I'm working on getting my Equalizer hitch setup with my new tow vehicle and am having a little trouble. I think my main problem is that my tongue weight is way too heavy.
Last weekend, I weighed the setup on the way home because I was having a lot of sway (it was WINDY that weekend). It turned out my front axle was still a 220 lb lighter with the camper attached and WD connected than it was with no camper. So I figured my hitch needed to be adjusted to add some more weight back to the front. Also, the tongue weight was 1,200 lb! Now my trailer was only 4,350 lb in total so 1,200 for the tongue weight just seemed ridiculous. I did have all our bags loaded up near the front of the trailer though so I figured I could move those towards the middle next time.
This weekend we went back out for another short trip and so I weighed it again to see how the slight hitch adjustment and the different loading pattern would work. The scale experience wasn't quite as good as the last one and I wasn't able to get the truck alone weight, but I pretty much had the exact same things in the truck as last weekend so I'm using the truck weight from the previous scale trip. This time I weighed on the way to the campground so my water tank was full, and I probably had a little more in the camper (in terms of food / drink). I did have all the bags packed in the middle of it though. My tongue weight was still 1200 lbs though.
On the way home I loaded all the bags all the way in the back of the camper, but I just don't see how I"m going to change things that much with the bag loading to make up for all that weight. I really don't have that much in the storage area in the front of the camper so it makes me wonder what the heck am I doing wrong and how in the world do I fix this?
PDF with all scale info is attached if anyone is curious to look.
I think if I can figure out how to get my tongue weight down my sway will calm down and my camper will tow a lot better. Plus I really need to get it down some how as I'm over the rating currently.
2012 Durango (V8) with tow package
2012 Jayco Ultralite X18D Hybrid (dry hitch weight is suppose to be 440 lb)
Equalizer 10,000lb / 1,000 lb hitch
I agree that your tongue weight seems excessive in comparison to your trailer weight. I am not familiar with the floor plan of your trailer but from the picture it appears most of it is forward of the axles. I don't know what you are packing but at this point I would make a simple tongue scale using a bathroom scale and start moving things around to find out were the excessive weight is originating.
Also if the front of your trailer is significantly lower than the rear this could transfer some weight forward. Moving your hitch head up a notch might help some too.
Yea, I really wish I had a way to check the tongue weight in my drive way so I could keep moving things around until I figured out what was going on. Then I could even empty the trailer and see if I'm at the supposed 440 tongue weight that is advertised. I don't think a bathroom scale would work up to 1200 lb though. Even if I used 2 I think I would probably risk breaking them. I would love to have a tongue scale to use, but it looks like they run around $150 so I'd like to avoid that if possible.
My trailer is actually nose up slightly. It's not a ton, but I couldn't go any lower on my hitch. I figured if anything I may need a longer hitch bar for the ball so that I could get the nose down a little bit, but that would hurt my tongue weight. I'm not sure i would want to take it up though. If that is what is needed, I guess I could at least give it a shot though.
Your loaded HTT weight I get 4,340lbs (10,360lbs - 6,020lbs)
The published "dry" tongue weight, ignore it. What you want is your "LOADED" tongue weight to be in the 10% to 15% range of your "LOADED" HTT weight (13% to 15% more desirable).
So, at 4,340lbs you want a tongue weight of 434lbs to 651lbs (10% to 15%). So basically you are 169lbs above the recommended maximum (820lbs - 651lbs = 169lbs). IMO if you relocate 100lbs to 150lbs you should be fine. I would however adjust your WDH so the HTT tows level or a little nose "down" (best for TV handling)......., having it a little nose "up" can be amplified (not good) under less then ideal road conditions (bouncing, etc.).
I agree that you need to adjust your WDH to transfer a little more weight to your TV's front suspension, another 220lbs (3,080lbs - 2,860lbs).
Also, keep in mind the location of your fresh water tank has a direct impact on any trailer's tongue weight when filled. If you tank is located to the front of your axles, you may find when filled you can't have as much cargo stowed front of the HTT axles.
