Is 1/2" nose high towing an issue?

[MicahDD]

We have a smallish TT and today I installed an Equalizer WD hitch. Because the tongue of our TT is quite a bit lower than the receiver I have the longer, lower shank that Equalizer suggested. Problem is that when that shank is installed ground clearance between the shank bottom and the road is about 5"... pretty tight IMO.

So I tried the standard shank that came with the Equalizer. With the hitch head assembly on the lowest setting parking-lot measurements show that the TT tows about 1/2" nose up, measuring from the front of the frame to the road vs. back of the frame to the road...

With the hitch head assembly on the longer, lower shank it tows about 1" nose down. But now I have that low-clearance space.

So what's better? Nose up by 1/2" but with ample clearance between the shank bottom and the road?

Or nose down by 1" but with only 5" clearance between the shank bottom and the road?

Any advice is REALLY appreciated, we're leaving to tour America in 2 days and I'd like to do whatever is going to cause the least hassle on the road, thanks!

[MicahDD]

Well, I guess all's well that ends well. Took the rig out for one more mini-run, only 20 miles or so, after re-shuffling this and that in it and also in the TV.

Returned to the original measurement parking lot for at least semi-accurate readings. Now it's towing *exactly* level according to frame measurements. Tongue weight is 489lbs, 7lbs over the 15% rating. Handles dreamy, even the wife who drove it home (her first time ever towing anything) said "Oh yeah, this will be no problem at all".

So off we go tomorrow, across America with a TT we've never even slept in and nothing holding us back but... but... well.... nothing at all!

Thanks again to all of you who chimed in and helped, this kind of stuff is what makes these forums so great. See you when we get back I guess! Or maybe I'll post a few "on the road" pics 🙂

[MicahDD]

CarnationSailor wrote:
10% to 15% tongue weight is a general guideline, NOT a minimum or maximum amount. The only true limitation on tongue weight is how much weight your hitch is rated to handle. As long as you are under the max for the hitch, receiver, and axles, I would not worry about it.

Also, regarding the 10-15% guideline, some trailer designs are such that it is impossible to get within that range. For example, my tongue weight is about 8% of trailer weight. There is nothing (within reason) I can do about it, and it tows just fine.

On these forums, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between "things to consider" versus hard and fast "rules".

CarnationSailor, that's a great answer thanks. Given my trailers situation I don't think there's any way it can be within the 10 to 15% range. It's at 15.3% tongue weight right now with everything at or behind the axle and a total of 13 gallons of water in the hot/cold tanks (hot tank full, cold tank 1/4 full). With even a minimal amount of gear in front of the axle and a half full cold water tank it will probably have a tongue weight of 20% or more.

The hitch I have (equalizer 10k) should easily be able to handle 510lbs of tongue weight, so I think I'll just load it all up and see how it tows. Really there's nothing else I can do anyways, we're going on this trip and a bit of confusion about tongue weight isn't going to stop us at this point.

[CarnationSailor]

10% to 15% tongue weight is a general guideline, NOT a minimum or maximum amount. The only true limitation on tongue weight is how much weight your hitch is rated to handle. As long as you are under the max for the hitch, receiver, and axles, I would not worry about it.

Also, regarding the 10-15% guideline, some trailer designs are such that it is impossible to get within that range. For example, my tongue weight is about 8% of trailer weight. There is nothing (within reason) I can do about it, and it tows just fine.

On these forums, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between "things to consider" versus hard and fast "rules".

[MicahDD]

Well, now I'm truly at my wits end.

I used the bathroom scale method to get a tongue weight for my TT. It's fully loaded and weighed at 3,220lbs. I checked the bathroom scale and it's within a lb of accurate.

So my max tongue weight (15% of loaded weight) is 483lbs.

My first reading brought in 510lbs. Crud.

So I moved EVERYTHING in the TT to at or behind the axle and weighed again. Now it's 492lbs tongue weight.

What the HECK. The trailer has 1/4 tank of water (7 gallons or so) in it, the water tank is at the very front of the TT. *Everything* else that weighs an ounce is at or behind the axle. And I'm still over tongue weight?

Is my trailer designed wrong? Why would a trailer be designed so that if you put ANY water in the tank it's over tongue-weight?

I'm pretty hoppin' mad right now. I don't know what to do about this. Travel with no water at all? Leave the propane and batter at home? Why is this happening?

[CarnationSailor]

The OP's TT was within 1/4" of being perfectly level. Not many RV'ers have a rig that is within a tolerance of +/- 1/4" of level. The OP should receive a pat on the back for almost achieving perfection.

[Passin_Thru]

I am a little nose low due to the height of my trailer ball. Go to a scale and weigh all the axles and then you'll know if it's ok. They should all be close.

[MicahDD]

MackinawMan wrote:

Huntindog wrote:
It "CAN" be a problem. especially with a single axle TT.

Think of the TT as a teeter totter....

The problem with your teeter totter analogy is that his TT is not "tongue high" because of being overweight in the rear end. If that were the case the motion you describe is definitely a possibility. Being a bit nose high due to hitch setup is much different as long as the TW is sufficient as you state....but that was never his question. I will say that it is good you brought that up....because I just assumed it was OK from the start and I shouldn't have.

That's what I thought too.... I'm riding 1/2" nose high not because the trailer is too heavy in the back, but because the ball is just a tad high on the shank.

Tongue weight should be about 10% of trailer weight, right? So in my case that's 320lbs since loaded to travel our TT is 3,200lbs, perhaps a bit less.

So... I feel that if my tongue weight is correct (320lbs +/- a few lbs, preferably +) then being just a tad high in the nose isn't really a big deal.

