Airstream Safari - Manual (Page 21)

B
B - 4
TOWING YOUR AIRSTREAM
WEIGHING YOUR TRAILER
The diagrams show how to weigh the trailer on scales.
The allowable personal cargo must be distributed in your trailer in such a manner that
the Gross Axle Weight Rating is not exceeded.
To determine this, it is necessary to load all of your allowable personal cargo and
variable weights. Then hitch the trailer to the tow vehicle with load equalizing hitch
properly adjusted as shown on the following pages.
Place the trailer on a scale with both axles only on the scale (see illustration). If the
weight on the axles exceeds the axle system G.A.W.R. then some of the personal cargo
must be redistributed forward in order to place some of this weight on the tongue.
The tongue weight should be in between 10% - 15% of the trailer’s total weight, and
must not exceed the tow vehicle’s or the hitch’s maximum weight rating. To determine
tongue load, unhitch tow vehicle and place the tongue hitch post on a scale. The trailer
must be properly loaded as determined above, with your allowable personal cargo and
variable weights.
Use a scale, such as a bathroom scale, that has a lower weight limit than your tongue
load, to check the tongue weight by using the following method (see illustration).
Place a piece of wood of approxi-
mately the same thickness as the
bathroom scales on the ground in
line with the trailer hitch jack as
shown. It should be so spaced
that a short piece of pipe or other
round piece will lay exactly one
foot from the centerline of the
jack extension.
Place the scales so that another round piece can be exactly two feet from the center-
line of the jack extension in the other direction. Place a 4 x 4 on the two round pieces
and screw the jack extension down on the top of the 4 x 4 until the tongue of the trailer
is supported by it. Multiply the scale reading by three. This will be the tongue weight of
your trailer. If you exceed the capacity of the bathroom scales, increase the two-foot
dimension to three or four more feet, but always multiply the scale reading by the total
number of feet between the wood and scales.
NOTE : Be sure trailer is level when you read scales.
2 FT. 1 Ft.
Pipe
Pipe
Bathroom Scale Wood Support