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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Have you weighed your 180?
    Posted: 01 Jun 2020 at 3:36pm
The 179 is a little lighter than the 180 I think. I get just about 500 lbs with two batteries and a full fwt. I also place some heavy stuff in the aft kitchen cabinets for balance.  Usually max hitch weight is rated as 10% of max trailer weight, so you ought to be fine. 

In reality the hitch weight will also be limited by what you have loaded in the back of the Taco. I like this towing calculator because it tracks loading on each axle and the combined rig and lets you dial in the wdh as well. If you set the tension on the wdh so that the load on the front axle is the same as it was with the trailer weight set to zero (actually you have to set it to 1lb or the calculator blows up) and everything is in the green then you should be good. 
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tcj View Drop Down
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Posts: 141 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2020 at 2:51pm
I do travel with full fresh water tank when camping at dispersed sites.  One battery and one propane tank. Without fresh water the hitch weight is 380 pounds.  With full fresh water tank hitch weight is 494.

My Toyota Tacoma 4 X 4 with towing package owner's manual lists towing capacity as 6500 pounds.  It says to use a weight distribution hitch if tongue weight is over 350 pounds but, doesn't list a maximum hitch weight.
2018 R-pod 180 Hood River Edition
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Colt View Drop Down
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Posts: 383 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2020 at 12:54pm
Originally posted by offgrid

Nice work guys. Neither of you guys fills the FWT or carries a second battery I guess. Adding those makes it very easy to exceed forward cg limits on my 179. 
Dead .........


I don't.  A full fresh water tank requires at least 50 lbs against the back wall to keep the tongue weight under 525 lbs, my hitch's limit. 

I bought the trailer to help me stay longer on disaster relief trips.  We have had water and power at all of the work bases, so far.  But, I enjoyed it so much the first trip, I'm looking for fun trips and state parks to visit. 
John
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Posts: 141 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2020 at 10:33am
Offgrid,
Your right.  The CG at +12 inches is only 7.5% of the distance from wheel hubs to hitchEmbarrassed

The vertical the left side of the graph should go straight up from the 14.4" CG.
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2020 at 9:39am
Originally posted by tcj

 At 3100 pounds the hitch weight doesn't get to 9% until the CG is moved forward to 14 inches.  At 3300 pounds hitch weight is good at a CG of 13 inches and at a total load of 3500 and above all is good with a CG of 12 inches.


I must be missing something. 9% hitch weight should always occur when the cg is 9% of the distance between the wheel hubs and the hitch, regardless of the trailer weight, shouldn't it?  14.4/161=.09?
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Posts: 141 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2020 at 9:11am
Okay, here's the Loading graph with less than 11% loaded weight on the hitch noted as "caution area for sway"


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Posts: 141 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2020 at 8:14am
Offgrid,
The sloping line at the lower left is due to the hitch weight being too low at the lower total weights unless  the CG is moved forward.  At 3100 pounds the hitch weight doesn't get to 9% until the CG is moved forward to 14 inches.  At 3300 pounds hitch weight is good at a CG of 13 inches and at a total load of 3500 and above all is good with a CG of 12 inches.

Doing this exercise underscores Colt's comment about normal loads in normal places and CG is good.  I was surprised but...shouldn't have been...that the CG limit range is only 10 inches.  My Kitfox CG limits were only a 4 inch range but still easy to stay within.  I'll put the 11% hitch weight lower limit on the graph and see what that looks like.
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2020 at 7:18am
Nice work guys. Neither of you guys fills the FWT or carries a second battery I guess. Adding those makes it very easy to exceed forward cg limits on my 179. 

tcj, one question. I see the lower left section of your w&b envelope sloping up and to the left. What is causing that limitation?

Also, I wouldn't suggest going as low as 9% on tongue weight on an rPod. There have been sway events on trailers loaded in that range. I did an informal survey and a post on that on this forum a couple of years back. I would recommend at least 10%, personally my minimum is 11%. Sway is scary Dead

OTOH, I think the 15% max tongue weight limitation is arbitrary. If your TV can easily handle more then what's the issue? 
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Colt View Drop Down
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Posts: 383 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2020 at 12:00am
When I bought my hitch, I wasn't thinking I'd ever really pull max load, and I bought a Curt because I know they fit without fuss.  So, this Curt is rated at 3500 lbs trailer and 525 lbs hitch weight.  There is a higher rated one, now, but not 3 years ago.  That's makes my concerns trailer and tongue weight.  Not too much, not too little.  And not too close to the limits, not knowing Curt's F.S.  I created it in Calc/Excel so it might run on my phone. 

The exercise was good.  I discovered there is not much way to get out of balance with normal loads in normal places.  Even a 100 pound generator in the bathroom is fine, unless the black tank is full and then you put it beside the fridge and Bob's your Uncle!  Fifty pounds of food and 50 pounds of clothes, no worries; put them anywhere.      
John
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Posts: 141 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 May 2020 at 7:40pm
Colt,
Your form looks very professional.  I measured the same items with close to the same results

I built a CG Range and weight graph .  I used inches because the fore and aft limits are only 1 foot apart.  All weights from12 inches to 24 inches keep the hitch weight between 9 percent and 15 percent of the hitch weight.  Past 24 inches no weight from empty to maximum load has a hitch weight between the limits.
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