Your 2012 X18D published CCC is 1,150lbs, but the 'actual' as-shipped CCC will be less and will be noted on the weight sticker on your X18D.
As is mentioned make a proper rig so you can weigh the TW with your bathroom scale.
Fill your Fresh water tank and see where you are at with the stuff already in the trailer.
That's how I did it and was right around 13.4%. of my TT weight.
After that go over the scale a couple of times and adjust your WDH.
Write down all weights and WDH adjustments, then at least you know if you'll have the same occurrence how to adjust.
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2005 Jayco Jay Feather LGT - 29Y GVWR-7000 lbs.
Dexter Axle Lift 4-9/16" - installed with sub-frame.
Pro Series 1200 lbs. WDH with Double Sway Bar.
Champion 3100/2800 watt Inverter/Generator-Onboard Solar Power
Thanks. I was calculating that wrong. I was just looking at the rear axle weights and ignoring the fact that the front axle weight of the TV shifts and adds to the rear axle when connecting the camper. 820 lb seems much more manageable.
Not sure if you saw the 2nd page of the PDF also, but that is the weights from this weekend with the hitch adjusted and a full water tank. Using the correct calculation for tongue weight, I'm still at 1000 lb for tongue weight.
Loaded Tongue Weight: (2,880 lb + 4,140 lb) - 6,020 lb = 1,000 lb
My fresh tank is located front of the trailer axle.
I'll have to look into getting a new riser bar or whatever they call it for my hitch so that I can drop it down a little.
Can you guys explain a little bit about how you setup the bathroom scales to weight the tongue weight? Did you have to find special bathroom scale that went up higher? Or did you use multiple? How many?
I would love to be able to get this thing on a scale in my driveway and be able to take my time moving things around without hearing dollar signs ever time I want to check the weight.
I could see setting up 2 bathroom scales with a bridge between them, but from I can see they generally go up to 400lb and 800lb wouldn't be enough to weigh my TT... at least currently. I'm wondering if I'm missing some sort of trick.
I tow a 35.5 foot TT with a WD and I use 2 Friction Sway Controls Bars to help control the sway. My setup works fine, however, in moderate to strong cross winds you will get some sway.
First off, I think something is amiss in your calculations. The total weight of TT + TV should be the same whether the WDH is connected or not. It is the distribution of weight between the axles that changes when you apply the WD.
Oddly, my TT is nearly 2k lbs heavier than yours yet the tongue weight is much less. In your 3rd photo the spring bars appear to be bending. Are they or is that just an illusion?
Once you have an accurate tongue weight, if there is still a problem I'd try adding 1 more washer to the hitch head. If that doesn't help I'd raise the spring bar support arms 1 hole and take out 3 or 4 washers and try again.
Redistributing weight within the TT may be the key. Good luck!
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2015 Ram Laramie Crew Cab 4x4 turbo diesel
2015 White Hawk 27DSRL
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When I made my scale I sustituted 2X2's for the pieces of pipe and it worked just fine. Using 2X2's stabilized the cross piece allowing me to stand on the set up, weigh myself and verify the accuracy.
Nathan48035, ...snip...
I would however adjust your WDH so the HTT tows level or a little nose "down" (best for TV handling)......., having it a little nose "up" can be amplified (not good) under less then ideal road conditions (bouncing, etc.).
I agree that you need to adjust your WDH to transfer a little more weight to your TV's front suspension, another 220lbs (3,080lbs - 2,860lbs).
...snip
Bob
In addition to what Bob said, above, recheck your tire inflation on both your TT and TV. They should be inflated to be at or near the maximum listed on the side of the tire. This reduces flex in the sidewalls and helps to reduce sway.
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I guess I'll go ahead and cancel the Amazon order for 4 bathroom scales. The way you guys were making it sound like it wasn't a big deal to do I figured there must be some trick that I was missing.
