What Is My Tongue Weight Given These Weight Slips

[freetheheal]

I recently weighed my trailer and pickup before I moved for the summer and while the trailer was heavily loaded. I have 2 weight slips, one is just the pickup and the other is with the pickup hooked to the trailer. From what I see the tongue weight of the trailer is 760 pounds. I'm wanting to double check this with others and make sure I'm doing it right. Here is how I found the tongue weight.





Trailer and Pickup = 20,340 lb

Pickup = 11,140 lb

20,340
-11,140
--------
9,200 lb (trailer weight)

The trailer axles weighed 8,440 lb

9,200
-8,440
--------
760 lb (tongue weight)

Am I doing this correctly? Thank you for the help.

[msgtord]

myredracer wrote:
Can you post the brand and model of TT? Doesn't seem right. Tongue weights are typically around 10 percent based on factory dry wt. numbers and usually go up when it's fully loaded to average 12-13 percent, and for us almost 15 percent. It's hard to believe it's only 8.3 after fully loaded up unless "heavily loaded" is an awful lot of heavy tools or something in the rear of the trailer.

It's a toy hauler with the garage fully loaded.

[tlukasavige172]

ssthrd wrote:

lbrjet wrote:
The 220 lbs was shifted from the front axle to the rear axle and is not tongue weight.

The light just went on, but still a bit dim. So a weight distribution hitch properly set up will transfer the 220 pounds back to the front axle...... right?

OP--sorry to hijack your post. I'll just watch and learn here.

Not a problem, I got my question answered.

[myredracer]

Can you post the brand and model of TT? Doesn't seem right. Tongue weights are typically around 10 percent based on factory dry wt. numbers and usually go up when it's fully loaded to average 12-13 percent, and for us almost 15 percent. It's hard to believe it's only 8.3 after fully loaded up unless "heavily loaded" is an awful lot of heavy tools or something in the rear of the trailer.

[ssthrd]

lbrjet wrote:
The 220 lbs was shifted from the front axle to the rear axle and is not tongue weight.

The light just went on, but still a bit dim. So a weight distribution hitch properly set up will transfer the 220 pounds back to the front axle...... right?

OP--sorry to hijack your post. I'll just watch and learn here.

[lbrjet]

The 220 lbs was shifted from the front axle to the rear axle and is not tongue weight.

[Boon_Docker]

.

[ssthrd]

Sorry, guys. Something doesn't add up for my uneducated brain. If when the truck is unloaded, the rear axle weighs in at 5520 pounds, and after the trailer is attached, the rear axle now weighs 6500, the difference is 980 pounds.

If the calculator tells us that the tongue weight is 760 pounds, what is holding up the remaining 220 pounds?

Please don't flame me--this really makes no sense to me. How can 220 pounds just disappear?

[freetheheal]

Yes it's a Mega Cab long bed dually with a flat bed on it. 9,500 lbs empty.

[Twain]

Your truck is 11,100 lbs? Wow, my 2WD crew cab dually is 7,500 empty. Is that a 4x4 450?

[mjbenedict]

freetheheal wrote:
Thanks mjbenedict, that's a great site.

I entered your weights using the same values for with WDH and without. It shows all of your calculations are correct. You might want more weight in the front of the trailer before adding the MC to the back.

[rbpru]

You can go through all kind of gyrations but as you discovered, before you hitched up the TT, the weight on you truck axels is 760 lbs. lighter than after.

How the weight was redistributed by the hitch, ball height and, spring bars is a function of their set up. In theory you can reduce the spring tension and increase the tongue weight.

I found I had spent a lot of time chasing my tail over these things, only to find a 160 lb. shift because I added or use up 20 gallons of gas. Or, this trip the fresh water tank was full instead of 1/2 full.

[hohenwald48]

tlukasavige172 wrote:
I don't have a WDH on the trailer.

Sorry, I didn't notice that. In that case your calculations are correct.

I was wondering why you lost so much weight on the TV front axle. No WDH explains that.

[tlukasavige172]

I don't have a WDH on the trailer.

[hohenwald48]

I think you might need one more pass thru the scales to get an accurate tongue weight.

Your first ticket (4442) shows a weight for the trailer axle. However, if the WDH was connected, some of that weight is tongue weight that was transferred to the trailer axle via the WDH bars.

I think you need a pass with the WDH disconnected and the bars in the bed of the truck to get true TW.