Tongue weight ok?

[Ccfbailey]

Just verified my tongue weight at 6%. Shorlandr says to have it at 5-7% so it's good there. Wondering if I should increase it to get a better ride. Tow vehicle is a Chev Trailblazer and the boat is a Lund rebel 1650 ( 16.5')

 

[Bondo]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

Just verified my tongue weight at 6%. Shorlandr says to have it at 5-7% so it's good there. Wondering if I should increase it to get a better ride. Tow vehicle is a Chev Trailblazer and the boat is a Lund rebel 1650 ( 16.5')

Ayuh,... Personally, I prefer 10% to 15%... 7% is a bare minimum....

Much less, 'n the tail wags the dog...

 

[Ccfbailey]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

Thanks Bond-o. I'm not getting any wagging but I'm thinkin I could get rid of some of the bounce. Pretty simple adjustment so I'll move it a bit.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

Agree... I won't set up ANY trailer with less than 10%... no matter what any manufacturer says

 

[airshot]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

I am not about to try and disagree with some of the experts on here but lets think about this a little. He is towing a 16 ft aluminium hull boat here, not alot of weight here. Not sure if there is even enough weight to move the tow vehicle. I have no problem with the 10% formula at all, but what is he really going to gain here with his light hull? Feel free to move it if you want, but I see very little if any gain with 3% of a light weight hull.

Airshot

 

[lrak]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

I think you have it set up PERFECTLY now. The manufacturer agrees. Why would you mess with it?

 

[Ccfbailey]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

Thanks Airshot. I won't be doing anything drastic. Just moved the winch up a bit. Got it up to 6.5%. That's why I mentioned the boat size. Was wondering if that plays a factor. It has a big 90 4stroke that gives it alot of rear weight. The rig pulls fine. Just wondering if I could get a smoother ride. Will try it now with that small adjustment I made.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

the size and weight of the boat don't actually matter as to the setup of the trailer.... the increase in the tongue weight will help the trailer behave better.... with a lightweight rig, a trailer that behaves poorly won't affect the tow rig as much as a heavy trailer will but the dynamics are the same...

BTW for those that are scared of going to the 10-15% range... I have pulled trailers with about 50% tongue weight and while that is a bit impractical in most cases because the load that can be pulled is quickly limited by the weight on the hitch, the trailers pulled exceptionally well... very stable.... 10% is not the drastic number that some think it is.

All that said... going from 6-6.5% will make no noticeable difference and with a light rig you MAY not notice a dramatic difference going up to the 10-15% that I and many others choose.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

With the set up you have you can maybe stow some of the heavier gear in the bow when towing.
We tow our boat and travel trailer with a Trailblazer. Boat is around 3,000 to 3,500 lb depending on fuel and gear. Travel trailer is around 5,000 lb with all our stuff aboard. Using around the 10% mark myself and have no issues to date.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

Trying to get a smoother ride... on your truck?

That's not going to happen unless you add 300# to your bumper.

 

[lrak]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

BTW for those that are scared of going to the 10-15% range... I have pulled trailers with about 50% tongue weight and while that is a bit impractical in most cases because the load that can be pulled is quickly limited by the weight on the hitch, the trailers pulled exceptionally well... very stable....

Light-duty long-tongue single-beam boat-trailers? IME with three different light duty boat trailers like this, the single long front tongue/beam starts to flex and act like a third out-of-sync spring if you have too much tongue weight. You will start to get bounce in the trailer and worse handling over jointed concrete roads once you get to 10%. At 15% you'll really notice the poor handling. I'm not saying it is going to bounce a full size truck off the road, but you're putting a lot more stress on your boat, trailer tires, and hitch than is necessary. I'm wondering why someone would mess with what they have when it is ideal. :noidea:

I'm talking about light duty boat trailers here. Most other trailer types do better with more tongue weight. I have used some cargo trailers that pull much better with 20% tongue weight than 10%, but they had a totally different beam design, the axles are much further forward, and the mfg suggested that type of cargo trailer have 12-17% tongue weight. The maker appears to know what they are talking about. With long tongue boat trailers pretty much all the mfgs specify 5-8% and say never to exceed 10%.

 

[Ccfbailey]

Re: Tongue weight ok?

Thanks for all the input. I'm leaving it as-is.