ccpanel
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Post by ccpanel on Jul 11, 2014 21:14:57 GMT -8
this link www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/06/know-tow.htmlis advocating 60% wieght in front of axle they also say 15-20% tongue wieght of which if 2,000(wieghing tomorrow) means im short about 25#(usually made up with junk loaded inside the front in front of axle)
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ccpanel
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Post by ccpanel on Jul 13, 2014 2:08:16 GMT -8
took it to scrap yard. with 90% of our normal stuff in there including my crate of scissor jacks for all 4 corners sitting front/center at the very front wall of trailer and the box that DPO put on back bumper removed(~60#)
I got 2,220 on the scale while still attached to my tow rig.
my tongue wieght is about 275.
so its MUCH heavier than I guessed and ever would have thought.
11% tongue wieght which is more than you advocated but less than some sites desire. most sites(the internet is always right...) say 10-15% I want to be closer to 15% so if needed-its super easy to shift load to the rear of axle. super hard to get more tongue wieght.
next move will be to fix spring bushings(not a wieght issue but will tighten things up) then lengthen togue and move heavy things in front of trailer instead of inside-move my water tank, add 2 batteries, add storage for my jacks and one for firewood. that should make it so I can manuver stuff inside to balance load while easilly having enough tongue wieght.
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Post by bigbill on Jul 13, 2014 9:28:31 GMT -8
I read the article you posted and in every engineering book I have ever read I have never seen a suggested tongue weight of 20% most feel 10 to 12 percent is fine, but that doesn't mean the article is wrong. I believe they were primarily speaking about loading movable objects like sports/ race vehicles on a trailer. but as long as your hitch, coupler, and vehicle are designed for that amount of weight it won't hurt. It will be interesting to see if new spring hardware makes a difference. I suggest 10% as a minimum number and a properly built trailer will tow fine at that design point but more won't hurt if as I stated above if everything is up to it.
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ccpanel
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Post by ccpanel on Jul 14, 2014 8:51:18 GMT -8
Thanks. driving across town it did 'feel' better but i was in slow speed mode and tongue is about 11% now. Was real close to 10% beforehand.
Im going to make some brackets on tongue to hold my 4 scissor jacks(move wieght from inside to frontside)
going to go to etrailer or ... to get bushings.
i will probably go nylon or poly, maybe brass but doubt it. suggestions? thanks again for spending the time to think about my problem.
also-if i use w eight distributing hitch-will that make my tongue effectively lighter or make no difference?
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John Palmer
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Hi, From a vintage trailer guy located in Santa Ana, CA. It's good to see lots of activity here.
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Post by John Palmer on Jul 14, 2014 9:14:50 GMT -8
A weight distributing hitch is to take tongue weight and move it to the tow vehicle front wheels, it would not have any advantage to your described problems, other than the inherent "friction dampening" which would be small.
I have towed thousands of miles and I don't believe I could tell the difference between 10% and 11% in tongue weight.
Your problem is that you have "too much" weight behind the axle center line, compared to your weight on the tongue. The sloppy worn suspension, tire air pressure, tire quality all need to be repaired before you go any further with the tongue weight diagnosis issue, IMO.
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chametzoo
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Post by chametzoo on Jul 14, 2014 12:56:25 GMT -8
The sloppy worn suspension, tire air pressure, tire quality all need to be repaired before you go any further with the tongue weight diagnosis issue, IMO. John is right… make sure your "fundamentals" are good before you start moving your loads all over the place.
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ccpanel
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Post by ccpanel on Jul 15, 2014 10:20:04 GMT -8
The sloppy worn suspension, tire air pressure, tire quality all need to be repaired before you go any further with the tongue weight diagnosis issue, IMO. John is right… make sure your "fundamentals" are good before you start moving your loads all over the place. I agree. tire pressure and tire quality have been 100% since original operation. I had good tire pressure always, just originally thought tires were radial car but on closer inspection are radial trailer(only) next is bushings. I believe I WILL do the wieght hitch(have one already) as with the extra 40# on tongue -the durango is sagging a little. plus when the durango goes back up a little the hitch has a lower ball mount so I can bring my trailer back down to level while towing(always been mostly level when towing) Still need to find creative ways to add tongue wieght as there isnt any wieght we can take out of rear-bed in back stays fully out when traveling and only has a few blankets on it. when beds are out-it puts more percentage of bed wieght farther forward... anything helps. maybe i should get airbags for durango and find some tractor wieghts for the tongue! LOL!
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Post by danrhodes on Nov 12, 2014 8:45:50 GMT -8
One more thing your hitch should be set up to tow the trailer level, towing tongue high can also cause problems. So, what drop do most folks around here have to use on their hitch? I actually don't own a hitch for my trailer yet (borrowed to pick up), and am paralyzed by indecision in choosing the right one. I have a Tacoma Off Road, which has very soft rear springs. So soft, that I would probably consider airbags or Timbren bumpstops once the trailer is ready for towing. Parked on level ground, the bottom of the hitch receiver on the truck is 17 inches from the ground, while the bottom of the trailer ball receiver is 12 inches, so a 4 inch drop makes sense, but the sag in the truck suspension right now makes me think I could get away with 2 inch drop.
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Post by bigbill on Nov 12, 2014 14:08:05 GMT -8
Can you borrow a hitch, hook them together and see how much it drops I doubt it it drops a lot. A second option would be to buy an adjustable drop hitch, then you can set it where ever you need it. As John said above an excessive amount of weight on the hitch won't hurt anything as long as you don't exceed the hitch rating or cause the front of you tow vehicle to get light. The 10 to 12% we speak of will make it tow properly if everything else is OK, weight in excess of that just makes the trailer harder to hitch and unhitch or to move with a dolly. It won't make it tow bad.
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