Tongue weight

C

cmitcham

TJ Enthusiast
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southern indiana
after flat towing my lj behind a class a motorhome for 6 years, i just completed the first trip with a new 18' dual axle trailer. i did no measurements for tongue weight. i connected the trailer to the mh and measured from the ground to the ball. i loaded the jeep forward until this measurement decreased about 1 inch.

anybody know if this is acceptable guess at proper tongue weight? it seemed to pull just fine.

thanks.
 
I normally go a tongue weight of about 10% of the total trailer and load weight. I know some guys that will go to about 15% of total weight. Hope this helps.
 
The one-inch drop doesn't really mean anything across different vehicles. My Ram will drop an inch with groceries in the back.

But you are right it is difficult to measure without actually weighing and that isn't necessarily easy without proper equipment. I personally go by feel if I can't measure it correctly. I find it is easier to tell when you have too much (again depends on your vehicle) but I normally weigh towards a tad more and then dial it back.
 
If you can still lift it, it is fine. If you can't, you put too much weight on the tongue. Droop doesn't tell you anything other than how stiff your rear springs are.
 
If you REALLY want to know...find a truck weight station that is unmanned along the highway. Most of them are left "on" and you can read the weight.

Drop the loaded trailer on a 4x4 post appx hitch height on the tongue check the weight with the trailer tires off the scales. Then pull the entire trailer on the scales and check. Then you can figure out your percentage, and tongue weight, total trailer weight. You can shift your load around and re-weigh if needed. Make some marks so you know where to load nxt time.

Of course take precautions, use the trailer jack to make sure you're stable, be safe, etc.
reel up the trailer jack an inch or so and balance on the 4x4 for just a second to get a reading. Don't stand on the scales....
 
Wingback73 said:
If you can still lift it, it is fine. If you can't, you put too much weight on the tongue. Droop doesn't tell you anything other than how stiff your rear springs are.
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Strongly disagree, and I believe that to be very dangerous suggestion.

If you can lift the tongue on a 6000+ lb trailer your tongue weight is way too low for safety.

My rule of thumb is 10% for dual axle and 15% for single.

I can't lift 300 pounds and that would be 5% for my 6000 lb load, too light by half.


Personally, I spent the cash and bought a trailer tongue scale... then I loaded my jeep with all gear set for the trail and figured out where it needs to be tied down to have the load right.
 
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A TJ's maximum towing capacity is 2000lb. Max tongue weight is 200lb. If you can't lift the tongue, it's too much for your TJ (or you are a girly man). That's not to say it's not too light. That's trailer dependant. 200lb tongue could be way too light for your trailer since you need that certain percentage of weight on the tongue to prevent it from swaying back and forth, but if you need more than 200lb tongue weight to hit that percentage, you shouldn't be towing that heavy of a trailer to begin with.

And it's not a matter of how well your TJ can pull it. Is a matter of stability and not swapping ends when you panic stop. The TJ's wheelbase is too short for meaningful towing.
 
I have been using a “weigh safe” hitch with built in tongue weight scale for the last few years and really like it. It’s been very rugged and is great to know if I’m loading my trailers right. It seems to be helping my tire life as well.
Weigh Safe WS6-2, 6" Drop Hitch w/ 2" Shank/Shaft, Adjustable Aluminum Trailer Hitch & Ball Mount w/ Built-in Scale, 2 Stainless Steel Balls (2" & 2-5/16") and a Double-pin Key Lock https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00REOUYME/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
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Rescue6 said:
I have been using a “weigh safe” hitch with built in tongue weight scale for the last few years and really like it. It’s been very rugged and is great to know if I’m loading my trailers right. It seems to be helping my tire life as well.
Weigh Safe WS6-2, 6" Drop Hitch w/ 2" Shank/Shaft, Adjustable Aluminum Trailer Hitch & Ball Mount w/ Built-in Scale, 2 Stainless Steel Balls (2" & 2-5/16") and a Double-pin Key Lock https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00REOUYME/?tag=wranglerorg-20
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What did we ever do before those were made?
 
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mrblaine said:
What did we ever do before those were made?
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I used to use a tire scale. I used It to weigh trailer tongues with. I actually have marks on the deck of my trailer for where the Jeep goes and where my tractor goes to load it properly weighted. Just to save time but dang these are quick and handy when you are loading different equipment and using multiple trailers.
 
Rescue6 said:
I used to use a tire scale. I used It to weigh trailer tongues with. I actually have marks on the deck of my trailer for where the Jeep goes and where my tractor goes to load it properly weighted. Just to save time but dang these are quick and handy when you are loading different equipment and using multiple trailers.
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Yep, and while I have an appreciation for the scale in the hitch, we still need to know what the actual tongue weight is if we don't have one of the fancy versions and we need to know how to get it by some means other then watching the bumper drop, eyeballing the trailer or any other means of just guessing.

If one does not know their tongue weight, find a way to know that. Having your rig and trailer do the death sway is not a good way to figure it out.
 
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I set the tongue on a bathroom scale, then load the trailer and adjust accordingly. Never had a an issue.
 
Skylinessuck said:
A TJ's maximum towing capacity is 2000lb. Max tongue weight is 200lb. If you can't lift the tongue, it's too much for your TJ (or you are a girly man). That's not to say it's not too light. That's trailer dependant. 200lb tongue could be way too light for your trailer since you need that certain percentage of weight on the tongue to prevent it from swaying back and forth, but if you need more than 200lb tongue weight to hit that percentage, you shouldn't be towing that heavy of a trailer to begin with.

And it's not a matter of how well your TJ can pull it. Is a matter of stability and not swapping ends when you panic stop. The TJ's wheelbase is too short for meaningful towing.
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His request was about towing his Jeep on a trailer, not towing a trailer with is Jeep. And my TJ unlimited can tow 3500lb (same as OP), and no I can't lift 350lb.
 
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Yeah, I noticed that when he said it again, then I liked his comment to let him know I saw it. That makes it not really a general TJ question IMHO and instead a trailer/tow vehicle question, but I'm not the forum police. I just mention that because that's the reason I got confused. Also, I think most people here call know your Jeep as an LJ which is why I felt comfortable making that statement about TJ's and tongue weight.
 
And to add another thread to this blanket,,,can I haul a motorcycle in a carrier on the back of a TJ. The bike is a KTM 690 Enduro.
 
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