Help with weight questions on tt

Ron Gratz wrote:

walleyeb1 wrote:
5,794 was the actual shipping weight on the sticker. But still confused on how to calculate my actual tongue weight.

You can't calculate it from the given values.

To get the actual tongue weight, you must do some weighing such as suggested in this post.

Ron

X2. You can at best only come up with an approximate tongue weight through calculation.

If you are concerned about tongue weight because you are approaching your TV's limit,
- Weigh the TT at a scale.
- Use the good old "bathroom scale, fulcrum, and lever" method.
- Buy one of these: Sherline Scale

walleyeb1 wrote:
5,794 was the actual shipping weight on the sticker. But still confused on how to calculate my actual tongue weight.

You can't calculate it from the given values.

To get the actual tongue weight, you must do some weighing such as suggested in this post.

Ron

walleyeb1 wrote:
5,794 was the actual shipping weight on the sticker. But still confused on how to calculate my actual tongue weight.

Aside from weighing it separately, the only way to "calculate" your real world tongue weight is to go to a level scale all loaded for camp, weigh the truck axles only, go home, unhitch, come back and weigh the truck again.

The difference is your actual tongue weight.

5,794 was the actual shipping weight on the sticker. But still confused on how to calculate my actual tongue weight.

Hitch weight is ALWAYS with an empty trailer. They would have no way of knowing how much or where you'd load your stuff.

walleyeb1 wrote:
What I'm trying to get to is what my true tongue weight is.

The way to determine the true tongue weight is to take your loaded-for-camping trailer to a scales and measure the tongue jack load directly. Or measure the tongue jack load alone of the scales has only one pad. The load carried on the ball (which is the true tongue weight) would be about 95% of the load measured under the tongue jack.

If the scales operator will not allow you to disconnect from the trailer with the tongue jack on one pad and the trailer axles on another, you can do the following:

1. Measure the weight of the TV without the TT attached.
2. Hitch up the TT, but do not apply load to the WD bars. Then measure the weight of the TV again.
3. Subtract 1. from 2. to get a good estimate of the true tongue weight.

Ron

Dennis M M wrote:
IMHO 14% is light anyway, you want something around 20% for stability.

20% tongue (pin) weight might be a good value for your 35' 5th wheel, but it is not a good value for a travel trailer.

A better value for the OP's TT is in the range of 13-15%.

Ron

walleyeb1 wrote:
Dry Weight 5,794 lbs.
Gross Vehicle Wt Rating (GVWR) 7,790 lbs.
Axle Weight 5,004 lbs.
Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC) 1,308 lbs.
Hitch Weight 790 lbs.

The numbers listed at the end of your post appear to be "brochure values" for a typical non-optioned trailer. They likely are less than the actual factory-delivered weight of your trailer.

Your trailer should have an external sticker which lists its factory-delivered UVW. That is the correct value to use for the trailer's "dry weight".

When CCC is calculated, it usually is based on the GVWR minus the sum of the "dry weight" plus a full tank of fresh water. If your fresh water tank holds 40 gallons, the CCC should be approximately equal to GVWR - ("UVW+320#).

Ron

What I'm trying to get to is what my true tongue weight is. Using the following

To prepare for this weighing, you should load the truck as if you were going for camping with your usual supplies:
Your driver
Your passengers (with infant/child seats, booster seats, etc.)
Any food, snacks and drinks
Any games, toys, activities and diaper bags for the kids
Guides, maps, travel directories
Firewood, generators, camping chairs, tables, and other supplies
And, of course- your hitch

When you go to the scale, you will get a weight that tells you what your total vehicle weight is. The number on the sticker that is most important to you is the one that tells you what the maximum weight that the truck can handle. This is called the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). You would take the GVWR and subtract the weight of the truck from the scale. What's leftover is how much you tongue or pin weight you can carry.

Konwing this will give me the remaining payload capacity which is paramount to knowing how much I can tow and stay within my vehicle's limits.

I'm using an Equalizer weight distribution/sway system.

Not sure about he GVWR and CCC discrepancy, but the 14% tongue weight ratio is against the dry weight. Where your load is located in relation to the axles will cause that ratio to vary.

IMHO 14% is light anyway, you want something around 20% for stability.