I have a trailer & a long TorkLift extension hitch & a single car open trailer & due to the the weight of the trailer & Full sized Bronco I plan to tow.I need to adjust my tongue weight to be within the safe Torklift extension specs & yes I already purchased a WDS & yet it has a built on slider/hitch that is all connected to the hitch & yes I know you can adjust the anchor points on the tongue of the trail that you hook up the WDS to, but wonder about setting up my tongue weight scale while its hooked up to the hitch under the Camper & being able to safely move the Bronco back & forth in attempts to find its best placement on the trailer for proper tongue weight..I've tried YouTube & so far no good videos?Thank in advance for any help you can give me.

I'm going to say that the position of the Bronco on the trailer is the biggest factor. The tongue weight needs to be 10% - 15% of the total weight of the loaded trailer.Hook up the trailer to the Bronco and go find a scale and weigh the whole package. Your Torklift hitch must be rated for AT LEAST 10% of that. Park the Bronco on the trailer to arrive at the required tongue weight. I would in fact try for as close as I could to 15% for maximum stability.Parking too far back and having a tongue weight under 10% will get the results shown here.UnstableStu

Ok well my thoughts are to get it as close as possible before taking the Dodge truck that carries my Lance 900 on its back & has a 43 or so I forget extension hitch attached before taking it to a truck scale that I do have close by.I do have a trailer tongue weight scale & so this should allow me to pretty much do it without visiting the truck scales yet I do plane to anyways to check the overall weights to make sure my suspension is good to handle it all & I suspect I'll be just within the limits?I'm thinking of maybe placing the tongue weight scale under the foot of the trailer whiles its all hooked up to the dodge.Then moving the Bronco back & forth safely while it connected to the heavier tow rig & then when the hooked up weights look good hooked up, then maybe disconnecting it from the tow rig to let it sit 100% on the tongue weight scale & see what happens?Yet wonder if thats not how to do it being the actually weight that counts its while its hooked up?????

You don't need to worry about the weight of the Dodge yet.The number you need is the weight of the trailer PLUS the weight of the Bronco. Now position the Bronco on the trailer so the the tongue weight (not hooked up to the truck; just by itself) is 10-15 percent of the total.That number has to be LESS than the max rating of the Torklift hitch.The weight of the Dodge will come into play when you add the weight of the truck, camper, trailer, Bronco, kids, dog, beer, etc and compare that to the GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) of the Dodge.Stu

buzzard616 wrote:You don't need to worry about the weight of the Dodge yet.The number you need is the weight of the trailer PLUS the weight of the Bronco. Now position the Bronco on the trailer so the the tongue weight (not hooked up to the truck; just by itself) is 10-15 percent of the total.That number has to be LESS than the max rating of the Torklift hitch.The weight of the Dodge will come into play when you add the weight of the truck, camper, trailer, Bronco, kids, dog, beer, etc and compare that to the GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) of the Dodge.StuThere is NO WAY I can safely drive the Bronco onto the trailer without it hooked up?!?!?!If I remember correctly the hitch extension is ok with 12K lbs as long as I'm using a WDS, & the way I see it I'm not likely to ever get anywhere near that with my current set up.& was told 6000 lbs without a WDS IIRC?Can very well be wrong.... Its been a while.The Bronco weight about 6k & I'm not sure but the trailer not like to weight more that 1,500 & so that 7500 with not extras thrown into the mix.For safety reasons I do not want to be moving the Bronco back & forth not hooked to anything holding it flat.So I need to at least get it as close as possible.I have towed many thing for MANY years.I do it for a living.Yet have never used a long extension like this nor ever had issues where tongue weight was ever brought up.So Excuse my ignorance......But yes TorkLift told me 10%.Heres what I'm working with.

Once you have the Bronco on the trailer and with some tongue weight, block the trailer tires and put the scale under the jack and unhook the trailer. I've read your posts three times and still not sure if you have a scale for weighing the tongue weight. Level the trailer and see what it weighs.If you do not have a scale, then load the Bronco and when it lowers the back of your Dodge 2-3" tie it down. Put the WD bars on and bring it back up to level. Go out on a deserted road and at 45 MPH give the steering wheel a wiggle. If the trailer stops swaying on it's own without having to put the trailer brakes on to stop it... give the steering wheel a harder back and forth. If all is well then mark where the Bronco is on the trailer for future reference.I haul all kind of equipment on various trailer with various TV and the wiggle test at 45 is all I ever do to see if I have enough tongue weight. I would start with the Bronco centered over the trailer's axles as the weight of the engine should give you minimum tongue weight that you are trying to get because of your overloaded situation with the long extension hitch.

Best way to adjust the tongue weight on my trailer?

17 Replies

DutchmenSport
Explorer
Oct 18, 2015
Good job on getting the tongue weight!

What you want to do is attach the WD bars then lower take the tongue jack up so the trailer's full weight is on the hitch.

This is a start point:

If the trailer looks level;
and
The tow vehicle looks level:
and
The WD bars are relatively level to the trailer frame...

Then you are probably 99% ok. Take it for a test drive.
If the trail is low to the front, the bars are grossly not parallel to the trailer frame, or the tow vehicle sags horrible to the rear, then the hitch ball angle will need to be adjusted, and the L brackets on the Equalizer will need to be adjusted too.