Russ661, as Rustic Eagle already pointed out my tongue weight calculation was wrong so I'm definitely not money down on any of the other measurements at this point. With that said, I'm not sure I'm following the problem with my total weight. The totals that I have listed for the first trip to the scales (10,380 & 10,360) are only 20 lbs off. I'm assuming that is just due to inaccuracies in the scale though as those are directly from weight print out and not calculations. The second trip to the scale had a difference of 200 lb between the 2 times across the scale, but I also figured that may be realistic in terms of scale accuracy. The scale for the second trip was also not capable of weighing my truck alone (said it wasn't registering on the scale) so it doesn't surprise me that the difference was wider on that scale.
I kind of thought the bar looked like it was bending in the picture too, but I'm guessing that was just an illusion. It also kind of looks like the riser bar is bending a lot more than I think it was. I should have also mentioned the close ups of the hitch were from today after unpacked everything. The one showing the full camper and Durango were from just before we pulled off on Friday with everything loaded down.
Is it possible that by having my ball too high I am actually taking weight off of the axle and adding to the tongue weight? That seems completely counter intuitive, but if you think of it in an exaggerated sense I could totally see it happening. Maybe that wouldn't be the case with a single axle trailer, but I wonder if with a short dual axle that could be possible. I'm visioning lifting the weight being lifted off of the front trailer axle and redistributed on the back trailer axle and TV rear axle. Am I shooting at ghosts here or do you think that could be possible?
I will most definitely be making a scale rig to weight the tongue weight and then I'll actually be able to test that theory by weighing with the camper at different angles.
Last weekend I actually topped off all of my trailer tires prior to heading out as they were all a little low. I guess I should double check that they didn't lose air since then though. Also, I'll have to double check the Durango's tires.
snip...... The totals that I have listed for the first trip to the scales (10,380 & 10,360) are only 20 lbs off. I'm assuming that is just due to inaccuracies in the scale though as those are directly from weight print out and not calculations. The second trip to the scale had a difference of 200 lb between the 2 times across the scale, but I also figured that may be realistic in terms of scale accuracy........snip
If you were using a CAT scale, they are suppose to have a certified 40lb plus/minus tolerance maximum.
Referencing your 2nd trip to the scales, the reason for the 200lb delta in your TV/HTT combined gross weights may be in your TV's rear axle weights. Your document states:
Truck & Camper: Rear Axle Weight 4,140lbs
Truck & Camper with WD: Rear Axle Weight 4,200lbs
Please note; with the WDH engaged your rear axle weight should be less, not greater, then the WDH not-engaged weight. Something isn't right with these weights.
I would check your CAT weight certs again to confirm the numbers match your document...., if they do match then I'm as well.
Yea, I see what you guys are saying now, and I agree that 2nd trip doesn't make sense. I double checked the weight tickets and I typed them in correctly on my spreadsheet and it was a CAT scale. I won't go back to that station...
That is good news in terms of my tongue weight as the first trip tongue weight seems reasonable to fix being that I had the camper front loaded with packing and it was only ~170lb away from 15%.
I think my plan will be to adjust the tongue weight in my driveway using the bathroom scale as recommended and then take it back to the CAT scale on my next camping trip. I'll also get a new shank ordered for my hitch to get it level or nose down. Anyone know of a good place to get an Equalizer shank at a good deal?
RedHorse, my rear axle rating for the Durango is 3,900 lbs. I should be alright with that. I think it's just the tongue weight where I am in trouble right now.
snip...... I think my plan will be to adjust the tongue weight in my driveway using the bathroom scale as recommended and then take it back to the CAT scale on my next camping trip.....snip
When you check your tongue weight at home, make sure the HTT fold-out ends are closed, makes a difference.
I check my tongue weight once in awhile at home as well (w/Sherline LM2000), and for grins I checked it with my slide opened....., the reading was off by 300lbs (below actual)!!
The way you guys were making it sound like it wasn't a big deal to do I figured there must be some trick that I was missing.
as well.
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