Tongue Weight Question

[Jay Dreamer]

I'd like to know what weight percentage propane tanks and battery weight on the A frame have on the actual tongue weight?

So say if I have say 2-30's of LP or about 100 lbs what would be the distributed weight amount to the tongue on properly weight distributed level TT?

Thanks

[bedrck46]

Not the answer your looking for but consider this.
you start out with full tanks that have a certain weight but on your return trip you now have one tank that is empty and one that is 1/4 full how much did that change your tongue weight?


however I would say if you put 100 lbs on the tongue you will still have 100 lbs more weight than what you started with. however the further aft you place that weight will affect the total but by moving it back 2 feet will have little effect on the total.

[RedHorse1]

I would guess 60-70% of the weight winds up on the tongue.

[r8ingbull]

Measure the distance from tongue to axle (a) and from tank to tongue(B).

(a-b)/a * (weight) = Additional tongue weight.

very basic formula, lots of variables but it will get you somewhat close

[DocBrown]

Aside from an academic exercise I'm not sure I understand the need to know the answer to this. The non-weight distributed tongue weight is the number you need to be concerned with. It should be 10%-15% of the trailer weight. Too little can introduce trailer sway. The WDH's primary function is to put weight back onto the front wheels of the tow vehicle, which restores full steering ability. The secondary function is to level the entire rig.

[Jay Dreamer]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

Aside from an academic exercise I'm not sure I understand the need to know the answer to this. The non-weight distributed tongue weight is the number you need to be concerned with. It should be 10%-15% of the trailer weight. Too little can introduce trailer sway. The WDH's primary function is to put weight back onto the front wheels of the tow vehicle, which restores full steering ability. The secondary function is to level the entire rig.

Hi,

I'm really close to payload capacity. Looking to add battery count and was interested how additional battery weight would relate to actual tongue weight increase, and how much of the weight would be in the TT.

Have a lot of available TT tow capacity but not much on the TV payload side.

[bedrck46]

Originally Posted by Jay Dreamer

Hi,

Have a lot of available TT tow capacity but not much on the TV payload side.

I would suggest a visit to the CAT scales That way you will know your actual weights rather then getting a lot of guesses

[DocBrown]

Originally Posted by Jay Dreamer

Hi,

I'm really close to payload capacity. Looking to add battery count and was interested how additional battery weight would relate to actual tongue weight increase, and how much of the weight would be in the TT.

Have a lot of available TT tow capacity but not much on the TV payload side.

Ahh! this makes sense now. So I go back to what I said above, the tongue weight is the tongue weight before the WDH is setup. That's the number you need to know. All the WDH does is spreads the effect of the weight out farther to the ends of the truck and trailer. It does not change the weight of the tongue itself.

[Ottawasteve]

The Sherline scale is an excellent tool for determining exact tongue weight. Packing heavy stuff in the front pass-through (or extra batteries on the tongue) can really affect the tongue weight on these trailers. You might be able to move heavier stuff under rear bunk and still maintain the same tongue weight (assuming you are currently at 13-15 %.) The Sherline allows you to rearrange stuff without multiple trips to the scales. You can find them cheaper online, but here is the amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/Sherline-LM-2...words=Sherline

[DocBrown]

And if the Sherline is more than you want to spend, there's a poor-man's method to getting the tongue weight.

Measuring trailer tongue weight with a bathroom scale

[Subaru297]

Is the wheelbase spec on the Jayco site the distance from the hitch to the axle?
2017 Jay Flight 26BH | Jayco, Inc.

If so your axle is 19' behind your hitch. I'll guess that your batteries sit 3 feet behind your hitch giving 16' from battery to axle and 84% of anything you put there will be added towards your tongue weight.

So if you add a 60lbs battery then you are increasing your tongue weight by 50lbs.

[tjclarke696]

Not looking to high jack but a question about tongue weight also. Looking to purchase a White Hawk 29reks. Specs show a tongue weight of 755lbs. With the upgrades I'm looking at (fiberglass front cap, ledgestone fire place) I'm wondering if there's anyway to figure the actual tongue weight before purchasing.


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[need-a-vacation]

Jay,

As mentioned, measure from the tongue to battery tray, then tray to center of the axles to figure that exact percentage. Subaru is probably pretty darn close using the brochure measurement. As a guesstimate, I would say 90% of the battery weight adds to the tw.

TJ,

Try emailing Jayco to see if they how much those items add to the tw.

[Subaru297]

Originally Posted by tjclarke696

Not looking to high jack but a question about tongue weight also. Looking to purchase a White Hawk 29reks. Specs show a tongue weight of 755lbs. With the upgrades I'm looking at (fiberglass front cap, ledgestone fire place) I'm wondering if there's anyway to figure the actual tongue weight before purchasing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

With a few upgrades, propane and batteries I would guess the delivered weight of that trailer to be around 7300-7400lbs. That only leaves 1100lbs for cargo. I would bet that after you are all loaded up and ready to camp that the trailer would be pretty close to its GVWR of 8500lbs.

8500 lbs x 13% = 1100lbs for tongue weight.

If you pack lighter and the trailer is only 8000 lbs then the tongue weight would be 1040lbs.

Cheers