Telescoping Trailer Tongue Extension Question
I currently have a 12 foot cargo trailer and I'm looking at purchasing a 26 foot travel trailer both of which will be towed by my truck with camper for business purposes (one at a time of course). I'v...
Forum Discussion
Trailer is at the shop, not certain how long it will be, could be a couple of days or maybe a week or two.
I have a thought for the many comments regarding tongue weight and such and how much heavier it will be with the modifications necessary to make this plan work. Yes, the tongue will be heavier but the only time that will actually matter at all is when the trailer is empty and when it is empty, a slightly heavier tongue isn't going to make any difference to the truck carrying it for practicality purposes.
What is really going to matter the most is how the trailer will be loaded and where the weight is going to be placed within the trailer. Adding 75lbs of metal on the tongue can easily be offset by packing some weight over the axles or slightly behind to act as a counterbalance to offset the weight. If we were all loading our trailer by the book, we would have to get a scale out and carefully monitor what we place where. Perhaps some people do that currently but I'm guessing the majority of us probably load the trailer by the more "guideline" approach of trying to keep the weight in front of the axles but then cramming stuff where it will fit and hoping the door will close. The point of my example is that as careful as we should be to ensure the weight is distributed correctly, often times we go with less than optimal and seem to be okay as long as we are not grossly outside the margins.
For my own uses, the trailer will likely never be loaded anywhere close to capacity (it is a 2 axle 12' trailer) so I'm pretty confident the added weight to the tongue is going to be a non-issue.
I have a thought for the many comments regarding tongue weight and such and how much heavier it will be with the modifications necessary to make this plan work. Yes, the tongue will be heavier but the only time that will actually matter at all is when the trailer is empty and when it is empty, a slightly heavier tongue isn't going to make any difference to the truck carrying it for practicality purposes.
What is really going to matter the most is how the trailer will be loaded and where the weight is going to be placed within the trailer. Adding 75lbs of metal on the tongue can easily be offset by packing some weight over the axles or slightly behind to act as a counterbalance to offset the weight. If we were all loading our trailer by the book, we would have to get a scale out and carefully monitor what we place where. Perhaps some people do that currently but I'm guessing the majority of us probably load the trailer by the more "guideline" approach of trying to keep the weight in front of the axles but then cramming stuff where it will fit and hoping the door will close. The point of my example is that as careful as we should be to ensure the weight is distributed correctly, often times we go with less than optimal and seem to be okay as long as we are not grossly outside the margins.
For my own uses, the trailer will likely never be loaded anywhere close to capacity (it is a 2 axle 12' trailer) so I'm pretty confident the added weight to the tongue is going to be a non-issue.