If the bars are not perfectly level, that's OK as long as the tow vehicle and trailer are level. The Equalizer bars on my rig sits slight up, not perfect parallel, and it functions quite well. Use common sense here. Test drive is your best bet now.

Good luck.

Someone else may be able to help explain how to fine tune the bars and the hitch head. Mine is set good, and I've never attempted to change it. But someone else may be able to assist there.
BarneyS
Explorer III
Oct 18, 2015
To figure that out, take a look at the other sticky at the top of this forum called "Travel Trailer Setup Procedure"..
Barney
Blanco1
Explorer
Oct 18, 2015
Ok so I went out & made some adjustment under the foot of the trailer from 13k to 10K & IIRC thats within spec?

I will call Torklift tomorrow to confirm? :confused013:

& of course this was with the weight just off the ball.

But now to figure out how to apply the WDS to these numbers with the Bronco in its current placement?
BarneyS
Explorer III
Oct 18, 2015
Blanco1 wrote:

...lets say I figure out a good balance with moving the bronco around.

What changes withe the connection of the WDS? ...

Nothing changes except the load on the suspension of the tow vehicle. The tongue weight, and therefor the percentage of tongue weight to total trailer weight, does not change at all. If you are shooting at 13% tongue weight and then hook up the WD bars you will still have 13% tongue weight.

Take a look at the sticky post at the top of this page on "How a Weight Distribution Works", especially the first paragraph.
Barney
Blanco1
Explorer
Oct 18, 2015
DutchmenSport wrote:
Blanco1,

I think everyone may be confusing you, but basically they are all saying the same thing.

Step 1. Get the weight of the trailer with the Bronco loaded and all gear you will be carrying in the Bronco. (trailer completely loaded weight of everything)

Step 2. Hitch up trailer to truck and load the Bronco

Step 3. Place the tongue scales in place

Step 4. Unhitch the trailer (you can leave it above the hitch, but not attached (not level, that's OK)

Step 5. Get the weight of the tongue.

This weight should be 10% - 13% total of the entire trailer with all it's cargo.

Step 6. If the tongue is too light, move the Bronco forward
Step 7. If the tongue is to heavy, move the Bronco backward

Step 8. Mark the "sweet spot" on the trailer so you can put it back in the same spot in the future.

Step 9. Re-hitch the trailer with Bronco and use the WD hitch and bars. The bars will naturally adjust the weight of the tongue, and distribute it to all 4 tires. You cannot weigh the tongue when it's attached to the hitch. It has to be unhitched.

(The 45 mph sway road test is a good secondary step to take also... that's a good idea).

Hope this helps.

Yes thank you I'll start with the simple stuff, I tend to over think things..
Blanco1
Explorer
Oct 18, 2015
msmith1.wa wrote:
1. Hook the trailer to the truck.
2. Load the Bronco.
3. Place scale under trailer jack.
4. Jack up trailer until the coupler is lifting off the ball.
5. Read weight on scale
6. If the weight not okay lower trailer back on ball and remove scale to prevent damaging scale.
7. Move Bronco, restart at 3 until the weight is what you are looking for.

Yes!
Thank you so much sounds like such "DUH" common sense, but I did not think about it that way.

Yet!

That is with the WDS not attached & why I am so confused as to how this comes into play because once the trailer is off the ball it is not working with the WDS...

So that where I'm sorta lost...

lets say I figure out a good balance with moving the bronco around.

What changes withe the connection of the WDS?

Assuming you understand the way the WDS systems work?
I'm still learning, its changes so many weights & as to where they apply to towing.
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Oct 18, 2015
FYI, that WDH system you have is an Equal-i-zer.
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Oct 18, 2015
Blanco1,

I think everyone may be confusing you, but basically they are all saying the same thing.

Step 1. Get the weight of the trailer with the Bronco loaded and all gear you will be carrying in the Bronco. (trailer completely loaded weight of everything)

Step 2. Hitch up trailer to truck and load the Bronco

Step 3. Place the tongue scales in place

Step 4. Unhitch the trailer (you can leave it above the hitch, but not attached (not level, that's OK)

Step 5. Get the weight of the tongue.

This weight should be 10% - 13% total of the entire trailer with all it's cargo.

Step 6. If the tongue is too light, move the Bronco forward
Step 7. If the tongue is to heavy, move the Bronco backward

Step 8. Mark the "sweet spot" on the trailer so you can put it back in the same spot in the future.

Step 9. Re-hitch the trailer with Bronco and use the WD hitch and bars. The bars will naturally adjust the weight of the tongue, and distribute it to all 4 tires. You cannot weigh the tongue when it's attached to the hitch. It has to be unhitched.

(The 45 mph sway road test is a good secondary step to take also... that's a good idea).

Hope this helps.
msmith1_wa
Explorer
Oct 18, 2015
1. Hook the trailer to the truck.
2. Load the Bronco.
3. Place scale under trailer jack.
4. Jack up trailer until the coupler is lifting off the ball.
5. Read weight on scale
6. If the weight not okay lower trailer back on ball and remove scale to prevent damaging scale.
7. Move Bronco, restart at 3 until the weight is what you are looking for.
Blanco1
Explorer
Oct 17, 2015
Ok I know there are a few different style WDS out there & maybe if I post a picture of mine it might help?

Its all bolt together, no chains.

I've been told adjusting the placement of these on the tongue is how to adjust the weight?

But just have nobody I know that has done this available to show me.

Currently I have it connected on this & realize I have to swap it out to the WDS.