Holy Crap! 750lb tongue weight... - Dutchmen Owners
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Old 08-20-2015, 06:03 PM   #1
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Holy Crap! 750lb tongue weight...

on a 22ft trailer. I always had a feeling it was nose heavy, but I didn't expect that (pushing 14%). I guess the wife is going to start riding on the trailer bumper.

I also just read that you add the weight of your wd to the tongue weight, is that just the bars or the whole ball hitch assembly, that thing is heavy. Sigh, time to start adjusting stuff around, that's going to be tough when 80% of our entire storage is just behind the tongue.
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Old 08-20-2015, 07:56 PM   #2
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What is the reason for moving stuff around? If the trailer tows fine, then there is no need to move stuff around. I've heard that increasing the tongue weight helps reduce sway, so unless you've encountered issues due to too heavy of tongue weight I would not recommend trying to lighten it or it might begin to sway. Was your water tank full when you weighed and where is the water tank located? That could act as a counterweight to your tongue weight if it is behind your axles and it was empty when you weighed.
If your tow vehicle is maxed out on cargo carrying capacity, I still would not fuss over rearranging your trailer storage just to try and take off what won't amount to a couple hundred pounds at most. For the same reasons in my first paragraph. I would think sway is more dangerous than slightly exceeding the vehicle's cargo carrying capacity if it otherwise drives fine. The concept of adding the WDH weight to the tongue weight is to ensure that you account for that weight against your vehicle's cargo carrying capacity. I'd add the weight of ball hitch assembly and the bars.
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Old 08-20-2015, 08:34 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by ewarnerusa View Post
What is the reason for moving stuff around?
I'm getting dangerously close to my max tongue and payload rate. I did figure my bike rack and bike weight which is 90lbs, and that hangs a foot or so behind the rear bumper. To simulate that, I put two 45lb weight plates on the bumper and it took me down to 690lbs. It should drop a little more with the actual setup on there. I don't travel with water or waste, ever. I'm not overly concerned with sway as i'm way over the recommended 12% of gross weight. I realize that number is somewhat arbitrary.

Also, both of my fridges sit behind the axles, so whatever I load in them will help. I'm way under on towing capacity and gross trailer weight. I may not be as far off as I thought I was. I do tend to panic as a first option.
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Old 08-20-2015, 10:22 PM   #4
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The "recommended" tongue weight is 10%-15% of trailer weight. I have quite a few over the years that were a bit too far one way or the other. I would rather be on the heavier end the the too light end. Been there, my Coleman popup was extremely tongue light, probably 8% or so, by the time you added enough weight to the front storage compartment to get it up to the 10% range you were overloaded. It was a really bad design and had too many heavy things behind the axles.

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Old 08-21-2015, 12:11 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by wahoonc View Post
The "recommended" tongue weight is 10%-15% of trailer weight.
Yeah, that's why I split the difference to 12%. I hear everybody on the towing, but I don't think I should have to have 800lbs+ of tongue weight to control a 22ft trailer. I'd rather err on the side of less drive train abuse.

I do know one thing, every half ton out there that pulls even a modest sized 4500lb trailer and travels with a few kids is way way over payload and rear GAWR.
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Old 08-21-2015, 01:25 AM   #6
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I do know one thing, every half ton out there that pulls even a modest sized 4500lb trailer and travels with a few kids is way way over payload and rear GAWR.
I believe we're OK with our Nissan Titan (prem tow pkg - 9500 lb tow capacity) and our 4500 (dry) TT. We are within 200 lbs payload, but I estimate to the high side. I use this spreadsheet in Excel. Just change the beige numbers to your own.


Go to the second one that says pop-the-top: xls trailer calc spreadsheet - Bing=
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Old 08-21-2015, 01:30 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by dawniewest View Post
Yeah, that's why I split the difference to 12%. I hear everybody on the towing, but I don't think I should have to have 800lbs+ of tongue weight to control a 22ft trailer. I'd rather err on the side of less drive train abuse.

I do know one thing, every half ton out there that pulls even a modest sized 4500lb trailer and travels with a few kids is way way over payload and rear GAWR.
I know what you mean. My 16' Coleman runs tongue heavy too. I would guess in the 450# range my GVW is 3500#, supposedly has a dry weight of 3100# or so. I run 600# bars on mine. We have a medium duty 1/2 ton, no kids but plenty of crap plus a dog. I haven't scaled the current setup yet, but suspect I will be towards the upper end of our range. We have plans for a new truck in a couple of years. Might upgrade to an F250, at the very least a heavier half.

In the Coleman, the water tank, air conditioner, fridge and the bulk of the storage is forward of the axle. I usually don't travel with more than about 5 gallons of water in the tank.

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Old 08-21-2015, 01:31 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by MartyG View Post
I believe we're OK with our Nissan Titan (prem tow pkg - 9500 lb tow capacity) and our 4500 (dry) TT. We are within 200 lbs payload, but I estimate to the high side. I use this spreadsheet in Excel. Just change the beige numbers to your own.


Go to the second one that says pop-the-top: xls trailer calc spreadsheet - Bing=

That's awesome, thanks.


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Old 08-21-2015, 01:49 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by wahoonc View Post
In the Coleman, the water tank, air conditioner, fridge and the bulk of the storage is forward of the axle. I usually don't travel with more than about 5 gallons of water in the tank.

Aaron
That stinks, the more beer that I can pack in my fridges the lighter my tongue weight gets. If I didn't need a truck to drive 50,000 miles a year for work, i'd get a 3/4 ton. Can't afford the gas on one for work. That's why i'm doing heavy research on the new GMC Canyon. 12,000lb GCVWR, 7,000lb towing and 1620lb payload, and it is getting 24-26 highway unloaded. That saves me $150 just in gas every month. Plus it has a higher payload than my 11 year old fullsize.

The over head cam engine makes me a little nervous, but it seems to be working on the Ford Eco Boost. You can't fear the rpm's.
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