overweight tag axle

[ebprod]

I got new tires on my 1994 Newmar Kountry Aire, so I went to get it weighed. This was the first time that I weighed the tag axle separately from the drive axle.

What I found was my tag axle is considerably overweight. The rear weights I got were drive- 8760lbs, tag- 5180lbs.

We are fully loaded for a trip, but the water tanks were empty. I can move a few things forward, but I can't image there are 1180lbs worth of stuff I can move.

I am wondering if the air in the rear air bags could have something to do with it? How would I adjust the air, and how would I measure it? All I have is a switch on the dash that says inflate and deflate.

-Joe

[Nick-B]

Hi Joe,
Sounds like you might have to be sitting on the scales when you play with the Inflate / Deflate switch - otherwise you would be guessing at a correct setting. You definitely need to take some weight off the tag which will add it to the main drive axle.

Just for reference, my 36' Coachmen on the Ford F53 chassis with a tag axle has 3580 lbs on the tag with a 4250 GAWR capacity rating. My tag has no adjustment of any kind. Total weight on the rear (main axle + tag) is 12,900 lbs.

Good Luck!

[ebprod]

Another question- what effect will the air in the front airbags have on weight distribution? I am at 30psi now- is that about right?

When I weight the MH, the gas tank was full. I notice that the tank is located behind the tag axle. I think the tank is 80 gals. That is a lot of weight from the gas alone.

-Joe

[ga traveler]

I owned a 1985 Airtstream 345. I had a bearing failure on the tag axel. The bearing was shedding. (metal flaking off the bearing) That is a sign of overloading. I called the factory and they said to adjust the air bag valves. This loads and unloads the tag.

[ebprod]

There is a air valve near the compressor. I checked the psi today, and it was set at 110psi. Is that the pressure in the bags, or is there an air tank somewhere inbetween.

In any case, I don't see any way that the pressure can be adjusted. Am I missing something?

-Joe

[squeak]

try lowering the ft air bags 1/4 inch that would remove some lbs off the tag.

[ga traveler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebprod There is a air valve near the compressor. I checked the psi today, and it was set at 110psi. Is that the pressure in the bags, or is there an air tank somewhere inbetween. In any case, I don't see any way that the pressure can be adjusted. Am I missing something? -Joe

That is just the supply pressure. The bag pressure is regulated by a control valve. It will have a couple of 1/4 in. hoses running to it. You should be able to follow the airline from the bag, back to the valve.

[ebprod]

I was looking underneath to see where the air lines went, and I noticed that the shocks should probably be replaced. Would changing the shocks do anything to the weight distribution?

I should mention that the coach handles wonderfully, and I don't have any complaints at all. I am only concerned because of the scale weight, and what that might to to cause abnormal wear.

-Joe

[tderonne]

How did you get the individual axle weights? On a scale with separate pads? Or driving on and off a single pad? If the later, and the ground wasn't perfectly level, you may have gotten a false reading when you weighed the tag alone.

[ebprod]

We used a CAT scale with different platforms for each axle.

-Joe

Quote:

Originally Posted by tderonne How did you get the individual axle weights? On a scale with separate pads? Or driving on and off a single pad? If the later, and the ground wasn't perfectly level, you may have gotten a false reading when you weighed the tag alone.