Help..tandems?
Topic 16006 | Page 1
Seems like your 5th wheel should be forward. 1st or 2nd hole, then leave it alone. For the trailer I tend to start with the 40ft mark because I do so much California. Then weigh it and adjust from there.
Before going too far you really should scale this. Short of that it's only a guess.
Careful there is a DOT scale on the DE/PA border, Northbound on I-95. Take care of your business before you get near that. DE and PA do not have scale passes, everyone gets weighed.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
As a general rule to get me to the nearest CAT scale i will look to see where the last pallets of freight are and center my tandems under that but no farther back than about 41 ft mark then i immediately go scale it. We dont do cali so 41 is about the most restrictive state we deal with.
All this talk about holes lol.. Our trailers have measurement markings so thats what we use. We typically only have to slide the 5th wheel when its loaded very heavy to the front.
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
CAT Scale:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
As Sue subtly hints, your safest route includes a certified scale. Get the scale of all the axles. Adjust accordingly. Here's the math:
Start with the DRIVE WHEELS weight. Subtract the TANDEM weight from that. (If the answer is negative, that's ok, but remember that.)
In high school you would write: D - T = x
If your pin holes are 4" apart, divide by 500. (500 is not a "magic number", see below.)
x ÷ 500 = y
Round y to the nearest whole number. That is the number of holes to move the pin. If that number is positive, move the tandems to the front. If negative, move to the rear.
Thought for the day:
To move the tandems to the front, you use reverse gear to slide the trailer back!
The 500: the 4" holes represent 250 lbs. You really have to divide that x number by 2, so combining the 250 and the 2 you get 500.
Class dismissed.
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
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I know this is on here but this may be quicker. For 43300 lb load good place to put tandems? I'm in delaware going to colorado. My 5th wheel in 3rd hole. Right now have tandems in 6th hole. Loadded with leveling compound to back with about 5 ft from doors. Thanks
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".