Luxury Coach Lifestyles - View Single Post - Tag axle adjustment
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Old 09-20-2011, 03:57 AM   #23
fulltiming
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Texas
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I concur with Gordon. I had access to a full set of wheel scales in Kerrville, Texas several years ago and I found that it can be challenging to get the numbers to make sense when shifting the tag axle pressure as it takes some time and movement of the coach to get it to readjust to the new air pressures. I did find that as the tag pressure was DECREASED the major change was a redistribution onto the drive axle and off of the tag axle AND a much smaller DECREASE in the load on the front end. The weight on the front axle is controlled much more in the early 1990's coaches by the amount of fuel on board. Fuel is just behind the front axle so almost the entire load is transferred to front axle with a small amount added to the rear.

I also found that moving heavy objects (like tool boxes) from the bays close to the front axle into the bays toward the rear of the coach helped.

I don't think you will find any way to get the front axle weight close to 12,000 lbs on a 1990 or newer Newell. Typically a tag axle early 90's Newell had a front axle rated at 14,200 lbs because that was the limit of the tires rather than the axle or the brakes. While no one advocates overloading tires, the 11R24.5 H rated Bridgestones (I do NOT recommend using G rated Bridgestones on the front axle) gave excellent service even if somewhat overloaded. If you are running the front axle significantly over the limit, change the front tires to 305/75R24.5 tires which carry a rating of about 1400 pounds more per front axle. In California, for example, 12,500 pounds is the maximum weight for the front axle. However, there are numerous exceptions including buses and motor vehicles that are non-commercial (such as RV's).

Having an axle over 20,000 pounds will cause you grief on some of the weight controlled toll roads in northeast with in road scales so playing with the tag pressure to insure you stay below 20,000 on the drive axle is important. The front axle weight of 14-15k will not likely cause you problems.
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Michael and Georgia Day
1992 Newell 43.5' #281
8V92 DDEC-2, HT740
PT Cruiser GT with Remco Transmission Pump
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