axels and wheels

[eddyleet]

While camping over labor day we met ex-owners of Montanas that expericenced trouble with their axle breaking. I checked the tires and the tires look ok but might have a weight problem see below. The axles are rated at 5080 ea.

WEIGHT 9/7/04 AT ConAgra
2002 2500HD chev 4x4 trk and a 2002 montana 2880rl gross 18140 LB
With the 5th wheel on the scale but still connected was 8880 LB
The truck only is 6920 lb so the 5th wheel is 11,220 lb.
Am I in trouble? The rigs have 15k on both.
any thoughts?

[azstar]

Eddyleet,
Are you saying that the Weight on the 5ers axles when pulling is 8880? If so, does that mean your Pin weight is 2340 lbs.? What does the Truck say on the door jam for GVWR? If the Truck weight is 6920 with full tank and passengers and the Pin Wt. is 2340, your at a wt. of 9260. That seems high as my 3/4 ton is only rated at GVWR of 8800. I wouldn't be as concerned about the 5ers axle wt. if it's 8800 as much as I might be concerned about over loading the Truck. To do your post justice we need make sure we got the picture right.
The 18140 CGVWR seems OK as mine is rated at 19000 lbs. I'll bet yours is close to that.

[8.1al]

Eddyleet's truck has a GVWR of 9200 lbs. and a GCWR of 22,00 lbs

[Montana_657]

Your in the same boat as the rest of us Eddyleet. The factory has decided that the weight on the truck does no have to be carried by the axels. So two axels at 5080, means 10160 total load. The axel on the scale weighed 8880, so Montana would tell you you have 1280 pounds to spare.

This isn't the way I would do it, but it seems that most 5ers are rated this way. If I had been the guy designing this you would have had two 6,000 pound axels under there.

[azstar]

Gruffy's right on. The 8800 lbs. is the static weight. You should never see a higher weight on the axles at rest. Actually you can deduct the wt. of the axles, wheels and tires from the 8800 which is probably around 400 lbs. This means your axles are only seeing about 8400 lbs.
As long as you have D or E rated tires aired up to the max psi rating marked on the sidewall and their never older than 7 yrs. you are in the pink with the Manufacturer.
Remember when your hitting those RR Tracks that 8800 can easly get as high as 12,000 lbs. on those axles, a little thing called inertia. But this is built into the design. Lesson here is watch those rough roads and RR Tracks.
Looking at 8.1al's post, if all these 2500HD's have the same specs. (LB vs SB, 4WD vs 2WD and engine size) it looks like your total combined wt.(CGVWR) puts you in good shape. Your Truck on the otherhand is a little overloaded ( 9260 vs 9200 GVWR). You definitely need E rated tires up to the Max. psi. in the rear, and its something to think about when you load your rig. Shifting some of your gear behind the 5ers axles would help in lowering that pin wt.
As a side note if we want to know how old our tires are, they have an area on the sidewall with a number and sometimes letters that look like they have no purpose, but the last four numbers tell us when they were made. Example, my Trucks tires say 2503. These tires were made the 25th week of 03. If they said 2301 they would have been made the 23rd week of 01, and so on.
Now, if your looking for an excuse to buy that new Truck you now have one. Whenever I buy it's always nice to have reasons to give the Wife when I just have to have it.

[8.1al]

If Eddyleets truck has the 6 liter gas engine the GCWR is 16,000lb, if he has the 8.1 with 3.73 rearend it is 20,000lb, the 8.1 with 4.10 and the Duramax are 22,000lb. I tend to forget that not everbody buys the 2500HD with a big engine. If Eddyleet only has the 6 liter gas engine he is seriously over his GCWR.

[eddyleet]

8.1al is right our truck is the 8.1 gas and thank all of you for your help!!! Ed

[Montana_251]

eddyleet Im at Crescent Bar Leisuretime resort there in Quincy. Small world.