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Originally Posted by KHBama
...my tongue weight is 17% Didn’t have any toys in the back except for bikes so I know that’s part of my problem.
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Before you begin, you must have an adjustable shank or ball mount that will allow you to set up the trailer so the floor is level, front to rear, after all hooked up and the spring bars adjusted to achieve the proper rise in the front end of the tow vehicle.
A toy hauler trailer without toys in the garage area is no big problem, provided your tow vehicle (TV) has adequate GVWR to not be overloaded when on the road. And provided your adjustable shank and ball mount are designed to allow you to have a level trailer floor, front to rear, with the spring bars properly adjusted. When going from a loaded garage to an unloaded garage, o vice versa, you may need to change the position of the ball mount to achieve a level floor.
But the adjustment on the WD hitch will be different than with a loaded garage. You may even need to raise or lower the ball mount to have a level trailer after it's all hooked up and adjusted.
You must know the distance from the center of the front fender well to the ground without the trailer tied on.
Then when you tie on the trailer and adjust the spring bars, that distance from the fender well to the ground should about a half-inch more with the trailer than without. IOW, about a half-inch rise in the front end of the TV, caused by the tongue weight way out back of the rear axle, after the WD hitch is adjusted to eliminate most of that rise.
To reduce the rise in the front end, tighten the spring bars. To increase the rise in the front end, loosen the spring bars.
But that assumes the floor of the trailer was level, front to rear, with the trailer tied on and the spring bars adjusted. So be sure the floor of the trailer will be level front to rear, and the distance to the ground of the front end of the TV is right before you hit the road.
The rear axle of the TV will take care of itself. Don't worry about it. Concentrate on the rise in the front end and a level floor of the trailer when on the road.
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That confuses me... the difference in drive axle weight with trailer vs drive axle weight without trailer is the tongue weight correct?
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No, because tongue weight (TW) changes both front and rear axle weights. To get TW without a TW scale. you need two CAT scale reports, one without the trailer and one with the trailer but without the spring bars tight. Then add the weights on both the front and rear axles to get GVW. GVW with the trailer minus GVW without the trailer = TW.
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Doesn’t wdh distribute weight to front axle and rear axle of tow vehicle?
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Yes. But not off the ball. The tongue weight (TW) doesn't change, but the WDH distributes the TW to various axles of the rig.
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Had an increase in 1800lbs on drive axle and a decrease in steer axle of 400lbs on steer axle. Wouldn’t an adjustment to hitch change those numbers?
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yes
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Or is the tongue weight the net of those 2 numbers?
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No.
It's complicated, but easier to understand if you have all the weights of the entire rig to compare.
TW = 570 pounds per Sherline scale
Without WDH
Steer 3040
Drive 3880
Trailer 3480
Gross 10,400
With WDH
Steer 3280 – 3040 = +240 onto the front axle
Drive 3520 – 3880 = -360 off the rear axle
Trailer3620- 3480 = +140 onto the trailer axles
Gross 10,420 = 20# rounding difference.
You won't see the 570 pounds TW on the CAT scale report.
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