Tongue weight in Europe is around 7%

[rvtrailerpuller]

I know I am going to get some super experienced folks in the U.S. criticizing tongue/hitch weights being less than 10%, but let's discuss this.
It seems the approach in the U.K. and Europe is to attempt to design and load a trailer such that the majority of the weight is just forward of the axle. Far less concern on the Eastern side of the Atlantic is given to a tongue weight over 7%. In the U.K. a tongue weight of 4% is the legal minimum and the goal is to be in the range of 5% to 7% of loaded trailer weight. Trailer speed limits over there are 60mph maximum and there is less emphasis on weight distribution hitches. The main concern is to not load up a trailer with a concentration of weight in the far front and the far back just to accomplish some goal of a specific target tongue weight. They are more concerned with "yaw inertia" that a trailer with both a heavy front and rear would have and relatively low weight in the center over the axle. The goal, again, is to concentrate the load just as close to the axle as possible and just forward of it such that the tongue weight ends up in the 5% to 7% range.
I tow a really big trailer with a really big diesel truck with a Hensley hitch.
Perhaps this European and English style of trailer weight balancing design accounts for the mysteriously fantastically stable trailer and the mysteriously horrible towing trailer surprises that occur in the experience of some of us who have towed a large variety of trailers here in the U.S. It may be more than just a huge tongue weight that keeps a trailer stable and free from sway.
The conceptual difference is that of holding heavy and equal objects in each hand at arms length and swing your body around, and then try to stop it. Then do the same holding the weights to the chest. You can easily stop yourself from the inertia of the spin when the weights are not concentrated toward the ends of your trailer, but rather toward the center near your chest (trailer axle).

[pronstar]

Trailers are vastly different (generally smaller/lighter)...and tow vehicles are vastly different (generally smaller/lighter).

They just don't have 8000-lb dually trucks in many other countries.
So, like the US way back when I was growing up, they make do with the vehicles they do have.

US trailers grew in lock-step with tow vehicle capacities.

[rvtrailerpuller]

So, for myself and my wife,
Our future trailer, whatever it winds up being, will weigh less than a Subaru Outback, but we will tow it with our great big diesel truck. Our ideal trailer is out there, I just don't know what it is. It should be light, it needs to be able to fit into our garage with 80 inches of clearance, and it needs to be a fantastically well balanced trailer that could indeed be towed with our Subaru if we were in the mood.
It needs to not be some kind of fabric pop-up that we will never go back to after having to set them up and take them down in the rain so very many times.
Right now I'm thinking a Chalet XL1930 or Chalet Alpine.

[rvtrailerpuller]

TomG2 wrote:
Lots of factors involved, some have been mentioned. Consider the average weight of the European trailer compared to the weight of the tow vehicle, for another. I doubt that there are many cases where the trailer outweighs the tow vehicle. Americans are told that their 6,000 pound pickup can tow 10,000 pound trailers without a problem. Also, what is the wheelbase of the European tow vehicles compared to trailer length. We tow thirty foot trailers with twenty foot tow vehicles. My point is, when the tow vehicle is larger and heavier than the trailer, good things happen.

Very good point. My truck probably has a curb weight of around 6,500 lbs (not sure of precise figure), my Jayco trailer has a dry unloaded weight of 7,395 lbs and a GVWR of 9,000 lbs. I tow this using a Hensley hitch, which I really like, and I feel safe. The trailer is much heavier and much longer than my truck and I feel safe because of the Hensley. I must say my trailer tows much better with a full load of water in its tank, which sits just forward of the front axle, concentrating the center of mass into an area just forward of the axle.
This trailer is a beast, and now that my kids have gone to college it is just my wife and myself now. We don't need such an enormous trailer. We would be happy in a large size A-frame trailer, towed mostly with our truck but on rare occasion with our Subaru Outback. The GVRW of the trailer we would downsize to would be LESS than the curb weight of our Outback!

[BenK]

There are much more to it than what the eyeball can see...even a trained eyeball....

So much is taken out of context...as stated...are their trailers like ours over here?

Are their TV's like our over here and note that even though they look the same,
sometimes, many times they are not.

I've always wondered how a North American setup would tow over there? If their
LEO's would ticket it. As a wrong class tire can have the setup/vehicle booted
spot on and not allowed to move. They even fine to jail to revoke business license
for offending shops that installed the wrong components

Does their trailers have 'ST' class tires? I don't know and would love to find out

Same mentality would be to see a guy swallow a sword and think everyone can... 🙂

[ScottG]

Keep in mind that many of those trailers don't tow all that well - sway is a constant problem and probably the reason for the low speed limit.

[TomG2]

Lots of factors involved, some have been mentioned. Consider the average weight of the European trailer compared to the weight of the tow vehicle, for another. I doubt that there are many cases where the trailer outweighs the tow vehicle. Americans are told that their 6,000 pound pickup can tow 10,000 pound trailers without a problem. Also, what is the wheelbase of the European tow vehicles compared to trailer length. We tow thirty foot trailers with twenty foot tow vehicles. My point is, when the tow vehicle is larger and heavier than the trailer, good things happen.

[carringb]

Their trailer are designed with a lower polar moment of inertia. In other words, heavy items are al placed over the axles and not at the ends. Like a boat trailer, where the engine sits almost over the axle, it will be inherently more stable even with less tongue weight. And yes center of gravity matters too, as does total lateral stiffness of the tire/wheel/hub/axle assembly. Automakers know this. European trailer makers know this. US trailer makes don't care because pennies matter most. Every dollar spend on better dynamics would be a dollar less to spend on corian countertops. The wow factor matters most in the RV world since few trailer buyers would even consider a "test" drive of a trailer.

[fla-gypsy]

Smaller trailers with a lower COG would make lower TW possible but doesn't mean it is a better solution, just a different one.