Tongue Weight Help Please

[Papahoosh]

We are on our way from Florida to Glacier and then Yellowstone NP therefore we are carrying little bit more weight than usual so I decided to stop at a truck stop to find out what my tongue weight is. I didn’t know how to find out and the associate working there didn’t seem to know either so this is what we did.
The Top part of photo showing truck and trailer on separate scale combined weight of 6060lbs.
The bottom part is showing the trailer and jack on separate scale.
Does this mean my tongue weight is 1040lbs and the trailer weighs 5960lbs with total weight 7020lbs?
My truck weighs 5600lbs. My wife and I and other MISC items weigh total of 450lbs.
I just looked at my Sway Bar which is Round Bar 94-00-1000 E2. It says max. Tongue weight 1000 lbs and max. Trailer weight 10000 lbs.
If this info is correct, Can I move some items to the back of the trailer to help with the tongue weight? Also I see that there are various Tongue weight tools that can be purchased to do your own tongue weight. Does anyone have any experience/recommendations regarding purchasing your own?

[Kacz]

If the second reading is trailer alone on scale with jack down then yes, your tongue weight would be #1040 or a hair more (tongue is further forward than jack by a couple inches).

Also when factoring in what you are placing on your truck for tongue and payload you have to account for the approx. #100 lbs of your WDH. So at hookup you are placing about #1140 on the tongue and subtracting that from your total payload.

I use a Sherline LN 1000 scale at home, and it has so far been very close to the CAT scale for me. Pricey, but I have to be very conscious of loading with my setup so worth it for me.

[babock]

Originally Posted by Kacz

I use a Sherline LN 1000 scale at home, and it has so far been very close to the CAT scale for me. Pricey, but I have to be very conscious of loading with my setup so worth it for me.

X2 on using the Sherline.


During the process of switching to lithium and adding solar and other equipment, was very useful in figuring out tongue weight changes as you add/subtract items from the trailer.

[HVACGuy]

X 3 on the Sherline, great tool to have!

[Kaadk]

If you can, you should head back through a set of scales. You want to position your steer axle (front tires) on one pad, the drive axle (rear tires) on another pad, and then the trailer tires on the third pad. Take this as the first reading.

Pull off the pad, drop the trailer in the lot and go back with just the truck. Try to position it about where it was for your first reading, with the steer axle on one pad and the drive axle on the other pad. Take this as the second reading.

Now, if you take (First Steer + First Drive) - (Second Steer + Second Drive) you get your weight distributed tongue weight. This is effectively how much load you're applying to your truck.

Next, you want to compare First Steer to Second Steer. Ideally, they should be close if your WDH is setup right. More on First might be ok, but less on First is not. Based on your third photo, you have a lot of squat on the rear, so I'm suspecting you might be light on your steer.

Lastly, to get a true measure of how well your WDH is setup, hook back up to the trailer, but only on the ball. Leave the WDH unhooked and just put the bars in the back of the bed (ideally as close to the tailgate as possible). Go back and get a third measurement. This will give you your non-weight distributed numbers. Compare First Steer to Third Steer to see what the difference your WDH is making in your steering. Also, you can compare total truck (Steer + drive) to the second weight (steer + drive). The difference will be your non-weight distributed tongue weight. Add that to the trailer axles to get total trailer weight.

Lastly, if all this is confusing, you're in luck, there is help available. I keep three different sites (to give people options) book marked just for this reason:

Towing Planner - towing capability calculators
Travel Trailer Weight Calculator
https://www.huskytow.com/towing-calculator/

Edit: almost forgot. You don't need to go buy the sherline if you only need to measure once. There are directions out there for using a simple bathroom scale and some 2x4s to measure it. I recommend reading about it from this e-trailer site, since it covers several different tongue weighing methods:

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-how-to-...ue-weight.aspx

[Splitshaft]

Unless the rig was experiencing stability problems or difficult to control I wouldn’t be to concerned about being 10-percent over the listed hitch rating. Just think about the shock loads the hitch assembly is subject to due to uneven road surfaces! Those go far in excess of the static ratings of the hitch. I always prefer more tongue weight rather than less as it generally leads to better vehicle stability. When the tongue gets light with too much weight in the rear of the trailer, you set yourself up for a very dangerous sway condition that can occur at any moment with no warning. And that will kill you a lot faster than carrying a bit more weight on the hitch than its static rating.