Lightening tongue weight

I am sorry, that is an extremely sad, selfish way of life.

That was awful harsh not knowing his level of experience towing...I can tell you I have had Deer/Elk and Bears run out in front of me towing without harm to me or my rigs..I've had a trailer try to pass me in the mountains on snow and ice and have run chained up on the tow vehicle and trailer and slid down mountain roads dropping the bars to "add" weight to the rear axle...

And I can tell you with certainty that my current F-150 is as capable as any 3/4 ton I owned and towed with and theres a 2500 HD in my driveway for use if I wanted...Towing what we have here up to a 10K wood trailer, there is absolutely "No" difference in towing experience..

My F-150 is as capable as my older GMC and Chevy 3/4 tons....

I know there probably have been,but I have never seen a 1/2 towing wreck but I have seen alot of 3/4 ton wrecks because there popular on forums like this and new people buy them thinking there king kong on the road just like those that think a 4X4 solves snow and ice,they don't..They help if you know what your doing,thats all.

Don't take this post wrong..I am not saying to tow overloaded with anything but I am saying towing at Max with a capable rig with a capable driver is safer than a new guy with his 3/4 ton,some of which don't have more payload than a HD 1/2 ton,but you new that.

There are more important things in towing than payload which is as crazy as towing capacity in my book.There both there from these manufacturing genius's as well as combined truck/trailer weight...

If one is wrong,there all wrong.No or do we pick and choose which is right or wrong:B

When it comes to weighing the wife's purse because I don't want to be a few over,I'm out and overloaded for sure but she won't be hollering all week/month/year long about the bumpy ride of that 3/4 ton every time she goes over a bump or the noisy diesel.Yes,I owned a diesel!

I recommend every new Rver starts small and works up as experiences grow towing in different conditions!!!

Dakota98 wrote:
Quote from MitchF150

"What you have to determine for YOURSELF is what do you feel the most comfortable with in terms of the "tow ratings", "payload", "hitch weight", etc in terms of exceeding or NOT exceeding any one or all of them??

You've got some miles under your belt with your current combo... So, how did it do with your butts in the seat?? Did the driver have white knuckles the whole way? Did the driver say it was okay? Bottom line, would the driver want to tow that combo again?

Depending on those answers and how you truly feel about the actual weight numbers is up to YOU.."


Personally, I agree......BUT
Knowing the exact weight figures & using them throughout the entire equation can be helpful in adjusting the loads to gain that level of towing comfort & performance if you're at or above capacities.

I'm above rated capacities & having that actual weight information has allowed me to make better balanced load adjustments to accommodate the situation. My truck handles like a dream when towing. :B AND I FEEL BETTER ABOUT IT.

I am sorry, that is an extremely sad, selfish way of life.

Just because your "seat of the pants feel" is OK or "acceptable" in YOUR eyes under perfect conditions does not mean it will ALWAYS feel that way under under less than perfect conditions.

The manufacturers have teams of designers and engineers, spend millions of dollars on research and testing then they have to get everything to pass the transportation board and all the regulations.

The manufacturers STAMP THE RATINGS THAT THEY WILL STAND BEHIND as being "safe". Once you go outside those ratings then YOU are taking the burden of being the engineer and there is no way you are going to know exactly how the vehicle is going to perform the task under any conditions.

The "seat of the pants feel" is nothing more than YOU JUSTIFYING being your cheapness of not upgrading to a better platform. YOU are justifying a possible overload which under "good conditions" may tow straight and true.. But under an emergency maneuver like deer running out in front of you while towing at 65 mph and your trailer decides that it no longer wants to listen to the tow vehicle and sends you across the road into oncoming traffic.

Or you round a bend going down a slight incline and have to stab your brakes to avoid slower or stopped traffic and your vehicle loses control due to too much trailer for the vehicle..

Or heck just driving along on a nice sunny day and a gust of wind starts your trailer swaying...

No one wants to think of these things especially when they have justified a bad match..

You are playing not only with your lives but OTHER MOTORISTS, if you kill them and you live then YOU will live with that cheap decision ALL the rest of your life..

If you don't like the idea of buying a better matched vehicle or trailer then perhaps you should sell your RV and go to Hotels.. At least you might not have to live with a bad decision..

Yes, I realize there are lots of TC folks who drive overloaded and yes there are lots of 5vrs and TTs over the ratings, it doesn't make it right.

Yes, even when properly loaded good matches can go wrong but you do have a better chance that it will be a safer rig.

Buying a vehicle better suited for the job should be first and foremost on your list of things to do instead of justifying your current questionable rig.

Quote from MitchF150

"What you have to determine for YOURSELF is what do you feel the most comfortable with in terms of the "tow ratings", "payload", "hitch weight", etc in terms of exceeding or NOT exceeding any one or all of them??

You've got some miles under your belt with your current combo... So, how did it do with your butts in the seat?? Did the driver have white knuckles the whole way? Did the driver say it was okay? Bottom line, would the driver want to tow that combo again?

Depending on those answers and how you truly feel about the actual weight numbers is up to YOU.."


Personally, I agree......BUT
Knowing the exact weight figures & using them throughout the entire equation can be helpful in adjusting the loads to gain that level of towing comfort & performance if you're at or above capacities.

I'm above rated capacities & having that actual weight information has allowed me to make better balanced load adjustments to accommodate the situation. My truck handles like a dream when towing. :B AND I FEEL BETTER ABOUT IT.

