Where should I put the weight, trailer or vehicle?

[chantunia]

Hello!

DO you recommend putting the weight on the travel trailer or on the towing vehicle?
I have a spare marine battery, which is very heavy, like a 31 class. This battery is small, so I have plenty of space on my vehicle. But from a loading optimization perspective, does it make more sense to put this battery on the travel trailer?
Thanks!

[Rustysocket]

Are you talking about carrying an unsecured battery with you for one trip... or are you asking where you should mount your spare battery?

[dewey02]

If you are not anywhere close to your GVRW on either your tow vehicle or your trailer, and you aren't near your max tongue weight, then I don't think it makes much difference where you put that battery.

What percentage is your tongue weight to your total trailer weight?
If you need more tongue weight, put it near the front of the trailer. If you need less, put it toward the rear. If you are happy with your tongue weight, put it in the middle of the trailer over the axles. Personally, I'd just put it in the back of the pickup truck over the rear axle.

[chantunia]

This would be for an unsecured battery. We'll be boondocking with no generator, no solar panels, so this spare battery should hopefully help us for a few extra days.
This is my situation: not even close to GVRW in both. Happy with tongue weight. I am only at 60% of towing capacity. So I have pretty much the luxury to decide what to do. But let's say that I have additional weight, like 400 lb. Would not make more sense to load the trailer? I am saying this because my towing capacity is plenty. Why should I put the suspension, axles, coils of my TT under unnecessary stress?
A TT does a better job pulling weight (towing) or carrying weight (loading the trunk)??? What about fuel economy??
At this point and in lieu of any other better theory, I have to agree with dewey02, and that is what I will most likely do and go over the rear axle. Thank you for your advice!

[Nukeneck]

Are you currently running a single battery on your trailer or two in parallel and want to transport a third? If you're not running two in parallel (Assuming 12 volt), try wiring them in parallel, they will last longer than one by itself. If not, and weight isn't an issue than I would think as long as you store the battery in a secure place to transport, either vehicle would be fine

[Rustysocket]

In that case, I would put it wherever it is least likely to become a projectile in the event of an accident.

If it's something your going to do often I'd mount it on the trailer next to the rest of the batteries and wire it in parallel as others have suggested.

In regards the the rest of it.... I think your overthinking it. Your trailer or car's suspension don't care either way. Does it really matter in the big picture if you pick the optimum, mathematically correct super secret best spot to place the battery for a single trip?

[ctbailey]

Originally Posted by chantunia

This would be for an unsecured battery. We'll be boondocking with no generator, no solar panels, so this spare battery should hopefully help us for a few extra days.
This is my situation: not even close to GVRW in both. Happy with tongue weight. I am only at 60% of towing capacity. So I have pretty much the luxury to decide what to do. But let's say that I have additional weight, like 400 lb. Would not make more sense to load the trailer? I am saying this because my towing capacity is plenty. Why should I put the suspension, axles, coils of my TT under unnecessary stress?
A TT does a better job pulling weight (towing) or carrying weight (loading the trunk)??? What about fuel economy??
At this point and in lieu of any other better theory, I have to agree with dewey02, and that is what I will most likely do and go over the rear axle. Thank you for your advice!

You say additional weight like 400 lbs.

I'm guessing you are near the CCC of the trailer with just your "stuff" and water and lp. An additional 400 lbs would likely put you over the gross of the trailer.

But one battery doesn't weigh 400, do there's more to the back story here...


Craig Bailey
New Hampshire
Jayflight 32 BHDS
Chevy 2500HD CC

[RPreeb]

Not knowing the vehicle or the trailer, it's hard to give specific advice. 400 pounds is a lot of weight, and if loaded wrong in the trailer would create some difficult sway issues. However, many tow vehicles would also struggle with that much additional weight on the rear axle. A better solution would be to divide it up between the two, but still making sure that you don't take any weight off the tongue in the process. The rig still needs that 12% to 15% tongue weight for stability.