Best way to adjust the tongue weight on my trailer?

Ivylog wrote:
I've read your posts three times and still not sure if you have a scale for weighing the tongue weight.

This is the scale I'm talking about & wonder about weighing with it disconnected & moving the bronco around or?

Tow the trailer with Bronco to a truck scale. Position the rig so only the trailer is on the scale. After getting just the trailer wheel load, crank down the tongue jack until it just lifts off the ball. This will give you the total trailer load. Total trailer - trailer wheel = tongue load. If the tongue load is too high, crank up the tongue jack and move the Bronco back until you get the additional load on the wheels you need.

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.

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.




Stu

There 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.

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

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?????

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.Unstable



Stu