Quick question about tongue weight

[jmarines]

I have a 98 rinker 232 br and the other week I went and had it weighed at a local truck stop. Overall weight is 6060 pounds with a 1/2 tank of fuel. My tongue weight is 480 pounds. I've always heard to have at least 10 % of total weight on the tongue.. am I close enough or should I be worried? It's. Anew to me boat that I've had since Sept of last year. I've pulled it a few times times to the local lakes around an hour away .. didn't seem to fishtail but I never went over 65 mph. Should I go ahead and move up the boat about 1/2 inch to help with the tongue weight or just leave it as is?

 

[alldodge]

I think your fine since your not getting any fish tale or wobble. How do you know what your tongue weight was?

Best way to determine what your tongue weight is, is to weight it at a CAT scale and have the tongue jack sitting on one plat scale and the trailer wheels sitting on the other.

 

[jmarines]

Thats exactly what i did.. i had the jack on the steer tire scale while I had the trailer tires on the drive tire scales. Worked out great.

 

[alldodge]

Did not do mine (same boat), but so long as there is no weird feeling of wondering, I wouldn't worry about it.

That said, adding more tongue weight will not hurt your set up

 

[Silvertip]

7 to 10% on a tandem trailer is fine You are at about 8%.

 

[Blind Date]

For a tandem axle trailer you should be around 5%, 5-7% for a single axle. Compare the frame of a boat trailer at the tongue next to an RV. Because the majority of the weight is at the rear of the trailer with a boat you can get by less tongue weight. I have a little less than 5% with my 8K pound SeaRay Sundancer and it tows like an absolute dream.

 

[KD4UPL]

I towed a 4,500 pound boat and tandem trailer with just over 200 pounds of tongue weight for many years. It towed excellently. I had it behind everything from an SUV to a crew cab dually. No sway at all. It's very difficult to get much tongue weight on a boat trailer since all the weight is in the back of a boat. If yours tows well I'd leave it alone.

 

[Maranvin]

U can also check ur tongue weight with a bathroom scale and a 2x4 with a couple small pipes. Google it.

 

[fhhuber]

Main point is you want adequate tongue weight for the trailer to be stable.
Minimum and maximum varies somewhat based on tow vehicle.

You can easily get too heavy for the long distance from axle with a light vehicle, because it will take the weight off the steering wheels. (which is why they make spring loaded equalizer hitches)

You can usually see that the vehicle looks like its "dragging ass" and nose high if the tongue weight is too high (also aims the headlights high and really annoys everyone else on the road)

 

[nikkievix]

i was worried about the same with my set up. the GVWR on my calkins trailer says 2611lbs, which is almost as much as the 2900 pounds of my truck. the truck in question is a 1987 mazda B2000 with 1 ton leafs. engine is not stock...stock is 86hp and 120ft/lbs torque, been rebuilt and modded to 156hp and 149 ft/lbs torque. so far seems to ride very well, stops good, parking brake holds the set up back and everything runs cool. installed a reese class 3/4 multifit hitch that i bolted and welded in place.

 

[H20Rat]

No boat trailer manufacturer recommends over 10%, they are all generally in the 5-10%. (and yes, too much tongue weight is bad, you are putting more stress on parts of the trailer that aren't engineered for it.)

In my experience, tandem axles can run less, heavy loads need less than light loads, and low profile/low drag loads require less. In other words, your boat hits all the conditions for being safe at lower tongue weights.

 

[H20Rat]

i was worried about the same with my set up. the GVWR on my calkins trailer says 2611lbs, which is almost as much as the 2900 pounds of my truck. the truck in question is a 1987 mazda B2000 with 1 ton leafs. engine is not stock...stock is 86hp and 120ft/lbs torque, been rebuilt and modded to 156hp and 149 ft/lbs torque. so far seems to ride very well, stops good, parking brake holds the set up back and everything runs cool. installed a reese class 3/4 multifit hitch that i bolted and welded in place.

I'm all for pushing the tow limits, but that is a tiny truck to be pulling that weight any distance! Engine is only a very small portion of your tow rating, brakes are far more important. My car (which is officially classified as a compact) is 600 pounds more, and double the horsepower/torque, and I still wouldn't pull that much.

