tongue weight

[prayingmantis]

Hi everyone. Hope you are having fun on the water. Just need a little advice. I was a little light on the tongue and was swaying at 60 mph. I have an '88 Blue Fin sportsman 1950 I/O. It weighs 1700 lbs plus I'm guessing the trailer is about 500 lbs. So I moved the wheels back. I may have went a little too far. I moved them back 3 slots. Now I am at 15% tongue weight. Is that too much. Thanks for any help

 

[kjsAZ]

If your truck can handle it it's OK. More tongue weight always means more stability for the trailer. However, if the tow vehicle isn't designed for it it can reduce the stability of the combo.

 

[prayingmantis]

My hitch says I can tow 6000 lbs with 600 tongue. The tow vehicle is a 2012 dodge ram 1500 4x4

 

[H20Rat]

Almost every trailer manufacturers say no more than 10%...

 

[kjsAZ]

That's one of the trade off things. More tongue weight makes for better stability of the trailer but it stresses the tongue and coupler more and reduces the stability of the vehicle/trailer combo.
If the trailer coupler is strong enough (i.e. a 4500 or 6000# coupler) the RAM 1500 won't have a problem with it.
Most trailer manufacturers specify 8-10% for single axle trailers as they design for that and if you go to the max tow capacity of a truck they are spec'd the same. Only a few meanwhile spec 5-10%.

 

[oldjeep]

For a load that small it seems like just putting a spare tire on the tongue would have been plenty rather than messing with the axle.

 

[agallant80]

^^^^^ +1

 

[Mi duckdown]

Is your trailer level when towing? All that comes into play.18" to 19" at ball

 

[Outsider]

Is your trailer level when towing?

Tongue weight is tongue weight. Assuming nothing extreme is involved, level is not measurably important on a single axles. 15% won't hurt anything, but 10% would be more physically manageable ...

 

[mrdancer]

You can figure your weight and/or distance using this formula...

1. First put a bathroom scale under the tongue with the boat pulled all the way up on the trailer. For example, let's say this read 150lbs so W1=150

2. Move the boat back on the trailer exactly 12" so X=12

3. Re-weigh the tongue. For example, let's say it was 120lbs, so W2=120

4. Measure the distance in inches from the axle to the tip of the tongue. For example, let's say it was 145". so D=145

5. Plug the numbers into the equation: D(W1-W2)/X


Our example looks like this... 145(150-120)/12

So this boat weighs 362 lbs.

 

[H20Rat]

15% won't hurt anything, but 10% would be more physically manageable ...

Extra tongue weight reduces the weight on the tow vehicles front tires, which in turn reduces braking capability.

 

[Silvertip]

For standard trailers, GM currently specs a minimum 10% tongue weight and on the Equinox for example, the spec is 10 - 15%. Tongue weight can become an issue on some vehicles that have an extremely long overhang (the distance between the rear axle and the hitch ball). The longer that "lever" is, the more effect high tongue weight has on vehicle handling. Many of todays SUV's and crossovers have relatively short rear overhang so they can handle higher tongue weights.

 

[Outsider]

Extra tongue weight reduces the weight on the tow vehicles front tires, which in turn reduces braking capability.

It's a Dodge Ram rated for 600 lbs at the hitch, he's guessing he has about half that. If his is materially affected, there's more serious issues in play. The better number is what Dodge says tongue weight should be, but that's not in evidence. Just sayin ...