User's Manual

B - 4

TOWING yOUR AIRSTREAM

WEIGHING YOUR TRAILER

The diagram below shows how to weigh the trailer on scales.

The allowable personal cargo must be distributed in your trailer in such a manner that

the Gross Axle Weight Rating is not exceeded.

To determine this, it is necessary to load all of your allowable personal cargo and

variable weights. Then hitch the trailer to the tow vehicle with load equalizing hitch

properly adjusted as shown on the following pages.

Place the trailer on a scale with both axles only on the scale (see illustration). If the

weight on the axles exceeds the axle system G.A.W.R. then some of the personal cargo

must be redistributed forward in order to place some of this weight on the tongue.

The tongue weight should be in between 10% - 15% of the trailer’s total weight, and

must not exceed the tow vehicle’s or the hitch’s maximum weight rating. To determine

tongue load, unhitch tow vehicle and place the tongue hitch post on a scale. The trailer

must be properly loaded as determined above, with your allowable personal cargo and

variable weights.

Use a scale, such as a bathroom scale, that has a lower weight limit than your tongue

load, to check the tongue weight by using the following method (see illustration).

Place a piece of wood of approximately the same thickness as the bathroom scales

on the ground in line with the trailer hitch jack as shown. It should be so spaced that

a short piece of pipe or other round piece will lay exactly one foot from the centerline

of the jack extension. Place the scales so that another round piece can be exactly two

feet from the centerline of the jack extension in the other direction. Place a 4 x 4 on the

two round pieces and screw the jack extension down on the top of the 4 x 4 until the

tongue of the trailer is supported by it. Multiply the scale reading by three. This will be

the tongue weight of your trailer. If you exceed the capacity of the bathroom scales,

increase the two-foot dimension to three or four more feet, but always multiply the

scale reading by the total number of feet between the wood and scales.

CAUTION: Be sure trailer is level when you read scales.