Weight and tag axle pressure

[Chad A]

Full tank of fuel, 77 gallons fresh water, 8 gallons combined black and grey tank. Me in it with all of the stuff I carry around but no other passengers.

Drivers side front 7,500

Passenger side front 6,800

Front weight 14,300

 

Drivers side duals 11,500

Passenger side duals 10,550

Rear weight 22,100

 

Drivers side tag 3,300

Passengers side tag 3,200

Tag weight 6,500

 

Front axle gawr 14,600

Rear gawr 23,000

Tag gawr 10,000

 

What can I do to get more weight on my tag axle? I feel like if I add pressure my front will carry more weight. 
 

You guys are the experts so I am looking for your advise. 
 

Thanks in advance

[96 EVO]

You may be as good as your gona get without moving heavy items in the storage bays farther back, then adding a couple of psi to your tag axle.

Edited October 8, 2022 by 96 EVO

[Dr4Film]

You didn't post what tag pressure you are currently running at.

The rear duals act as a pivot when adjusting tag axle bag psi.

If the tag psi is too high it puts more weight onto the front axle.

Check your tag psi and repost.

If the tag axle bag psi is close than the only way to reduce the front axle weight is to move stuff to the rear.

[vito.a]

On the early model coaches Monaco installed the fuel tank in the front basement compartment.  When the fuel and propane tanks are full it tends to overload the front axle.  

On slighly newer coaches they moved the fuel tank aft helping the weight distribution.  

Not much you can do but relocate heavy items aft.  

I also installed 315/80R-22.5 front tires. 

Even the large Newmar coaches in this era have the same issue.

[Frank McElroy]

2 hours ago, Chad A said:

Full tank of fuel, 77 gallons fresh water, 8 gallons combined black and grey tank. Me in it with all of the stuff I carry around but no other passengers.

Drivers side front 7,500

Passenger side front 6,800

Front weight 14,300

 

Drivers side duals 11,500

Passenger side duals 10,550

Rear weight 22,100

 

Drivers side tag 3,300

Passengers side tag 3,200

Tag weight 6,500

 

Front axle gawr 14,600

Rear gawr 23,000

Tag gawr 10,000

 

What can I do to get more weight on my tag axle? I feel like if I add pressure my front will carry more weight. 
 

You guys are the experts so I am looking for your advise. 
 

Thanks in advance

I'm a little surprised that the front steer axle is so different side to side.  Was your coach weighed with the engine running and the travel mode light on?  If not, it will need to be reweighed.

[96 EVO]

26 minutes ago, Frank McElroy said:

I'm a little surprised that the front steer axle is so different side to side.  

I'm not, especially if they layed out his basement like they did mine!

In my first bay, I have the fuel tank, followed by a square shaped 100 gal fresh water tank on the drivers side, only offset by a Aquahot 450 on the passenger side. This is all crammed into the first bay behind the drive axle!

I'm sure with a full fresh tank, mine could easily be that imbalanced 😖! 

[Chad A]

Engine running and in travel mode. 
 

fuel tank up front, propane tank up front, 12,500 generator up front. 
 

I was surprised it was that unbalanced too but the driver side has 2 slides and they are the deeper slides so maybe that is it?

[Frank McElroy]

Good.  In Travel mode all 4 front airbags are at exactly the same pressure, so there are only two reasons why the front steers aren't within a few hundred pounds.  Either it's the positioning of the airbags on the steer axle in relation to the frame rails (in extreme cases ride height can effect this because the panhard bar can shift the steer axle in relation to the frame rails) or the coach was weighed with the coach not in travel mode.  Thanks for confirming you were in travel mode.

For comparison, I thought I'd add weight data on my coach.  I have individual weight scales so I do periodically weigh my coach and adjust the tag axle pressure if needed.  A few times, I've compared my weights to the axle scale weights at truck stops and they are within 200 lbs.  So, close enough for me.  Below are the data on my 2008 Dynasty.  We are not full time.

