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When you have a single axle RV trailer and you are using a Weight Distribution Hitch system, you need to be aware that this will add more weight to the trailer’s axle. It will also add more weight to your vehicle’s front axle but remove some from the vehicle’s rear axle.
In other words, the spring-effect from the weight distribution bars will remove some of the weight from your vehicle’s rear axle and then shift that towards your vehicle’s front axle as well as the trailer’s axle.
For instance, if 100 lbs is taken from your rear vehicle axle, your front axle may now receive 70 of those lbs and the trailer axle may get the remaining 30 lbs. More tension will result in more weight being redirected across the axles. The actual numbers will vary for everyone’s setup and the best way to measure these is by trying out different configurations yourself at a Weigh Station.
Understanding the affects of a Weight Distribution System on your single axle trailer is important to know, especially if you are loading your trailer close to its limits. The table below will give you an idea of how much difference a Weight Distribution System can make across your vehicle and trailer axles. This is a real life example that I tried out at a Weigh Station.
Theoretically, the sum of all axle weights should add up to the same total for each of the configurations – as the total weight of the vehicle plus trailer is not changing, however, due to various factors such as scale accuracy and perhaps exact positioning on the scale the totals are not all the same. Regardless, it does give you a sense of how the weights shift across the different configurations.
Return to: RV Trailer Improvements