Weighing the camper and tow vehicle, how important is it?

Jay_and_Kat

Our first trip with a loaded up camper is coming next weekend and I've seen recommendations to take your tow vehicle and camper to a scale (CAT scales often mentioned) to get your weights before heading out on the road.  How vital is this?
My TV is a Jeep Gladiator w/Tow package, so up to a 6000lb trailer weight / 600lb tongue weight, the camper is a '22 T@B 400 Boondock w/3-way fridge so probably just over 3000lb dry weight / 315-ish tongue weight dry.  Figure a full water tank will add around 340-400lbs (depending on conditions) and from what people here have said, that tank is pretty much centered over the axle, so it'll increase the tongue weight, but not horribly.  Add in everything else in the camper, make sure I'm still within the max capacity of the Jeep, and I'm thinking it'd take a LOT to overload me.

Now, I do have, and plan to use, a tongue scale before we head out, and that's where I could see the advantage of knowing the weight of the camper (loaded,) because the rule-of-thumb seems to be the tongue weight should be about 10% of the total weight of the camper for safety.

I guess where I'm going with this, am I risking life and limb if I don't take the rig to a scale?
Tow vehicle:  2022 Jeep Gladiator Sport S w/tow package
Camper:  2022 T@B 400 Boondock w/3way fridge

VictoriaP

Risking life and limb? Unlikely with that tow combo. Risking a crappy day of towing? Possibly. The actual rule of thumb is 10-15%. I find 10% to be marginal. Closer to 15% gets you less chance of sway and porpoising…a much more pleasant tow. In my case, I can estimate total weight fairly well, but I check tongue weight every single time and will deliberately add weight to the Boondock platform to get to the range I know works well for me. This is where having your own tongue weight scale is a good investment, so I’m glad to see you have that.

It’s definitely useful to know the overall weight though, because unless you weighed every single item as you packed, you really are just guessing. Most people find their trailers are heavier than they guessed, sometimes by a lot.

NorthIsUp

The Jeep tow package you have is rated to 6,250 pounds towing.  With the margin of error that you bought into, you really don't need to worry about the exact weight of your 400 or the tongue weight.  You're fine with your setup.

manyman297

Keep in mind that I believe you lighten your tongue weight with a full tank of water (tank is just behind the wheels). Not by a lot but it does help. 

Also, I think the dry tongue weight on the ‘22 BD is around 336lbs.

Grumpy_G

As already pointed out, the setup isn't anywhere close to pushing the limits. Also the fresh water tank is 22 gallons so that's less than 200 lbs. It might be interesting to see the individual axle weights just in case the load is more than estimated. 
The only time I really paid attention to the numbers was pulling a trailer rated at 7200 lbs with a half-ton truck. 

Sharon_is_SAM

@Grumpy_G - the 400 fresh water tank holds 30 gallons.  The usable capacity before it starts sputtering is 22 gallons.  

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/9115/2020-t-b-400-fresh-water-capacity-change/p1

Jay_and_Kat

So, sounds like weighing the rig isn't critical, but at least the first outing might not be a bad idea to get the tongue weight better setup, and then as we get the hang of "OK, we've probably put in XXXlbs, move this, that, and the other thing forward to balance out the load" we can skip it.

DenisP

Early on I CAT scale weighed my 2018 400 a few times to check camper/TV weights and I purchased a Sherline scale for the tongue weight as I fine-tuned my setup. I dusted off the Sherline scale after reading your post and decided to check the current tongue weight after switching to two Lithium batteries. The 400 is between trips with empty tanks and without clothes and food. Trip ready it will be lower  I think it is wise to weigh your setup to optimize your towing safety/comfort as you are learning about your camper.  Buying a tongue scale is a bit overkill but I wanted to have the flexibility to check it at will. Used very little  

Deb55

@DenisP did you have to do any building to accommodate your lithium batteries? Has it been worth the switch? 

DenisP

@Deb55 I removed the battery box and made a simple box to contain the batteries. The installation was pretty straightforward and should be easy to remove the batteries for winter storage. The AGMs failed on a long spring trip (8500 miles) and I had the heated BattleBorn batteries shipped to Moab. The lithium change has been really worthwhile for our mixture of camping. In the long run I think it will be worth the switch. Not having “battery anxiety” and a 10 year warranty is a comfort. Rooftop solar is quick to charge the batteries. I also upgraded the converter to the current lithium capable one used by NuCamp. 

MuttonChops

@Jay_and_Kat ;  If not difficult to do it is always good to have at least one CAT Scale data point so you know what your real-world margins are.

CAT Scale locations come in two types.  Newer installations have three pads so it is possible for most longer wheelbase tow vehicle [TV] to position your rig so one pad reads the Front axle, second gets the Rear axle, and third has the trailer axle.  Older CAT Scale locations only have two pads.  On those you end of with the TV on one pad and trailer on the other.

I've scaled my 320S twice.
The first was on a three-pad-scale with my TV & T@B fully loaded for a standard boondocking trip.
The second was on a two-pad-scale.  I was in the process of starting a self-move using the TV and TaB as my 'moving van' . . . it only took 6+ cross state trips but did allow short camping stays on every crossing.

Mid-Size Colorado Truck + 320S TB

Deb55

@DenisP so the lithium batteries still fit under the bed? I thought they weren't the same size, but maybe they've changed. I'd kind of like to do this, but we're also contemplating changing campers to something slightly larger in the next 2 years, so we'll have to mull it over.