What is interesting to note is that in travel mode, all 4 airbags are connected together on the steer axle.  The difference between DS and PS is about 1%.  The same is true for the Tag axle.  The tag airbag are connected together in travel mode and the difference is about 1%.  But look at the Drive axle weights.  I'm way heavy on the PS.  Yep, my water and holding tanks extend way more to the PS.  Aquahot is on the PS. 10 batteries on the PS.  Not surprising that the PS is heavier on the Drive but once leveled via drive axle airbags, the steer and tag are close to being the same on the DS and PS.  Sure, I could load a lot more over to the DS in the bins to balance the Drive axle but since I'm way under the 10,000 lb max, I opted for convenience to have what I want on the PS bins.

 

[Paul J A]

On 10/8/2022 at 1:11 PM, Chad A said:

Full tank of fuel, 77 gallons fresh water, 8 gallons combined black and grey tank. Me in it with all of the stuff I carry around but no other passengers.

Drivers side front 7,500

Passenger side front 6,800

Front weight 14,300

 

Drivers side duals 11,500

Passenger side duals 10,550

Rear weight 22,100

 

Drivers side tag 3,300

Passengers side tag 3,200

Tag weight 6,500

 

Front axle gawr 14,600

Rear gawr 23,000

Tag gawr 10,000

 

What can I do to get more weight on my tag axle? I feel like if I add pressure my front will carry more weight. 
 

You guys are the experts so I am looking for your advise. 
 

Thanks in advance

You burn fuel as you travel. I would drop the tag DOWN pressure 4# and do a reweigh. 

 

On 10/8/2022 at 1:11 PM, Chad A said:

Full tank of fuel, 77 gallons fresh water, 8 gallons combined black and grey tank. Me in it with all of the stuff I carry around but no other passengers.

Drivers side front 7,500

Passenger side front 6,800

Front weight 14,300

 

Drivers side duals 11,500

Passenger side duals 10,550

Rear weight 22,100

 

Drivers side tag 3,300

Passengers side tag 3,200

Tag weight 6,500

 

Front axle gawr 14,600

Rear gawr 23,000

Tag gawr 10,000

 

What can I do to get more weight on my tag axle? I feel like if I add pressure my front will carry more weight. 
 

You guys are the experts so I am looking for your advise. 
 

Thanks in advance

[Dr4Film]

Haven't seen a post from him as to what his tag psi is set to currently.

Edited October 10, 2022 by Dr4Film

[Paul J A]

17 minutes ago, Paul A. said:

You burn fuel as you travel. I would drop the tag DOWN pressure 4# and do a reweigh. 

 

Be sure to keep the engine running during the weighing process. Keeps the coach level and at ride height.

[96 EVO]

On 10/8/2022 at 2:25 PM, Chad A said:

 

 

I was surprised it was that unbalanced too but the driver side has 2 slides and they are the deeper slides so maybe that is it?

Not going to make a lot of difference with the slides retracted.

Where is your fresh water tank, and is it a cube tank like mine, or a long tank that spans the width of your coach?

[Chad A]

I believe it said 35 on the gauge. Seemed like a lot for that light of tag weight. 

Fresh water tank runs across the Coach. 

[Dr4Film]

On 10/8/2022 at 5:25 PM, Chad A said:

I was surprised it was that unbalanced too but the driver side has 2 slides and they are the deeper slides so maybe that is it?

Doesn't matter whether the slides are in or out as to the imbalance of weight. It has to do with the actual weight of each slide. The bigger the slide the more weight it has. It's rare to have a 1000 lb. imbalance but I have seen posts from at least one other member here that experienced the same imbalance.

My 02 Windsor had a 200 lb. difference on the front steer axle and an 80 lb. difference on the rear drive axle.

I haven't had time to weigh the 06 Dynasty as yet but that is one of my priority jobs this winter once back home. 

 

1 hour ago, Chad A said:

I believe it said 35 on the gauge. Seemed like a lot for that light of tag weight. 

Mine is set at 40 psi for now but may get adjusted once I have my corner weights in hand.

You can try to lower the tag psi to see if it helps at all. One poster suggested 4 psi. Otherwise, when looking at your figures you are still within specs on all axles.

How does the coach drive and handle especially in the wind?

[Chad A]

Drives and handles like a dream. Floats down the road no problems. 

[96 EVO]

Like I said early in this thread, I think your as good as your going to get! 

I would leave it as is.