Downside to tongue weight over 15%?
Tongue weight should be between 10 & 15%. It usually is. There is a potential serious safety issue if it's below 10% and that's well documented everywhere. But what is the downside of being over 15...
Forum Discussion
The issue of a longer tongue helping with stability is correct. The longer the tongue the better the handling in most cases. The placement of the axles creates the same stability. You actually don't need a longer tongue if you just move the axle back to give a longer length between the coupler and the axle. It does appear that many manufacturers like to keep that distance at a minimum to keep the tongue weight lighter which is important if you are trying to tow with a lower rated vehicle. TT manufacturers need to spend more time placing all tanks closer the axles and slightly in front if possible.
When I built my last camping trailer I put the extra water (34 gallons) right in front of the axle and the gasoline (20 gallons right in front of that. The reason is that water is 8.33# per gallon whereas gasoline is just over 6# per gallon. The placement of the loads in the trailer, especially the loads that vary (tanks etc) is critical to a trailer that tows well. Having the heavy loads as low as possible is also very important. This particular trailer has much of the weight between the frame rails, under the camper so that it has as low of CG as possible while still maintaining decent ground clearance.
When I built my last camping trailer I put the extra water (34 gallons) right in front of the axle and the gasoline (20 gallons right in front of that. The reason is that water is 8.33# per gallon whereas gasoline is just over 6# per gallon. The placement of the loads in the trailer, especially the loads that vary (tanks etc) is critical to a trailer that tows well. Having the heavy loads as low as possible is also very important. This particular trailer has much of the weight between the frame rails, under the camper so that it has as low of CG as possible while still maintaining decent ground clearance.