 

[nikkievix]

I'm all for pushing the tow limits, but that is a tiny truck to be pulling that weight any distance! Engine is only a very small portion of your tow rating, brakes are far more important. My car (which is officially classified as a compact) is 600 pounds more, and double the horsepower/torque, and I still wouldn't pull that much.

i replaced the front brakes march, the rear brakes are going to disk probly next month when i get the motivation to install them. got a nice willwood kit and need to get the air adjustable shocks for the rear..those i know need to be replaced. i've already got about 40 miles towing the boat with it and it stops good from 60mph. just have to remember to do engine braking first then downshift then start braking early

 

[Titanium48]

I'm all for pushing the tow limits, but that is a tiny truck to be pulling that weight any distance! Engine is only a very small portion of your tow rating, brakes are far more important. My car (which is officially classified as a compact) is 600 pounds more, and double the horsepower/torque, and I still wouldn't pull that much.

Why shouldn't a 2900 lb small truck be able to pull a 2600 lb boat? 5000 lb full size pickups tow trailers heavier than 5000 lb all the time. As discussed above, boat trailers are generally stable with 5-7% tongue weight, so overloading the rear axle is unlikely to be a problem. The stopping problem can be fixed with trailer brakes. You do have those, right nikkievix? If not, I'd be installing a set ASAP if you intend to continue to towing your boat with a small truck or small SUV. Not sure about where you are, but in many places trailer brakes are legally required whenever the trailer is over 50% of the weight of the tow vehicle.

The other thing I might worry about is whether the transmission is up to the task of being behind an engine with 25% more torque and 80% more power than stock, in a towing situation where you might be at WOT for extended periods of time.

 

[Powerstroke in a Prius]

I have experience with modding my way into more capability, but I started with a solid platform (Superduty pickup). The transmission needs to be beefed up, lest you burn it up in a hurry. If it's an automatic, you need a lot more transmission cooling, and maybe a transmission fluid temperature gauge. The rear suspension is rated for the power supplied in the vehicle, but too much torque can tweak the springs and cause axle wrap (I see you have 1-ton springs). The driveline is frequently overlooked - how much torque are those U-joint supposed to hold, and what about the differential? If you have to downshift to aid the brakes, how are the panic stops to avoid collisions?

I pulled a 2500 pound boat/trailer with my Toyota P/U (predecessor to the Tacoma) with the 3.0L V6... I'd say a 3,000 pound boat/trailer would be the limit with that powertrain (I had 4X4). The 4X4 version of the pickup weighed in at about 5,000 pounds with fuel, driver, and canopy... plus I had the tow package with a class III hitch - so it was a pretty stable platform for what I was doing.

 

[H20Rat]

Why shouldn't a 2900 lb small truck be able to pull a 2600 lb boat? 5000 lb full size pickups tow trailers heavier than 5000 lb all the time. As discussed above, boat trailers are generally stable with 5-7% tongue weight, so overloading the rear axle is unlikely to be a problem. The stopping problem can be fixed with trailer brakes.

I didn't make any mention the truck weighing less than the load... I have personal experience with Ford Rangers from that era, abused one many many moons ago. (Ranger & Mazda b2000's were rebadged identical vehicles during that time.) The brakes on that thing were borderline WITHOUT a load. Tiny front discs, rear drums, skinny tires. Trailer brakes only do so much, especially in wet/slippery conditions. You still want a tow vehicle with more than adequate brakes on its own. The fact it is light hurts because tongue weight reduces stopping power on your front axle, which coincidentally is the axle that is actually capable of stopping. The rear drums did next to nothing.

 

[anymanusa]

I pull a 2600lb glass ranger rig with a 4600lb car.
5.7L v8 400ftlbs, 4 corners of ventilated disk brakes with a world class zf8 speed that stays under 210*f in the searing heat at 80mph. It tows better than many trucks and suvs.


Say something about it.

 

[roscoe]

I pull a 2600lb glass ranger rig with a 4600lb car.
5.7L v8 400ftlbs, 4 corners of ventilated disk brakes with a world class zf8 speed that stays under 210*f in the searing heat at 80mph. It tows better than many trucks and suvs.


Say something about it.

sounds like a nice car, can I borrow it?

Other than that, what would you like us to say?

 

[anymanusa]

sounds like a nice car, can I borrow it?

Other than that, what would you like us to say?

It was bait, thanks though. It is a nice car!

 

[Dschotts]

I pull a 2600lb glass ranger rig with a 4600lb car.
5.7L v8 400ftlbs, 4 corners of ventilated disk brakes with a world class zf8 speed that stays under 210*f in the searing heat at 80mph. It tows better than many trucks and suvs.


Say something about it.

Brakes and tires are key once you get past the power thing!