Hi Kathy
Ok you said you are going for the quick weighting version to just do a total weight on the truck and camper due to time. You can still get a lot of value out of this one weighing, just you cannot tell all towing setup attributes. The WD hitch setup, tongue weight and empty truck weigth is missing. But you can fill them in later and I can type more later. Let me know when you are ready for that
This turned out to be longer then I thought, so go grab a cup of coffee or tea and read on. I just wrote it out and explained what to expect and look for.
So here you go. If you are going to a truck stop along the way, find one that has semi truck scales. There are many different types around but they all work mostly the same way. Cat Scales, is a brand name of a scale system. Flying J truck stops use a different brand then Cat but all are certified and calibrated for official truck weights.
These truck scales are 3 section scales so you can weigh multiple axles at one time. The truck stops are designed around be able to weigh a 75,000# semi in about 2 to 3 minutes. Here is a picture of a Cat Scale system I used last summer.
If the scale is open, (no one on it) then just drive up on with your truck and camper. Slowly drive on. The scale will wiggle a little but that is normal. You drive until you can get the truck front axles on the 1st section, the truck rear axle on the 2nd section and both TT axles on the 3rd section. This particular setup has what appears a 4th section but it made for multiple length trailers. Regardless you drive the truck to the same spot.
On the post of the overhead sign in this pic, way up high, there is a call box. In this case there is no button, just touch the big knob and it rings a buzzer inside the scale house.
Don’t press it dozens of times as they get aggravated with you… Liek a door bell, (I'm coming....) you cannot hear a thing what is going on but they sure can in the store. They will come and ask you thru a speaker,
Truck number, give them your truck licenses plate. Then they ask,
Trailer number, give them your trailer licenses plate. Then they ask
Company, just say private. Then they will tell you OK drive off. And that is it at the scale part.
Then go inside and pay. They will give you a weight slip that looks like this. Here is a Cat Scale ticket and one from Flying J. If you gave them your truck and trailer plate numbers they will be printed on a certified weight slip for you. Flying J was $7.50 and Loves was $8.50. Not a lot.
You can see your axle weights. Now you need to compare them against your truck axle ratings. Since you have a Ford, see this one of mine. This is on the driver side door sticker. Looks like this.
There are 3 numbers you are after on that tag.
On the top area
GVWR: Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. Mine shows 11,000lb. This is the max weight recommend by Ford for both combined front and rear axle weights. From your weight sticker add the 2 weights together and compare against this GVWR. This rating the TV makers put on vehicles to create a total weight rating the truck as a unit can handle. In the private sector, it is not a legal limit per say in many states if not all, however if you are over it and get in an accident, the other parties lawyer may exploit it, right or wrong that you where not operating the vehicle within the manufactures recommendation. And if you get too far over it, soon the TV brakes will have a hard time keeping up plus other things.
On the top left area
Front GAWR: Front Gross Axle Weight Rating. Mine shows 4,800 lb. This is the max weight rated by Ford that your front axle can weigh. From your weight sticker look at the front axle weight and compare against this GAWR. Do not go over that rating as in time mechanical issues will come with axles and even tires.
On the top right area
Rear GAWR: Rear Gross Axle Weight Rating. Mine shows 7,000 lb. This is the max weight rated by Ford that your rear axle can weigh. From your weight sticker look at the rear axle weight and compare against this GAWR. Do not go over that rating as in time mechanical issues will come with axles and even tires.
You will notice that if you add the 2 truck axle ratings together they are less then the GVWR. They give you some freedom in loading to split the weight between axles but the GVWR caps the total.
Now go to the Ford Owners manual. Find the page that looks like this. It would be in the Trailer Towing section
Find in that chart for your truck, need engine size and rear axle ratio, and look for the
GCWR number. Gross Combined Weight Rating. Mine for a 6.8 V10, 4.10 rear axle is 21,000 lb. If you do not know the rear axle ratio, let me know we can back into how to find it out from your door sticker code. Ford makes it more complex then GM with RPO code to find that.
Now that you have the GCWR number from the manual, compare it against the total of all 3 axle weights on the weigth slip. This is the pull rating for the engine, transmission and rear axle in your truck. For TT towing you really to not want to be at that number or towing performance will be straining. TT's have a lot of wind resistance that does not show up in actual weights.
A rule of thumb is to be at least 10 to 15% under the scaled weight compared to the GCWR. More then 10% under gives more fredom and better performance. There is no hard and fast rule on the 10% allowace number but for a low profile TT like yours it will do OK, 15% is better, here on the east coast as long as you do not have a lot of hills/mountians. If you do, then need more reserve. A higher slide camper would want more resereve as well as there is more wind drag. And going out west in high altitude even more reserve is needed unless you have a super or turbo charged engine. Do not over run the GCWR as that is the real number where truck probems will come over time.
Lastly the
TT axles rating. On your Sunline go to the left front of the TT and there is VIN sticker there. Look like this.
On that sticker look at the 2nd line down where it says
GAWR ALL 5,000 lb per axle.
Since I have 2 axles and so do you, you would double your number for the TT axle rating on both axles combined. In my case that is 10,000# On yours it should say 3,500 lb per axle which would be 7,000# total axle load.
Now go to your weight slip again. Look at the TT axle weight. It needs to be far under that number because it is a TT. Now how far is by your actual loaded tongue weight. But right now you do not know your loaded tongue weight. But use at least 1,500# on your size TT. It is more then likely less then that as if not we need to talk. Both axles are should not be exceeding 5,500# as shown on the weigth slip. My loaded T2499 had an axle weight of 5,160# for both axles with no water on board and I had a lot of weight inside.
The TT GVWR plays in here too that is why you cannot use all of the actual axle rating as the entire trailer needs to be under the 7,000# including the TT tongue. Sunline did us a very large favor and built our coaches with axles and tires larger then you should be ale to load them and still stay under the GVWR. Not all brands do that. They skimp on the axles and tires and de-rate the axles/tires as they know the truck is holding up the TT tongue weight. Sunline used that as a saftey factor.
Note: The TT axles weighed in this fashion are also inclusive of weight that has been transferred to them by the by the WD hitch. Your axle weight will go down when you unhook the WD on the truck
Also do not over run the TT axle Rating, this one is for sure real. Things will break and blow. The brakes, tires and suspension are sized right to that limit.
Hope this helps.
Have a safe trip to Buttonwood. We can get you a tongue weigth there And I can estimate the weight transfered to your axles from WD.
John
Dan 
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