tongue weight - The Hull Truth

lime4x4 · 04-18-2009, 10:21 PM

I had my boat and trailer weighed last year.It came in at 9120 lbs.It's a daul axle trailer. What should the tongue weight be? I've heard it should be 5% 10% and 15% of the total weight.

The Magster · 04-18-2009, 10:39 PM

10%

Dunk · 04-18-2009, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lime4x4

I had my boat and trailer weighed last year.It came in at 9120 lbs.It's a daul axle trailer. What should the tongue weight be? I've heard it should be 5% 10% and 15% of the total weight.

As long as your truck will handle it I like 12-15%... The more tongue weight you can run the better the trailer will follow the truck.. But you must still maintain the level of the trailer. Tandem/Trip axles trailers have to run flat or you'll overload either the front or rear axle and eat tires.

You should be running. 1100/1400 lbs of tongue weight.. No less than 1000lbs...at least the way I setup rigs...

prober · 04-19-2009, 12:14 AM

No less than 7%. anything less than that and it will sway. And as level as you can get it as mentioned above.

rwidman · 04-19-2009, 07:22 AM

Well, most boat trailer manufacturers will tell you 5%-7% for a dual axle boat trailer. Since you are still getting conflicting opinions, why not ask the company that manufactured your trailer?

Back-in-Black · 04-19-2009, 07:44 AM

I've played with this. Can't give you any numbers but I've loaded a tractor on flatbead, tandem trailer various ways. Too much weight in the rear and it sways. Too much weight on the tongue and it sways. When I got the load "centered" I could pull it 80+ mph with no sway what-so-ever.

When I purchased a new trip axle trailer for my boat last year, the boat didn't have motors on it and it towed just fine on the way to the merc dealer. Once the motors were hung, it towed like crap and would start swaying above 68 mph. Took it back to the trailer dealer and they moved the boat forward no more than 2-3 inches and that seems to have solved the problem.

cowdogs · 04-19-2009, 07:15 PM

It is important not to load one axle significantly more than the another axle. It is important to have some tongue weight too. So you have some conflicting goals when you are setting tongue weight.

I set mine as light as possible. 500 - 700 pounds for my 10K trailer and 8.5K boat works for me.

rwidman · 04-20-2009, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowdogs

It is important not to load one axle significantly more than the another axle. It is important to have some tongue weight too. So you have some conflicting goals when you are setting tongue weight.

Adjust the drawbar height so the trailer is level to the pavement before making any weight adjustments. This will take care of equal loading of the axles.

cowdogs · 04-20-2009, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwidman

Adjust the drawbar height so the trailer is level to the pavement before making any weight adjustments. This will take care of equal loading of the axles.

In the end, the goal is a level trailer after setting tongue weight. On lighter trucks, the drawbar height can vary quiet a bit between light and heavy tongue weights.

I noticed my truck sits much lower when I have it packed with lots of gear for a 1 week fishing/SCUBA vacation with the family. It was enough of a difference that I had to adjust my drawbar to level the trailer before I took off on a 700 miles trip.

rwidman · 04-21-2009, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowdogs

In the end, the goal is a level trailer after setting tongue weight. On lighter trucks, the drawbar height can vary quiet a bit between light and heavy tongue weights.

I noticed my truck sits much lower when I have it packed with lots of gear for a 1 week fishing/SCUBA vacation with the family. It was enough of a difference that I had to adjust my drawbar to level the trailer before I took off on a 700 miles trip.

All the adjustments affect the others to some extent so you may have to go back a second time.

If you load your tow vehicle, remember to deduct this from the maximum towing weight. The maximum towing weight is based on the driver and a tank of fuel, that's all.