Also, we're travelling to only developed campgrounds, so we elected to run with the water tank at 25% capacity instead of full. It's at the very front of the trailer, so I guess if I need to add tongue weight I can always put some water in the tank and mark where it gets the tongue weight right and just run with it full to that line at all times?

[MackinawMan]

Huntindog wrote:
It "CAN" be a problem. especially with a single axle TT.

Think of the TT as a teeter totter. You never want the tongue end coming up. That is why 10-15% TW is a guideline, and level to a inch tongue down is as well.

If you have sufficient TW, it may never cause trouble, or the right combination of highway expansion joints, wheelbase and TW may set the teeter totter in motion.

The problem with your teeter totter analogy is that his TT is not "tongue high" because of being overweight in the rear end. If that were the case the motion you describe is definitely a possibility. Being a bit nose high due to hitch setup is much different as long as the TW is sufficient as you state....but that was never his question. I will say that it is good you brought that up....because I just assumed it was OK from the start and I shouldn't have.

[Huntindog]

It "CAN" be a problem. especially with a single axle TT.

Think of the TT as a teeter totter. You never want the tongue end coming up. That is why 10-15% TW is a guideline, and level to a inch tongue down is as well.

If you have sufficient TW, it may never cause trouble, or the right combination of highway expansion joints, wheelbase and TW may set the teeter totter in motion.

I tow all over, never knowing what the next road condition may be. So I want my setup perfect.

Making excuses for a less than perfect setup by saying that it has never caused a problem...Just means that one hasn't encountered the situation that will bring the problem to light,,,,,, yet.

Shanks come in many sizes, drops, rises, and in betweens.
Your 125.00 shank is not worthless. It can be sold, or traded in.

I actually did a even swap at a Uhaul once. He needed what I had, and I needed what he had. I had never set foot in the place before, and didn't expect to do a straight swap at all...It never hurts to talk to them.

So I would get the right one for it. I will suggest getting the shortest one length wise as well. Less overhang will help with ground clearance.

[GMT830]

I cut the bottom of my shank off to fix this problem. One downside of the 1/2 ton GM SUVs is the low receiver height.

[MicahDD]

Lynnmor wrote:
My thought was that you might drag the hitch on the road where there was humps to go over. I can't see the clearance due to the shadow in the photo. If you were local, I could cut it off in minutes. Any machine shop could do if for you for a nominal charge.

With either shank the hitch head is basically at the bottom of the shank, so there's not really any cutting off to be done.... unfortunately this particular TT is so low that it drags like a champ at the rear on even the slightest driveway incline already. So far the hitch hasn't dragged though, but regardless we're going to have to street-park most of the time anyways.

MackinawMan wrote:
Micah, just an FYI, we also tow with the Equalizer brand hitch. Our setup in the end is not quite 1/2 an inch "nose high" as well. Between our 1 ton F350 sitting up so high, and the fact that our Jayco Eagle has the coupler on the underside of the A-Frame, I would need to order the special drop shank that is longer than the standard one as our hitch head is currently bolted as low as it can go on the standard shank that came with the hitch.

I'm not spending $100 (or whatever it was, it wasn't cheap) so I can drop the nose of the TT down barely 1/2 inch when it tows great.

I noticed no difference between it being slightly noseup than when it sat level before. We had put new rims on the truck which resulted in me needing to change the hitch setup. It tows just as nice slightly nose up as it did when it was level.

FWIW

Thanks Mackinawman. I, unfortunately, already bought the $125 custom drop shank, which is now sitting in my garage and will remain there. Technically yes, it's the right shank as far as getting the trailer as close to level as possible with our rig... but doing so gives so little clearance between the shank bottom and the road I don't even want to give it a test run, it would literally scrape on a speed bump. No bueno.

Worse yet, we leave on Monday for our trip and there's simply no time to do a return, so we'll just have to eat that cost. Oh well, live and learn.

[MackinawMan]

Micah, just an FYI, we also tow with the Equalizer brand hitch. Our setup in the end is not quite 1/2 an inch "nose high" as well. Between our 1 ton F350 sitting up so high, and the fact that our Jayco Eagle has the coupler on the underside of the A-Frame, I would need to order the special drop shank that is longer than the standard one as our hitch head is currently bolted as low as it can go on the standard shank that came with the hitch.

I'm not spending $100 (or whatever it was, it wasn't cheap) so I can drop the nose of the TT down barely 1/2 inch when it tows great.

I noticed no difference between it being slightly noseup than when it sat level before. We had put new rims on the truck which resulted in me needing to change the hitch setup. It tows just as nice slightly nose up as it did when it was level.

FWIW

[Lynnmor]

My thought was that you might drag the hitch on the road where there was humps to go over. I can't see the clearance due to the shadow in the photo. If you were local, I could cut it off in minutes. Any machine shop could do if for you for a nominal charge.

[MicahDD]

Lynnmor wrote:
If you can post a photo it would help. Maybe there is excess material on the shank that can be cut off.

First. thank you all SO much! I feel much better. I sorta thought 1/2" nose up wasn't an issue, but I'm a noobie so wanted to get some kind of verification or denial.

Lynmor, I thought the same thing, but the shank is SUPER heavy duty, made of solid metal, I don't have anything that would do more than scratch it. Plus, to get the trailer slightly nose down (there's no setting that achieves level unfortunately) puts the hitch head at the bottom of the shank.

Here's a pic of it as-is, with nose slightly up. Parking lot isn't level in this pic, so it probably doesn't help much but here it is anyways.