Spring bar selection

MStat wrote:
Are the 1200 lb. bars stout enough for the "published" tongue weight of 1100lbs.

Spring bar capacity should be based on how much load transfer you want to achieve.

Since 2010, Ford has been specifying that the WD bars should be adjusted so you restore only about 50% of the load which was removed from the front axle.

If only 50% of load is restored, the WD bars only need to be rated for about 50% of the tongue weight.
If you plan to use the outdated approach of restoring 100% or more, the WD bars should be rated for 100% of the tongue weight.

In a different thread, you indicated the new trailer would have a loaded weight of 9000#.
If that's the case, a reasonable TW% of 13% would give a TW of just under 1200#.

If you want to go with 100% front axle load restoration, the existing 1200# bars should be okay.
If you want to go with 50% FALR, you could stay with the 1200# bars or switch to bars with a lower rating.

Ron

The published weight is for an empty trailer so that number is going to up as you load it. By how much? Depends on the trailer and how you load it. I'd suspect it will go up by more than 100lbs though, exceeding the 1200lb bars.

What's the empty weight of the trailer that they use to calculate that tongue weight? With a GVWR of 9500lbs I'm going to guess it's around 8000lbs empty. At 1100lbs you would be nearly 14% of the trailer weight on the tongue. If that stayed close to the same as you load it you would be over 1300lbs as you approach the GVWR.

You may also want to verify if published tongue weight includes full propane tanks and a battery or not. Most brochure weights are "dry" weights and do not include those or added options. I'd have the dealer weigh it for you before deciding.

Remember that a properly loaded TW will be around 12.5% of the trailers ready to travel weight. so lets say you loaded it up to it`s full GVWR. that would put the loaded, ready to travel TW at 1180lbs +/-. what you have will be a perfect match.

What is the trailers dry weight?