Is there such a thing as too much Tongue Weight?

[2014screw]

I have a Rockwood 2306 (2016 model)
Ready to go camping trailer weight is roughly 4600 lbs
Weighed the TW on Sherwood scale and it came up at 800 lbs

Using a Reese straight line WDH with 800 lb trunnion bars.

Is the tongue weight to far over the recommended 13-15% or is more better, in my case 17-18% ?

Also is this too close to the WDH bar limit of 800 lbs?

I can get the TW lighter by not carrying as much fresh water since the tank is in front of the trailer axles.

Thoughts/opinions??

[2014screw]

Fixed Sight Training wrote:
Also two 30# propane bottles don't weigh 60#, the bottles weigh about 25# ea so more like 110lbs. The tare is on the propane bottle itself.

I am taking the dry hitch weight from the manufacturer and they tell me that the dry weight includes the empty propane bottles so I was just adding on the 60 lbs of propane

[BenK]

Yes, you can distribute too much weight to the TV's front axle...

Balance between over-steering and under-steering in all conditions...meaning
when unloaded to full loaded to towing light to towing heavy

Why mid-engine is so sought after...handling is much better than front loaded
and rear loaded...by the engine

There are measures to address either or both. Porsche 911 is a good example
of a rear engine that used to have most who left the road during spirited
driving...backwards (tail first).

Porsche solved that by increasing the rear track (and won't go into that,
as the last cycle gave me a headache trying to explain portions of The Laws
of Physics) and increased the tire contact patch (and the ratio between front
and rear sq/in)

Just follow your TV's manual. The OEM has designed and dialed in the handling
behavior. They will tell you how they want you (via recommendation) to
setup the TV's drop/weight//etc

Removing too much weight from the rear and distributing it to the front
might create an over-steer condition at the limits...meaning the TV's tail
will slide out and jack-knife the setup

[myredracer]

No. The only exception is if being above 15% causes the payload rating of the TV to be exceeded. Should never ever be below 10% when you are all loaded up for camping and ready to head off. Tongue weights around 10% are typical if you look at factory dry weights, but any published dry weight is useless info. for determining TV and WDH ratings and limits.

Here is a 2014 thread that discusses the topic of being over 15% TW. Downside to tongue weight over 15%?

[Fixed_Sight_Tra]

We usually dry camp and our FW tank is also in front so we have to suck it up and pull a bunch of water. 40 gal so 320+ lbs about halfway between the trailer axles and ball so 160 lbs on the ball. If you are worried about it you can fill a few 5 gal collapsable water containers and travel with them in the back to help take weight off the tongue.
To answer your original question as long as you aren't over your axle or tire weight on the rear axle I wouldn't worry about it. Going too light on the hitch is dangerous but the more weight on the tongue the more stable it is.

Also two 30# propane bottles don't weigh 60#, the bottles weigh about 25# ea so more like 110lbs. The tare is on the propane bottle itself.

[coolbreeze01]

If you don't need a full tank, just add a little or none.

[Wishin]

My first trailer was 5600 lbs loaded (per CAT Scale) and had 960 lbs of tongue weight (per CAT Scale) which is 17%. I then bought a Sherline scale and worked to keep it under 850 lbs which is closer to 15%. I had 800 lbs bars using a Reese Dual Cam system. I didn't want heavier bars due to the weakness of my light weight frame on the trailer. I used it for over 8000 miles and 5 years, no issues. I was pretty happy with how it towed, even towing it with my wagon which was admittedly overloaded.

My current trailer has 1200-1300 lbs of tongue weight per my Sherline. I've never CAT Scaled it. I'm guessing I'm close to the 7900 lb GVWR of the trailer on most trips. That is over 16% tongue weight. I still use the Dual Cam system but with 1200 lb bars now. No issues other than the poor Dual Cam mounting system which I believe I finally have fixed.

[SoundGuy]

2014screw wrote:
Thoughts/opinions??

I'm surprised your FW tank isn't over the axles as is mine but if that's the case I too would avoid traveling with any more water in the tank than necessary to keep the system operational. 800 lbs gross tongue weight is certainly a lot for this size of trailer ... my own trailer typically averages ~ 4500 lbs loaded and ready to camp yet I'm lucky to even attain 600 lbs gross tongue weight, ~ 13%. I even moved my spare tire from the bumper rack to the front pass through storage compartment to help increase the gross tongue weight and would consider having the weight of dual 6 volts an advantage rather than a disadvantage as seems to be the case with your Rockwood. Not that I question your methods but are you sure your Sherline isn't sticking and giving you an incorrect reading?

[carringb]

More tongue weight will be more stable, provided the tow vehicle can handle it without off-loading the front axle. Most toy haulers are close to 20% as well.

[2014screw]

Dakota98 wrote:
So, fully loaded & water on board, you're at 4600 lbs TT weight.

Your tongue weight should be 10-15% of TT weight. At 10% that = 460 lbs.
At 15% that would be 690 lbs

Are you sure you got an accurate scale weight ?

It is close to what I figured it would be. I guessed around 750 lbs from the following items

"dry TW" from factory is 430 lbs
2 - 6 volts batteries is 130 lbs
2 - 30 lb propane bottles 60 lbs full

plus water and all items in the trailer.

I weighed in on a Sherline scale and it showed 800 lbs so I figure it is accurate.

[Dakota98]

So, fully loaded & water on board, you're at 4600 lbs TT weight.

Your tongue weight should be 10-15% of TT weight. At 10% that = 460 lbs.
At 15% that would be 690 lbs

Are you sure you got an accurate scale weight ?

[2014screw]

dodge guy wrote:
Yes there can be, but it is dependent on the TV (Tow Vehicle). What are you towing with?

And "roughly" can be off by as much as 1000 lbs! Have the trailer weighed just as you would when on a trip and then adjust the tongue weight to around 12%. There are many variables here we don't know about yet.

Sorry, truck is a 2014 F150 FX4
Trailer weighed 4598 lbs on scale

[dodge_guy]

Yes there can be, but it is dependent on the TV (Tow Vehicle). What are you towing with?

And "roughly" can be off by as much as 1000 lbs! Have the trailer weighed just as you would when on a trip and then adjust the tongue weight to around 12%. There are many variables here we don't know about yet.