Margaret, I get why you are asking all these questions and such and there is nothing wrong with wanting to learn and know all that you can when it comes to such matters as this... :)

With all the marketing hype that has been going on with all makes and models of vehicles for the past 10+ years, everyone has gotten ultra sensitive to the limits and ratings and such.

What you have to determine for YOURSELF is what do you feel the most comfortable with in terms of the "tow ratings", "payload", "hitch weight", etc in terms of exceeding or NOT exceeding any one or all of them??

Everyone that has posted to all your questions have their own idea of what limits work for them and tell you so.. What gets these posts going is the banter back and forth between everyone that has different opinions on the subject..

You've read all the different replies, so I'll not rehash them here, so you have all the info we can give you based on our own opinions and what WE are individually comfortable with doing with our own combos and safety factors.

You've got some miles under your belt with your current combo... So, how did it do with your butts in the seat?? Did the driver have white knuckles the whole way? Did the driver say it was okay? Bottom line, would the driver want to tow that combo again?

Depending on those answers and how you truly feel about the actual weight numbers is up to YOU.. :)

Being "safe" on the highway is a very speculative term IMO... I mean, if I was driving next to a "seasoned" RVer that was a tad overweight on his rig, but has towed for many years and thousands of miles, I'd feel a heck of a lot more comfortable in that situation than I would driving next to an inexperienced RVer towing for the first or even with very little seat time and towing UNDER all of his weight ratings... ;)

Of course, you don't know any of this following or passing, or being passed by either driver, but the point is there is a lot more to towing than just the numbers... It's how confident and what the driver knows about his rig that counts most..

I wish you the best of luck and hope you are able to enjoy this thing we call RVing.. :)

Mitch

2012Coleman wrote:
People should read the posts by the OP before they get on their soap boxes. The comments being made that you are finding offensive are posted by people who know the history. Huntingdog said it the best. And yes 3oaks, the OP DID weigh the combo and the toung weight she stated WAS at 13%.

The OP is just asking the same questions waiting for the answer she wants to hear.

I'm sure the blocked post by JaycoCreek I see on this thread will give them the answer they crave. Good Luck...

X2, kind of like fishing, just waiting for the right bite to come.

MargaretB wrote:
It has occurred to us that if we just camp alone, with nothing in the TV but ourselves and a bag of potato chips, we're good with the tongue weight. But after subtracting it from our payload, we don't have much left except ourselves and those chips.

So how can we lighten our tongue weight? We have two propane tanks and two batteries. We're happy to move one of the batteries, but where? How far behind the hitch does it have to be to lighten the tongue weight? We have room under the bed in our TT, but that's the front of the TT and would put weight on the hitch.

Is there anything else we can do to lighten the tongue to free up some of that payload so we can take our grands camping next summer?

Margaret,

QUOTE from your 10/19/14 post:

"We loaded up and detoured to the scales on our way out of town on Friday. The dry weight of the trailerwas 5100#. Loaded 5500#. Tongue 720#. Payload about 380# - two adults and two road bikes (and my 50# purse.) We didn't haul a lot of food, but probably won't anyway. The Sequoia hauled with no problem. I think we're OK."


QUOTE from your 12/11/14 post:

"Our current tongue weight is 13%. Loaded for a short trip, our TT is at about 6200#. Payload is 1230# and tow limit is, depending on whom you believe and when, either 7100#, 7200#, or 9600#.
We go with the middle."


It appears that you have been adding & subtracting numbers without real world facts. YOUR Sequoia has a specific GVWR "as built". That info is on the door jamb sticker. There is also information listed about the tires, once again "as built". That correlates with the GVWR.

I believe to your advantage, & peace of mind, you need to start over with all calculations. Weigh the Sequoia by itself filled with gas, no trailer, to determine it's true CURB weight. From that figure, subtract weight of passengers in the vehicle at the time of weighing. Subtract that number from the GVWR as listed on the sticker. The number you arrive at, is PAYLOAD. Start there.

This is just the FIRST step in the process.

This is a step by step process, miss one step & things won't add up to give you ACCURATE information.

MargaretB wrote:
Our current tongue weight is 13%. Loaded for a short trip, our TT is at about 6200#. Payload is 1230# and tow limit is, depending on whom you believe and when, either 7100#, 7200#, or 9600#. We go with the middle.

Our TT is an ultralight, and not that heavy. So how come we see so many people pulling much bigger TTs with an F150?

So, have you actually weighed trailer with TV, the TV, and the trailer alone? Or, are the numbers you give guesstimates?
And when weighed, the TV and the trailer should be loaded just as if you were going camping. Until you have actual numbers, there is nothing anybody can tell you about your setup except guesses.
There is no way on Earth I would take my grandkids with me unless I knew all was safe. Every time I make changes to our camper, I go weigh it, just so I'll know.
Good luck.

People should read the posts by the OP before they get on their soap boxes. The comments being made that you are finding offensive are posted by people who know the history. Huntingdog said it the best. And yes 3oaks, the OP DID weigh the combo and the toung weight she stated WAS at 13%.

The OP is just asking the same questions waiting for the answer she wants to hear.

I'm sure the blocked post by JaycoCreek I see on this thread will give them the answer they crave. Good Luck...

opnspaces wrote:
While I agree with the other posters I think it will really depend on your current tongue weight ratio. If your tongue weight is 13% of your total trailer weight there isn't much that you can do. But if your tongue weight is 20% then you could possibly move things around to lighten it up a bit.

Now there is a rational answer without going ballistic or being sarcastic.