# Tongue Weight Question



## Northern Ninja (Aug 20, 2011)

Okay guys, I just bought a 280RS and I'm concerned with the tongue weight. Empty it's 700#, and with our two bikes in the front garage, I'm thinking the tongue weight will be up around 16 or 1700#. That seems like a whole lot to me. Will a WD hitch like a Reese Straitline take enough weight off the tongue to make it safe to tow with the class IV that's on my Tundra? I really hope I'm worried about nothing, especially since I love the design of this hauler. Thanks!


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

First, a wd hitch does NOT reduce tongue weight.

Most/all class IV hitches are limited to about 1400lbs max with WD, anything more is usually class V hitch. Your hitch should have a sticker indicating max weight carrying and Weight distributing tongue weights.

What a WD hitch does is transfer weight from the rear axle of the tow vehicle to the front axle of the tow vehicle and axle(s) of the trailer. It does this because it applies an upward force when the bars are tensioned that results in a upward force on the rear tow vehicle axle that is balanced out by downward force on the front axle and trailer rear axles. (sum of forces must = zero). The weight on the rear axle of the tow vehicle is reduced, but the tongue weight does NOT change.

Your right to be concerned, next step it to get some actual weights to see where you really are.

I'd suggest you beg, borrow a sherline scale to actually weight the tongue with and without the bikes and everything loaded the way you normally travel to see what your real tongue weight it.

What kind of bikes are you hauling? A couple of dirt bikes will be near 500lbs, and only part of the weight goes to the tongue. don't know trailer dimensions. Now two road bikes, another story, but adding 900lbs to the tongue just from the bikes would mean some pretty heavy bikes.

If the bikes are half way between the tongue and the rear axle centerline, then roughly 1/2 of the bike weight will go to the tongue.


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## Northern Ninja (Aug 20, 2011)

Thanks for the response. The bikes are sport-bikes that weigh about 450# each. The front 6' of the Outback is garage. I guess it'll have to work. Thanks.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Northern Ninja said:


> The bikes are sport-bikes that weigh about 450# each. The front 6' of the Outback is garage. I guess it'll have to work. Thanks.


The weight of the bikes is split between the tongue and the running gear. For all the weight of the bikes to be on the tongue they would have to be stacked on the ball hitch. Every inch they move back toward the trailer wheels some of the weight gets moved back to them. If the bikes are exactly in the middle then 50% goes to the tongue and 50% goes to the running gear.

Move the heavy stuff back towards the wheels and/or load some heavy stuff aft of the wheels to remove more tongue weight.


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

And check the specs on your TV to find out the maximum weight you can put on the hitch ball. Many units have max weights in the 1200#-1400# range.

Knowing the max lets you trot off to your friendly truck scales with the bikes on board and find out the actual tongue weight and then know if you are safe. Overloading the hitch is an accident waiting to happen. Good luck!


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

Where is your fresh water tank located? If it is behind the trailer axles, you could fill the fresh tank and actually take weight off the hitch to help compensate for the bikes. It will increase the overall weight of the trailer but reduce your tongue weight.


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## Northern Ninja (Aug 20, 2011)

Lots of good points here guys. Thanks very much! I'll let you know how it works out.


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

KTMRacer said:


> First, a wd hitch does NOT reduce tongue weight.


Not trying to be controversial, but a WD hitch reduces the load on the rear suspension caused by the tongue weight, and distributes some of it to the front wheels of the TV. That is what the WD hitch is designed to do. (The WD hitch, through the receiver, causes the TV frame to rotate towards the front wheels, with the ball acticg as the fulcrum point.)

So you are right, to a degree, in that the hitch doesn't reduce tongue weight. But the concern here is that the rear of the TV will sit too low with an extra 1000# added to the tongue. (Not sure that the bikes would add 1000#, but we'll go with that as a nice round number.)

If you don't believe me, just measure how high the trailer tongue (and ball) is off the ground with no WD hitch, then measure again after you hook up the WD hitch. My trailer ball (and my truck bumper) sit about 3-1/2 inches higher with the WD hitch ON than when it is OFF. That is due to some of the weight on the TV's rear suspension being distributed to the front.

This depends, of course, on whether you have the hitch adjusted properly.

Just my experienced opinion,

Mike


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## gzaleski (Aug 29, 2009)

If I remember right, the toyhauler garage has a maximum weight rating of 1000 lbs, same as my 28KRS.

glen...


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