Ford F250

[rcflame]

Chad36RL,
Here are some acronyms that I feel are more important. You may already know these, but if not

GVW- Gross vehicle weight, What you vehicle actually weighs loaded ready to go.
GVWR- Gross vehicle weight rating, What the manufacturer says is the maximum weight this vehicle should carry.
GCW- Gross combined weight. The total weight of the tow vehicle and trailer.
GCWR-Gross combined weight rating. What the tow vehicle manufacturer says is the maximum combined weight the vehicle and trailer should be.
GAW-Gross axle weight, What the weight on each individual axle is.
GAWR-The maximum weight the manufacturer says should be on that axle. (This rating will not only be for your trailer axles, but the front and rear axles on your tow vehicle.)
PW-Pin weight, This is the weight your trailer pin will add to your tow vehicle when hooked up. Most of this will be added to the rear axle of your tow vehicle, but some of it will be added to the front axle.

What I do when I get a different trailer, tow vehicle, or make a major change that will affect the weight figures is I will take the tow vehicle, loaded the way it will be when you are ready to hit the road, to a certified scale and get the weight on the front and rear axle. (this usually cost about $10. A lot of your truck stops have the scales, and if they aren't overly busy with the truckers, they will be more than happy to accommodate you. Than when I am ready to take off, I will stop at the scale and get the weights on everything with the trailer hooked up. I will have the weight for the trailer axles & the pin weight by subtracting the weight of the tow vehicle w/o the trailer from the weight with the trailer hooked up. By adding the trailer axle weight and the pin weight, I will have the gross weight of the trailer. By checking the Max. weight rating on your tires, you can also use the axle weight to see if you are overloading your tires, and by checking tire inflating chart, you can see what pressure your tires should be. Depending on your weight and tire rating, you may be able to lower the pressure in your tires, which will give you a better ride.

[atom ant]

If you search forCAT on your droid phone, they have an app that will locate CAT scales from your current location.

[Diesel chaser]

In reply to rcflame's comment on lowering tire pressure for better ride , be careful as 2 issuses come from reduced tire pressure the first being heat that causes blow outs, the second being the TPS ( tire pressure monitoring systems in the wheels) , as far as I know at this time the drw's don't have them , but 2011 and newer srw FORD and DODGES and GM's do have and not running the proper tire pressures creates a whole new can of worms in the vehicles brain- only the owners manual for each vehicle can give us the proper pressures for the vehicle.

[rcflame]

My TPS shows pressure and temp. By using the tire inflation chart I dropped my rear tire pressure about 10 psi from max, and front about 20 psi. The temp was only 10-15 degrees warmer at the most. It's hard to say for sure because so many variables can affect the tire temp. The tire inflation charts are put out by the tire manufacture. They list what tire pressure you need for a certain weight. I run about one step above their recommendation to give me a little safety cushion. If a person follows the inflation chart, it shouldn't give you any tire problems based on inflation and temp.

[johnboytoo]

And the tps thresholds are easily changed so there's no issues with ABS, etc...
(at least on ford's and Audi's that I've had)