Gen Rams. This is from the Ram Forum I'm on:
https://5thgenrams.com/community/thr...-to-know.4819/

I was looking for a specific post on the Ram forum that bought a new Ram Limited and I believe already had a trailer. But he didn't realize how much towing capacity he lost from the highly optioned vehicle, and his stated payload on the sticker was only 1100 something lbs. This was really a problem since his trailer tongue weight ate up most of his payload capacity and Max Trailer Wt Rating.

One last thing here is this YouTube on why you should research your vehicle/trailer ratings before going to a Cat scale and getting surprised like this guy did. He is overweight on almost all fronts. Trying to get a 1/2 ton pickup to tow a medium size trailer is hard enough, let alone small pickups or SUV's. If you go to the 3-minute mark, you can see his setup, and then he shows the Cat weigh-in form, and his spreadsheet showing how far over he is on ratings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvNUEQhdFu8&t=321s

The attached spreadsheet is just starting point for loading up my vehicle/trailer setup. After I load it up, re-adjust the weight distribution if needed, I will make my way back to the scales to see where I'm at. I will be keeping track (weigh items separately) of all of my heavier items added or stored in the trailer to see how close the Cat scales and what I calculate weight to be when I'm done.