Digger
04-23-2002, 12:19 PM
With all the talk of trailering lately I thought I would post this easy method of determining your actual tongue weight. (without buying some cockamanie expensive scale or going to the local truck scales). If your tongue weight is beyond the capacity of your bathroom scale to measure directly you can still use it-
http://www.donzi.net/photos/mhowardtweight.jpg
--do this on level ground
--put your bathroom scale 2 ft away from the point that trailer tongue weight is placed, put the brick one ft away on the other side. Use dowels or tubing to ensure the weight is distributed at those dimensions if you want to be real accurate
--multiply the bathroom scale reading by 3. That is your tongue weight.
recommended tongue weights vary depending on who you ask. 10% for single axle, 15% for tandem are commonly used. If your trailer doesn't tow well its likely a function of tongue weight, too much or too little.
ok I'll go back to work now :D
http://www.donzi.net/photos/mhowardtweight.jpg
--do this on level ground
--put your bathroom scale 2 ft away from the point that trailer tongue weight is placed, put the brick one ft away on the other side. Use dowels or tubing to ensure the weight is distributed at those dimensions if you want to be real accurate
--multiply the bathroom scale reading by 3. That is your tongue weight.
recommended tongue weights vary depending on who you ask. 10% for single axle, 15% for tandem are commonly used. If your trailer doesn't tow well its likely a function of tongue weight, too much or too little.
ok I'll go back to work now :D