Tongue Weight

davisenvy wrote:
The guy I sold it to has a Dodge 2500 and lives just down the road. He has the same complaints I had. The Sprinter had a dry tongue weight of 870lbs and almost 9000lbs. I was not happy with how it towed. I had a couple different people take a look at the set up, had etrailer involved, and got tired of putting money into trying to get it to quit bobbing down the road like an old Cadillac. New Bilsteins, new DrawTite 1500lb hitch, Reese dual cam/trunion, etc, but I digress.

Others will jump in here and tell you the same thing, 870lbs of tongue weight is TOO LOW for a 9000 lb trailer.

I had 550 lbs tongue weight on my 6006 lb trailer. I didn't realize the tongue was so low until I went out and had sway. That is when I went to the scale and was shocked. I moved everything forward and drove to the campsite a couple hours away. The weight on the tongue was increased to just under 600 lbs (still too light) and the sway almost disappeared.

Once on the campground I did some checking in the trailer to figure out the problem (never had a tongue weight problem prior to that) and found that the last people to use the trailer filled the black and grey water tanks. They dumped the black and grey water, but for some reason filled them up with fresh water. He thought that I kept them full??? I wasn't expecting to have full waste tanks... they are far behind the axles. It also raised my total weight to above my trailer rating (rating is 5780 and actual was 6006)

The guy I sold it to has a Dodge 2500 and lives just down the road. He has the same complaints I had. The Sprinter had a dry tongue weight of 870lbs and almost 9000lbs. I was not happy with how it towed. I had a couple different people take a look at the set up, had etrailer involved, and got tired of putting money into trying to get it to quit bobbing down the road like an old Cadillac. New Bilsteins, new DrawTite 1500lb hitch, Reese dual cam/trunion, etc, but I digress.

not sure why the 1000lb tongue weight gave you issues with the 2500HD. We have a silverado 2500HD towing a Outback 295RE with 1500lbs on the tongue (measured with a sherline tw scale) when I'm full of fresh water, or coming home with grey/black. Even DW will drive, handles great, tracks great, even winds and passing trucks aren't a concern. Did upgrade the factory reciever to a Reese Titan, and use a Reese DC WD hitch, but that's it.

I had a Keystone Sprinter 323BHS and yes I did have a WD system. I had the Reese Dual Cam 15,000lb and it was set up correctly.

I only weighed the tongue and I'm guestimating on the weight of the TT.

davisenvy wrote:
...When I weighed the tongue on my Keystone it was just over 1,100lbs, and the TT was around 10,000lbs.

Actually might have been a little light on the tongue. Ten percent is the minimum recommended and 13% is considered pretty much ideal. Not enough tongue weight can be a cause of trailer sway.

A properly adjusted weight distribution hitch makes a huge difference.

Good luck with your shopping.

Wouldn't have thought a 2500hd would have had a problem with the Sprinter. Did you have a WD hitch and if so maybe it wasn't set-up properly.

Thanks for the quick response. With my last TT, I think I was too close to my hitch towing max and it was not a fun experience. I dreaded towing my camper on trips. I don't want to make the same mistake this time. When I weighed the tongue on my Keystone it was just over 1,100lbs, and the TT was around 10,000lbs.

It has always seemed to me that more tongue weight makes for more stable towing.

Make sure you aren't looking at brochure dry weights. The real tongue weight could be 200# or more added onto the dry weight.

To estimate tongue weight I figure 15% of the GVWR of the trailer. Might be less, could be more but that will get you close.