Too much tongue weight

[tmsbandman]

TT is a 1992 300BH (30ft). Loaded trailer weight is 6200. If tongue wt is 15% I should be shooting for a tongue wt of 930. Mine is 1120. So I took all the clothing in the front closets and moved it to the back bunks. Weighed again (different CAT scale) and it didn't seem to help much. It's hard to tell though. According to the scales my gross weight increased 40 lbs as I drove down the interstate. Is this normal, there is NOTHING in the front of the trailer but the bed. That brings up another question. A previous owner replaced the full camper mattress with a regular queen size mattress. Would that Dd a lot of weight. I never saw the original mattress, so I don't know what it was like. Any other ideas? I feel like I need to fill the back bumper of the TT with concrete

 

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Having 200# extra tongue weight isn't a bad thing unless your using too light of a truck. When weighing at a CAT scale are you doing it with WDH as well? You may find you are ok as is. Otherwise, the batteries and propane on the tongue are giving you more weight than the bed or clothes. Where is the fresh water tank? If rear of the axles, fill the tank and weigh it. Might be better off towing with full water.

 

[tmsbandman]

TV is a 2004 F150 SuperCrew. My weights were within GVWR And axle ratings, just didn't want to put excessive stress on TV or TT.

 

[Rustic Eagle]

TT is a 1992 300BH (30ft). Loaded trailer weight is 6200.....snip

If your 6,200lbs reflects the TT's axle weight on the 3rd CAT scale platform and your hitched to your TV (TV axles on 1st & 2nd platform), then the 6,200lbs doesn't included the tongue weight because the TV is supporting the tongue weight. (TT axle weight) + (Tongue weight) = Actual TT gross weight when using a CAT scale.

The other possibility is that if the fresh water tank was full and the tank is located front of the TT axles, this will contribute to tongue weight.

Here is a reference for weighing a TV/TT combination at a CAT scale, and breaking down the individual weights: http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthread.php?3871-How-to-Weigh-Your-tt-tv

Hope this helps.

Bob

 

[tmsbandman]

Thanks. I did not do the three weights. What I did was gross wt - TV (5700-weighed it before with the same load and gas) to get TT weight. Then subtracted 3rd platform from TT weight to get tongue weight. Not the normal drill but seems like it would work. No water in TT tank(s). Is that weight a problem? It calculated to 18 or 20% of TT weight. My only concern was extra wear on TV bearings, tires, and brakes. Frankly, I don't know what else I could shift to the back of TT.

 

[clutch-FRF]

If you have the correct WDH bars I wouldn't worry about the hitch weight. If it tows fine all should be good since you said you are within your trucks towing parameters.

 

[tmsbandman]

WDH bars say 10,000 lbs, so no worries there. Last night I put all my weights from CAT scales into a spreadsheet (it's only 6, and one of those was just the truck.) Unfortunately, I did not take time to do the three separate weights. I had to estimate tongue weight based on a scale weight of 6220 (misspoke in earlier reply) for the truck with half a tank of gas and about 350#of occupants/cargo. So for my other weights I used steer axle+drive axle-6220 to calculate tongue weight. I did adjust the 6220 number on each weigh based on gas and cargo relative to that first time. What I found was interesting. I'm actually (assuming my calculations are close) NOT tongue heavy on the trailer. Most of them were around 11%. Now that I know that, I'm a little concerned about staying within GVWR and GAWR on the truck if we decide to take the whole family in it (on our trip last week we used a second vehicle.) The one time we carried four people, the truck was overweight on the rear axle by 300#! The fact the it was not overweight on the front tells me my WDH wasn't properly set. These adjustments seem a lot more sensitive than I previously thought. I thought this was a "set it and forget it" thing, but obviously every trip is unique.

Is it common to actually need to raise the ball to a higher slot if TV is more heavily loaded? I did not used to think so, but the scale says otherwise. I guess it makes sense, though, especially since TV is only a half ton.

 

[Rustic Eagle]

WDH bars say 10,000 lbs, so no worries there.....snip

...... as long as your loaded tongue weight doesn't exceed 1,000lbs.

snip......The one time we carried four people, the truck was overweight on the rear axle by 300#! The fact the it was not overweight on the front tells me my WDH wasn't properly set......snip

..... if the front suspension was at it's "unhitched" weight the WDH adjustment would have been fine. The WDH adjustment process is to insure that specified weight conditions exist at the TV's front suspension under TV/TT loaded conditions, what takes place with the TV's rear suspension "is-what-it-is".

snip..... Is it common to actually need to raise the ball to a higher slot if TV is more heavily loaded?....snip

Depends on one's particular TV/TT loaded conditions. Once the WDH adjustment has been made addressing the proper weight distribution, then adjust the hitch ball height such that TT will tow level.

Bob