If my tongure weight on my 5vr is 2500 lbs... How much of that weight is on the front tires and how much is on the rear tires.

I heard that on 5vr hitches they mount the hitch in front of the rear axle and by doing this you cause a certain % of the weight to move to the front tires??

Is this true and if so what is the % ?

 

This is an estimated guess from personal experience, I'd say about 90% - 95% of it goes on your rear tires, so 5%-10% goes to front tires.

Moving the hitch forward should naturally cause more weight to go to the front... I was under the impression that the hitch should be as directly over the rear axle as possible (?). Some big trucks have sliding hitches, I know that.

 

My hitch is directly over the axle, 100% of the pin weight is on the rears

 

I agree with everyone else, whith my 5VR loaded the front of my truck lost about 20lbs of front axel weight while the rear picked up 1400lbs. The 5VR drives just fine and I have no problems with tire wear or handleing. My trick is a SB which could make a little difference.

 

I have a sliding fifth wheel on mine and I weighed it 1'' ahead of the axle, right on top of the axle and 1" behind the axle and as close as you can read a governent weigh scale it did not make 150lbs difference to either axles. I also did not notice any difference in handling but being a short box, it turns sharper if you carry it further back so that is where it stays (1" behind the rear wheels). I know that a lot of people will not agree with this but it works for me. I could also go 2 more inches further back but I only use that for backing into a spot where I need to turn sharper. You people with long boxes won't have to do that and if a long box quad cab would have fit in my garage that is what I would have bought .
Jim O

 

Where you'll notice the change in weight on the front axle is starting and stopping due to weight transfer to the truck from the trailer on stopping and from the truck to the trailer when accelerating.
Just picture a SLED PULLER on take off. Depending on connection height above the axle will change the amount of load transfer to and from the truck.
The higher above the rear axle....... The more load transfer
The lower above the rear axle........ The less load transfer
The closer you get to the center of the rear axle.... the less weight transfer you'll have.

And depending how good or bad the brakes are on the trailer will change the amount of transfer again.
The better the brakes on the trailer will cause less transfer weight to the truck when stopping.

 

All I know is that most hitch manufacturers say to install the hitch 1 or 2 inches in front of the centerline of the rear axle. This may be only to make the installation easier but I go with the manufacturers instructions.

When all else fails, follow the directions.

 

We don't have a lot of choice in where the hitch goes with the gen 3 trucks using the Reese adapters. About the max possible is 1" in front of center of rear axle. As stated above, my front axle weight hardly changes when I hook up and I am 1".

 

In the time I have been using 5th wheel hitches, they have all recommended being 2" in front of the rear axle centerline. When towing, the STATIC weight of the pin becomes DYNAMIC. When in motion, the DYNAMIC weight is constantly shifting forward dependent upon the speed of the tow vehicle. When you stop, the weight of the pin shifts forward up to about a foot forward and puts more weight on the front wheels. If the weight is directly over or behind the rear axle centerline, the DYNAMIC forces act differently on the truck. The ride could be adversely affected as well. Follow the recommendations of the hitch makers, they KNOW their product.
Frank

 

My hitch is about two inches in front of the rear axle. My pin wgt is 2670# and only 60# is on the front axle. When we went to pick up our fiver, a hauler was bringing in another fiver and he was towing with the slider in the rear position to make room for all his gear in his SB Dodge. He said it towed fine. I would not recommend behind the axle though. We always set gooseneck ***** three inches in front.