Took my new to me truck wnd my TT to the scales yesterday to get some numbers. TT and Truck with WD.Steer Axle 4040#Drive Axle 4280#Trailer 7320#Total 15640#TT and truck with no WD, bars disconnected and still in head.Steer Axle 3620#Drive Axle 4880#Trailer 7160#Total 15660#Truck only without hitch head and bars in bed. I may have goofed by not having them?TruckSteer Axle 4120#Drive Axle 3140#Total 7260# Now I never got a chance to adjust the WD setup. I basically picked up TT from winter storage and drove to the scales that were on the way home. When I saw it on the scale I noticed it had a definite nose down attitude on the trailer when hitched so I am not sure if that could influence tongue weight. I did raise the ball up on the shank by a hole..about an inch.The truck is a Ford F350 xlt with a crew cab with 6.8 V10 Nothing in the truck, no people no real cargo. TT had most of the gear in it for the season but no clothing, water or food. We don't travel with much water, couple gallons. The TT is a Heartland 30USBH.The WD hitch is a Equalizer 1400/14000# setup.The receiver is the stock 1250/12500#. This seems to be the number I am most concerned with as I am worried about tongue weight.

So not sure if the tongue is 1060# or if I would have it be less since I didn't weigh the truck with the WD in the bed?

Let me take a shot at this. I think that in order to know your exact tongue weight you would have had to leave the hitch and bars in the bed.But, you can figure out:Truck alone weights 7260 (directly from #3)Trailer + hitch weights 8390 (15650* - 7260)Weight removed from front axle by adding trailer and hitch: 500 (4120-3620)Weight returned to front axle by WD: 420 (4040-3620)Weight transferred to trailer axle by WD: 160 (7320-7160)Total weight transferred: 580 (420+160)I think you might have transferred back a little too much weight. If the hitch weighs 100, then the trailer effect is 400 (i.e. the sa weight of the truck would have been 4220), and you are returning more than you lost (400-420=-20).Tongue weight + hitch weight: 1240 (3620+4880) - 7260Note: tongue weight is about trailer balance, and is figured without the WD bars engaged (there would be no WD if you were just using a tongue scale).Assuming you WDH+bars weights 100, that gives you a trailer weight of 8290, and a tongue weight of 1140, and a tongue weight % of 13.75.If the WDH+bars is 50, it is 8340, 1190 and 14.26%and 150 8240 1090 13.22% 200 8190 1040 12.6%Given the rv.net forums wisdom of targeting around 10-15% (and assuming it might be better to be on the high side), you seem OK here as long as the WDH is somewhere between 50-200.*Note: the scales are only accurate to 20 lbs, so you got 15640 and 15660 as your total weights. I used 15650 for these (i.e. I assumed you were between them).So, it seems to me that if you back the WD off one tick you are in good shape.Bretp.s. I just did this exercise for myself after a bunch of reading here, and this is my first attempt to return some of the knowledge I gained back to the community. Take it with a grain of salt :-)

Thank you for taking the time to do these calculations! I am confused by how you came to the tongue weight measurements.If the bars weigh 100# you said tongue would be 1140# and if #50 it would be 1190# and 150# it would be 1090# and 200# it would be 1040. I am not sure how that worked out that way?

You're welcome.There are sort of two separate but related things. There is Tongue Weight, which is what you would measure if put a scale under your tongue jack, and there is another thing, which some people seem to call "Hitch weight" or "Receiver load", which is what the receiver of your truck sees.Tongue weight is important because it shows how your cargo is balanced in the trailer, and receiver load is important because it shows how much weight is on your truck.The weight of the WD Hitch assembly is the difference between these two weights -- the receiver sees not only the tongue weight, but also the WD assembly weight.From your scale weights, we can figure out the "Receiver load" -- it is the difference between the empty truck weight and the truck weight with the trailer connected (Tongue weight + hitch weight: 1240 (3620+4880) - 7260). If you had put the WD assembly in the bed of the truck when you weighed it empty, then we would would know for sure. What we do know is that when you added the WD and the trailer, your truck got 1240 lbs heavier -- and we know that some of that is from the WD, and some is from the trailer.Since we don't know how to split it, I guessed. If the WD assembly weighed 0, then the tongue weight would be all of the 1240, but we know that isn't right.If the WD weighs 100, then the 1240 is split 100 to WD, 1140 to trailer -- I did that for 50 (+1190 = 1240), 100 (+1140 = 1240), 150 (+1090 = 1240) and 200 (+1040 = 1240), since I figure your WD probably weighs somewhere in that range.Let me know if this made it more or less clear....Bret

You need to calculate the tongue with the length of ball to the centerline of the rear axle.Your numbers look very strange. mm49

Weight and WD number check in aisle 4. | Good Sam Community

mojoroo
Explorer
May 19, 2014
Thank you for taking the time to do these calculations! I am confused by how you came to the tongue weight measurements.
If the bars weigh 100# you said tongue would be 1140# and if #50 it would be 1190# and 150# it would be 1090# and 200# it would be 1040. I am not sure how that worked out that way?
bretm151
Explorer
May 18, 2014
Let me take a shot at this. I think that in order to know your exact tongue weight you would have had to leave the hitch and bars in the bed.

But, you can figure out:

Truck alone weights 7260 (directly from #3)
Trailer + hitch weights 8390 (15650* - 7260)

Weight removed from front axle by adding trailer and hitch: 500 (4120-3620)
Weight returned to front axle by WD: 420 (4040-3620)
Weight transferred to trailer axle by WD: 160 (7320-7160)
Total weight transferred: 580 (420+160)

I think you might have transferred back a little too much weight. If the hitch weighs 100, then the trailer effect is 400 (i.e. the sa weight of the truck would have been 4220), and you are returning more than you lost (400-420=-20).

Tongue weight + hitch weight: 1240 (3620+4880) - 7260
Note: tongue weight is about trailer balance, and is figured without the WD bars engaged (there would be no WD if you were just using a tongue scale).

Assuming you WDH+bars weights 100, that gives you a trailer weight of 8290, and a tongue weight of 1140, and a tongue weight % of 13.75.

If the WDH+bars is 50, it is 8340, 1190 and 14.26%
and 150 8240 1090 13.22%
200 8190 1040 12.6%

Given the rv.net forums wisdom of targeting around 10-15% (and assuming it might be better to be on the high side), you seem OK here as long as the WDH is somewhere between 50-200.

*Note: the scales are only accurate to 20 lbs, so you got 15640 and 15660 as your total weights. I used 15650 for these (i.e. I assumed you were between them).

So, it seems to me that if you back the WD off one tick you are in good shape.

Bret
p.s. I just did this exercise for myself after a bunch of reading here, and this is my first attempt to return some of the knowledge I gained back to the community. Take it with a grain of salt :-)
mojoroo
Explorer
May 18, 2014
So not sure if the tongue is 1060# or if I would have it be less since I didn't weigh the truck with the WD in the bed?

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