Tongue Weight Rating
Hello, We are buying a trailer for our daughter and son-in-law. They now have a Ford Expedition with 8,900# tow rating. 80% of that is 7,120#, but they should stay below 7,000# loaded (5,500 to 6...
Forum Discussion
As a result of this discussion, Ron’s excellent information, and some of my own research the fog on this issue is beginning to rise for me a little (I think). Part of my confusion has been there are several aspects to “tongue weight ratings”.
First, there is the dry TW of the travel trailer designed into the unit by the manufacturer for stability during towing. In the scheme of things, I would think, this is one of the most important reasons for discussing tongue weight in the first place—stability of the TT while we’re going down the road. In the case of the TT we’re looking at the published tongue weight is 13.4% of the dry weight of the unit, but it’s not hard to find other manufacturers that list TW as low as 10% of the dry weight of the unit.
Apparently manufacturers are designing travel trailers with these lighter tongue weights to make heavier units “half ton towable”. I tend to believe this because I’ve had more than one salesman use this line on me.
Second is the loaded tongue weight of the TT. Depending on what numbers one adheres to, as we add “stuff” to the TT these will change. More about this in a minute.
Third is the allowable tongue weight of the hitch (not the receiver) itself. As we’ve discussed, this is the amount of tongue weight the hitch manufacturer says their hitches will safely carry. Where I’ve had some confusion here is the weight of the hitch itself does NOT count against the allowable weight of the hitch. For instance, if the hitch is rated for 1,400 lb. tongue weight and the hitch weighs 100 lbs., this does NOT reduce the allowable weight of the hitch to 1,300 lbs. This may be self-evident to some, but it wasn’t to me at first.
Fourth is the amount of tongue weight required by most weight distribution hitches for them to function properly—for example control sway—which is what I think we’ve been talking about when we reference the 12-15% numbers. It almost has to be if there are (and there are) TT manufacturers out there designing TTs with (roughly) 10% tongue weight.
Now…what I don’t fully understand is this. Suppose I have a TT designed by the manufacturer with a 10% tongue weight and I use a WD hitch that recommends 12-15% TW in order to function properly. Am I “violating” the design of the TT if I use this much tongue weight? This could be a substantial difference. 10% of 10,000 lbs = 1,000 lbs. 15% of 10,000 lbs = 1,500 lbs. That’s a 50% difference between the “designed” TW and the TW required by the WD hitch—hypothetically.
My thinking is (and I could be wrong) if a TT is designed with a certain unloaded weight distribution (certain TW) to make it stable during towing, that should be the numbers I use when it’s fully loaded (should it not?). For instance a TT designed with a dry weight of 7,000 lbs and a dry tongue weight of 700 lbs, when loaded to (for instance) 8,500 should have a TW of 850 lbs.
Fifth is the allowable tongue weight for the receiver attached to the tow vehicle. We really don’t know exactly where this number comes from, so I guess it is what it is. Here is where the controversy about whether or not to count the weight of the hitch as tongue weight arises. Personally, I don’t see how we can stick a 100lb. hitch in the receiver and NOT count it against the TW rating of the receiver. I spoke with Sean from ProPride today and he didn’t hesitate at all when I asked the question. If you attach a 3P or Hensley to the A frame of the TT, it MUST be counted as TW. These are obviously attached differently than an Equalizer, but the weight of both goes to the same place (on the receiver) and both utilize WD bars, albeit separately from sway control.
As I understand it, in order to have a safe and comfortable towing experience (as opposed to white knuckling it), all five of these tongue weights we talk about have to be in harmony (for lack of a better word). If one or more are out of kilter, there is a potential (to one degree or another) for serious problems.
I apologize if this all sounds like a bunch of babbling (it probably is), but I have a reason in the back of my mind for throwing all this out there.
First, there is the dry TW of the travel trailer designed into the unit by the manufacturer for stability during towing. In the scheme of things, I would think, this is one of the most important reasons for discussing tongue weight in the first place—stability of the TT while we’re going down the road. In the case of the TT we’re looking at the published tongue weight is 13.4% of the dry weight of the unit, but it’s not hard to find other manufacturers that list TW as low as 10% of the dry weight of the unit.
Apparently manufacturers are designing travel trailers with these lighter tongue weights to make heavier units “half ton towable”. I tend to believe this because I’ve had more than one salesman use this line on me.
Second is the loaded tongue weight of the TT. Depending on what numbers one adheres to, as we add “stuff” to the TT these will change. More about this in a minute.
Third is the allowable tongue weight of the hitch (not the receiver) itself. As we’ve discussed, this is the amount of tongue weight the hitch manufacturer says their hitches will safely carry. Where I’ve had some confusion here is the weight of the hitch itself does NOT count against the allowable weight of the hitch. For instance, if the hitch is rated for 1,400 lb. tongue weight and the hitch weighs 100 lbs., this does NOT reduce the allowable weight of the hitch to 1,300 lbs. This may be self-evident to some, but it wasn’t to me at first.
Fourth is the amount of tongue weight required by most weight distribution hitches for them to function properly—for example control sway—which is what I think we’ve been talking about when we reference the 12-15% numbers. It almost has to be if there are (and there are) TT manufacturers out there designing TTs with (roughly) 10% tongue weight.
Now…what I don’t fully understand is this. Suppose I have a TT designed by the manufacturer with a 10% tongue weight and I use a WD hitch that recommends 12-15% TW in order to function properly. Am I “violating” the design of the TT if I use this much tongue weight? This could be a substantial difference. 10% of 10,000 lbs = 1,000 lbs. 15% of 10,000 lbs = 1,500 lbs. That’s a 50% difference between the “designed” TW and the TW required by the WD hitch—hypothetically.
My thinking is (and I could be wrong) if a TT is designed with a certain unloaded weight distribution (certain TW) to make it stable during towing, that should be the numbers I use when it’s fully loaded (should it not?). For instance a TT designed with a dry weight of 7,000 lbs and a dry tongue weight of 700 lbs, when loaded to (for instance) 8,500 should have a TW of 850 lbs.
Fifth is the allowable tongue weight for the receiver attached to the tow vehicle. We really don’t know exactly where this number comes from, so I guess it is what it is. Here is where the controversy about whether or not to count the weight of the hitch as tongue weight arises. Personally, I don’t see how we can stick a 100lb. hitch in the receiver and NOT count it against the TW rating of the receiver. I spoke with Sean from ProPride today and he didn’t hesitate at all when I asked the question. If you attach a 3P or Hensley to the A frame of the TT, it MUST be counted as TW. These are obviously attached differently than an Equalizer, but the weight of both goes to the same place (on the receiver) and both utilize WD bars, albeit separately from sway control.
As I understand it, in order to have a safe and comfortable towing experience (as opposed to white knuckling it), all five of these tongue weights we talk about have to be in harmony (for lack of a better word). If one or more are out of kilter, there is a potential (to one degree or another) for serious problems.
I apologize if this all sounds like a bunch of babbling (it probably is), but I have a reason in the back of my mind for throwing all this out there.
