Best Hitch for 8000 lb pin weight

[jesilvas]

Originally Posted by pivotdoc

Might be none of my business, but I think the only way to get a true pin weight on that 5er would be to jack it up off the tow vehicle then just set the pin down in a pipe or other support with only the pin on the scale, landing gear/trailer off....................but, we don't know anything.......... JB

No the difference in the actual weight of the truck trailer on vs. trailer off is pin weight.

[glennwest]

look at the Curt 24k. Amazon has it for under 600

[jesilvas]

Unless I'm wrong, kinda hard to put regular Reese/Curt/etc. hitches on a HDT.

[hjsdds]

If you got a Teton and will pull with semi take a look at this thread in the semi forum. AIR RIDE HITCH - HDT - Escapees Discussion Forum

hjs

[KSCRUDE]

We us only Holland brand fifth wheels on all the semi trucks. They will take anything you can get on them. Very heavy duty.

[pivotdoc]

Originally Posted by jesilvas

No the difference in the actual weight of the truck trailer on vs. trailer off is pin weight.

True for the entire weight the pin is seeing, I thought question was actual "down" weight the pin has on it, "tongue" weight on a bumper pull.......... JB

[hjsdds]

Originally Posted by KSCRUDE

We us only Holland brand fifth wheels on all the semi trucks. They will take anything you can get on them. Very heavy duty.

Holland is indeed the only hitch to use on a semi in a "commercial" application and 80,000 lb loads. This is not what we are talking about here.
Holland is a hard attached head and will tear apart most RVs. Fifth RVs typically do not have the same quality overhang framing as the commercial tractor trailers. Teton might last longer, since they were built better, but in general you do not want to pull any fifth with a commercial truck (like MDT or HDT) without an air hitch. When MDTs "became a rage" 10-15 years ago, many RV manufacturers would immediately cancel the fifth's warranty if you showed up at the factory to pick one up with a MDT and a HARD HITCH. And MDT was "only" class 6 truck, HDT is a class 8 truck.

It's very easy to tell what is what and what is conjecture and BS, for about $20 bucks:
1. Drive your truck to a truck stop and onto the CAT weighing scales. Pay them $10 bucks and get the ticket showing weight of the front axle and the rear axle and the total weight of the truck (sum of the two)
2. Hitch up your Teton and do the same. This time for your $10 bucks you will get 4 numbers, front axle, rear axle, the weight an Teton axles (probably 3 on that rig) and overall weight (sum of the three locations).
3. Subtract the total weight of just the truck from the total weight of the pair, that's the weight of the Teton.
4. Subtract the weight of the rear axle of just the truck from the weight of the rear truck axle with Teton attached, the difference is the pin weight of the Teton.

Now you really know the "quality of that information" as received from the previous owner, the salesman, assorted "experts", previous Teton owners, etc., etc.

HJS

[mbass777]

Thank you HJS for the above post just the kind of information I was looking for and the most common sense post for pin weight you have it right and I have my weight tickets I cant understand why every one elese dosent have your common sense approach to my post thanks again

[GLN]

HJS doesn't pin weight = truck weight hitched up (trailer off the scale) minus truck weight unhitched ???

[jesilvas]

Originally Posted by GLN

HJS doesn't pin weight = truck weight hitched up (trailer off the scale) minus truck weight unhitched ???

That's what he said. But trailer doesn't have to be off the scale, just off the same platform the truck is on. CAT scales have 4 platforms with individual weights IIRC.

[myredracer]

You should be able to get 2 or more passes at a CAT scale for just $10. Just tell them it's a "re-weigh". They may ask for your ticket number on subsequent passes.

It's hard to believe that the pin weight is approaching 50% of the FW's weight.

[rollondown]

What I have done is hook up and pull the 5'er to the scales, get weighed and pay, find a corner to park and unhitch the 5'er in the parking lot and reweigh the truck.
The scale weight convinced me to start looking for a HDT!

[hjsdds]

Having 8,000 lb pin weight even on a heavy Teton would be a bit surprising. Although years ago I ran across at an Escapade into a custom Teton owner who had a pin weight issue. His was a custom 45 footer and he pulled it with a Volvo 610 HDT. During the "design stage" Teton stated that they could keep the pin weight to around 6,000 pounds. When the rig was finished the pin ended being lot more than that. With extra long fifth they moved the axles further back without moving other heavy stuff (like water tanks, etc) with them. The Volvo probably didn't care, that's still a piddly load for an HDT, but back then there was no air hitch that could tolerate it. Apparently something must have been in writing, or well understood because the owner had Teton jumping through hoops (moving axles and other stuff) to lighten the pin load.

hjs

[hjsdds]

Originally Posted by rollondown

What I have done is hook up and pull the 5'er to the scales, get weighed and pay, find a corner to park and unhitch the 5'er in the parking lot and reweigh the truck.
The scale weight convinced me to start looking for a HDT!

X2 here.

When I went on the CAT scales with this pair and read the ticket I had the proverbial brick "movement". On that one ton the rears were over 8,000 pounds (with a featherweight aluminum deck), the front over 4,000 pounds and everything over 30,000 pounds. HDT replaced that one ton soon after.

hjs