Tongue Weight
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From: NKY
Tongue Weight
I've got a 22' Haulmark toy hauler, weighs around 4K, unloaded. I checked the tongue weight the past weekend and its at 600lbs. I assume that's normal, seeing it would be 15% of the unloaded wt? So, I'm a bit concerned what the TW will be once I load it with my 3500lb car and racing gear/supplies. I've taken the car on a short trip, 60 miles RT, but the trailer was not loaded with gear and it did fine and the truck looked level.
My question is; using the 15% TW rule seems too high, once I load the car, etc., which the weight will be around 8K and 15% of that comes to 1200lb, right at my max for the hitch. I'm thinking I should be below the max hitch weight, say around 1000 or less maybe?
Those of you hauling 8K or more, what TW do you shoot for?
I think this all makes sense
My question is; using the 15% TW rule seems too high, once I load the car, etc., which the weight will be around 8K and 15% of that comes to 1200lb, right at my max for the hitch. I'm thinking I should be below the max hitch weight, say around 1000 or less maybe?
Those of you hauling 8K or more, what TW do you shoot for?
I think this all makes sense
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From: Media PA
Are you using a Weight Distribution Hitch? I think the 1200lb tongue weight limit on your hitch is only rated to that weight while using a WD hitch.
On our 11,000lb TT I run with a 13% tongue weight, 1450lbs. The old rule of thumb is to run at least 10% TW to keep the trailer from swaying, 10 to 15% is a pretty good target range for most applications.
On our 11,000lb TT I run with a 13% tongue weight, 1450lbs. The old rule of thumb is to run at least 10% TW to keep the trailer from swaying, 10 to 15% is a pretty good target range for most applications.
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From: NKY
Yes, using a 10K WDH. Assumed between 10-15% was the norm, just making sure. Eye balling everything and measuring the fender wells has been the tool, but now with the new 150, I want to be sure I'm not close to or exceeding TW. I'm pretty sure I have the car positioned right in the trailer, will be checking TW again this weekend with car and gear, to verify. Need to take trailer to scales and get its exact wt. too.
Thanks.
Thanks.
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From: NKY
Well, loaded up the trailer with the car and 200 lbs and maybe of tires and checked the TW. Not good, 1150. Guess the car is positioned to far forward, so I'll be backing it up 6" and see what that does. Everything looked good visually, truck was level and front wheel well height didn't change, trailer was level and torsion bars on WDH were parallel to ground. Did catch on the torsion bars, they're Husky brand, it says on label: 501-800 LBS TW (2 bars). There's "800" stamped on each torsion bar. Wonder if I need to upgrade my WDH, if the torsion bars are only good up to 800 TW, or is that 800 per bar, giving me 1600 total? Could have sworn when I bought it years ago at an RV dealer, it was a 10K WDH. At the time I was using an open trailer, 2500 lbs, plus car, which was heavier 3680. Need to look up the WDH model # and see.
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From: Media PA
The actual hitch may be rated at 10k but has the ability to use spring bars rated below that weight, common setup. The weight stamped into the spring bars refers to the SET, not the individual bars.
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From: NKY
Yep, exact same thing my RV dealer told me this morning. Since my current WDH is 3 years old and has had lots of heavy towing on it, he recommended replacing the whole set, not just the torsion bars. So I'll be upgrading to a 1200lb TW, hitch head, torsion bars and shank. This upgrade and moving the car back 6" should help reduce the TW.
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