On GN trailers, a rough guesstimate of 25% of the trailer's weight is on the hitch. Theoretically, almost 3K# of your total would be carried by the truck. There are many variables, axle placement, LQs, stored equipment etc, that will sway these figures from being exact.

Gard

This brings up a question I had regarding trailer axles.

when I was shopping for my stock trailer, I found that some trailers had axle weight ratings listed much differently from each other even though the axles themselves appeared to be the same.

For example, many of the trailers I saw had only 6,080# axle ratings, I was told that they were the exact same as the trailers with axles rated for 7,000# but came with tires from the factory only rated for 3,040# each.

Anybody know if this is true?

They will be rated for the "weakest link" which in that case would be the tires.

Yep, that's what I was told as well.

So does that mean then that their are no physical differences in the axles or trailers themselves?

There may not be any differences in axles of the same manufacturer. However every trailer manufacturer builds his trailers differently. If his frame is not strong enough to support the full weight of the axles' capabilities, he can de rate their capacities. This can limit his liability for damage caused by an overloaded condition.

Gard

Right,

But what I'm talking about is identical trailers side by side one with 7,000# axles on the VIN plate and one with 6,000# axles.

I did look at the tires and the axle rating was exactly the same as the tire rating.

The trailers with the 6,040# axle rating had import chinese tires rated for 3,040

if the only difference is the tires then it's much less of an issue to me, knowing the tires will need replaced before long anyway.

Here is how I would approach this situation;

You state a 5300# empty weight with 10,700# axles.  I will assume this is not a LQ?  And are you SURE of the empty weight?

With your estimated 6K worth of horses/tack and the 5300# trailer that puts you at 11,300#........about 500# over the axle ratings.  The truck will carry some of that, the question is how much? 

A GN pin weight can theoretically be from 15%-30%.  Going with Murphys law, and since youre concerned about the axle limits, I would assume the 15%.  So subtract the 15% (1695#) from 11,300# means around 9600# on the axles.....about 1100# under the axle limits.  Figure the pin at 20% and youre down to only 9000# on the axles.  I would be surprised if the pin weight went much over 20% on a non-LQ trailer.  So youre looking at about 80%-85% of the axle limits when fully loaded, sounds alright to me.

Of course all that really matters is what youre comfortable with.

Side note: If you tend to run fully loaded at high speeds on a regular basis it may be worth noting the wheel size.  Are they 15" or 16"?  With 16" wheels your LT tires choices are much greater, getting you away from the "not so loved" ST tires.

How "identical" are we talking? And when you say 6000# axle rating, is it 6000 or 6080? For the trailer manufacturer to put two different weights on two trailers that are "identical", there has to a difference somewhere. They can not arbitrarily set the axle rating.

Yes 6080# or exactly the sum of the tire ratings.

I tried e-mailing Sooner but have not gotten a response.