Trailer Tongue Weight Scale

[BryanL]

Does anyone have or used a trailer tongue weight scale? I have thought about switching up my truck/trailer towing combo and may need to know the tongue weight. I figure it would also be good to use for adjusting the load that I tow right now. Just one of those tools I doubt I will use very much. If nobody has one I may buy one sometime before TWS in October and anyone would be welcome to use it.

http://www.etrailer.com/Tools/Sherline/5780.html

[Pranav]

I'd be interested in weighing mine too if you do end up getting one. Pretty sure I'm way over the 1/2 ton's 1k tongue weight limit. 8+ tire rack, 6 5gal jugs, two big toolboxes full of heavy junk bolted to the front of my trailer.

Have you considered a WD hitch setup? I threw one on mine and it was a night/day difference in regards to anti-sway/stability and weight on rear axle. I used to have to air my bags up to around 55-60psi to level, now barely 35-40 with the WD hitch. On my way to Hallet I had to do an emergency lane change and the trailer didn't hurl me into the wall...

[marshall_mosty]

Could you not just use one of the race car scales?

[ShadowBolt]

I worry about tongue weight even on my open trailer with the tire rack and six extra tires on wheels. I know Mike Stacy had his RV hitch welded up with extra support but he still had the frame brake in half. Good idea to check.


JJ

[drecords]

I'd be interested in weighing mine too if you do end up getting one. Pretty sure I'm way over the 1/2 ton's 1k tongue weight limit. 8+ tire rack, 6 5gal jugs, two big toolboxes full of heavy junk bolted to the front of my trailer.

Have you considered a WD hitch setup? I threw one on mine and it was a night/day difference in regards to anti-sway/stability and weight on rear axle. I used to have to air my bags up to around 55-60psi to level, now barely 35-40 with the WD hitch. On my way to Hallet I had to do an emergency lane change and the trailer didn't hurl me into the wall...

I was behind him for this and can attest to the fact I'm sold on W-D/Sway control hitches.

[BryanL]

I don't have race car scales and not going to mess with the official scales either.

Don't have an issue with anything right now. I'm certain I could benefit from both adjusting where the weight is and some hitch device. I have never had an issue with sway-had a w/d hitch on my last enclosed and think it helped. Have done some research and the real way to go appears to be a hensley or pro pride hitch setup of course they are 5-10 times the cost of other setups. Personally with an open trailer I don't think it's much of a concern. I think most of the horror stories are from travel trailers-high center of gravity, low tongue weight maybe and the trailer is like a big sail. After a race weekend and dropping my trailer I stopped to help a family who had a guy cut them off towing a travel trailer that rolled and the rear of the truck was off the ground. Back in the day I saw Mitch's trailer do some swaying.

I figure over my life I could get my money's worth out of it and letting others use it. Just wondering if anyone had one or had used one in case I want to change up my trailering setup at some point and use my wives suv so I don't have to have a 3/4 truck.

Jerry-I doubt you have anything to worry about-isn't yours rated at 10k? You should be under 6k fully loaded. I'm guessing Stacy had a stacker. I do wonder about the RV's that pull stackers which aren't the toter style.

[marshall_mosty]

Bryan,
Feel free to borrow our scales anytime you want. I'll be at the shop on Saturday if you want to come by and pick them up. No rush getting them back.

[dtanker65]

I can attest to how important it is not to overload the tongue on the 1/2 ton axle. Overloaded, the 1/2 ton axle's single axle bearing will burn up, especially driving fast highway speeds. I have to load the car backward when using the 1/2 ton. There are lots of cheap 3/4 ton axles out there with dual taper bearing hubs and better gear ratios, but the 8 lug pattern complicates the swap. Adding a super duty trans cooler will save the trans. A
weight distribution hitch and sway control definitely makes the driving much safer/easier. My hard earned two cents.

[Supercharged111]

My truck has a 6 lug 3/4 ton 9.5" axle plucked from the junkyard with said larger bearings, a luxury afforded to us GM folks. My 8500# enclosed is more stable in some aspects that the 6000# open deck setup it replaced. Open deck had no WD, but the enclosed does. It makes a world of difference and reduces the load on your hitch and RV frame. I'VE heard that some of those frames aren't meant to tow much as they're mostly an extension off the truck's frame meant to support the weight of the house out back.

[Pranav]

The WD hitch takes a lot of weight off my rear end. With the trailer now being nose heavy with the fuel/tires/boxes, the WDH now has me running LESS air pressure in the back than before I added all that crap but ran without a WDH...

That being said not too worried about the longevity of my rear end, the Tundra has a 10.5" ring gear and big beefy bearings that put it more in the lower/gasser end of 3/4 territory. Yeah the engine is still very 1/2 ton, don't think this thing will pull an enclosed well without getting horrible mileage.