Looking for ways to free up some tongue weight SAFELY

Jay_and_Kat

Took my tow vehicle (2022 Jeep Gladiator w/tow package) through a CAT Scale today to see what my unladen weight was.  No camper, no gear, just me, a full tank of gas, and some rain drops.  Once I took the weight, subtracted that from the max GVWR from the door decal, I have ~720lbs of cargo left.  Add in the wife (+200lbs) and I'm down to just over 500lbs.  Last summer on a trip the camper, with 2 bikes on the tongue rack, loaded up for a trip, full fresh tank, came in at 500lbs tongue weight on our tongue scale.  

So I'm trying to look for ways to eke out some wiggle room for the stuff we'd chuck in the Jeep bed (camp chairs, Rhino tank, empty 5gal water jug, the buckets with the water hoses / stinky slinky, various bike stuff like baskets and helmets)  

I know some people would suggest "put stuff in the rear of the camper," but from what people here have said in reply to that, it's a bad idea.  I do not have a WDH nor based on my knowledge would that "fix" the problem.

So, any suggestions, or do we just need to find more ways to trim back on what we haul and maybe lose a few pounds ourselves?

Grumpy_G

"Add in the wife (+200lbs) and I'm down to just over 500lbs." - Somebody is gonna sleep in the doghouse tonight.

Moving things into the the Jeep is not going to make things better. If anything it gets worse as you have the full weight of the items going against the payload, while before it was partially supported by the trailer axle. A WDH is moving weight from the rear axle to the front but again, does not reduce the weight carried by the Jeep. Within reason, moving things into the back of the trailer can help, but you don't want to be too light on the tongue. Traveling with minimal water also helps but that might not be feasible depending on where you go. I mostly travel with full water because of the rather undeveloped camp sites I go to.

Edit: My Gladiator has the "max tow" package which increases GVWR (6250 lbs) and tow rating (7650 lbs). It's a hard to find option but with the current economic situation you might be able to score one at a good price.

Jay_and_Kat

Grumpy_G said:

Edit: My Gladiator has the "max tow" package which increases GVWR (6250 lbs) and tow rating (7650 lbs). It's a hard to find option but with the current economic situation you might be able to score one at a good price.

I wish I'd known about the Max Tow and that we'd be getting a camper, when I got the Jeep. 

But I didn't and at this point, with interest rates going up, I don't want to trade in what I've got.  We'll figure it out, I'm sure, our worst case scenario, we take two vehicles:
1. The Jeep / Camper
2. Her Forester
Depends on if we want to take the bikes along or not.

(PS.  As for the sleeping on the couch?  LoL  Nah, she knows what she weighs and she's honest about it. )

klenger

I had a 2022 Gladiator High Altitude (loaded) and traded for a 2023 Sport S with the Max Tow package and gained somewhere around 300-400 lbs of payload.  Other than leaving stuff behind that you really don't need, there's not much you can do to change the payload. I did get an Anderson WDH (towing a Lance 1475 right now) and it does help level out the truck, but won't change the numbers.

Grumpy_G

I remembered there was a tongue weight discussion here: https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/14464/2021-2022-t-b-400-tongue-weight-vs-2019 . I'd think if you can get it down to 350-400 lbs by moving things into the back of the trailer it will still tow fine. 

rh5555

We had a similar issue when towing a 400 with a Jeep Cherokee.  One thing that we did was to leave the trailer's spare tire at home which saves a lot of tongue weight.  I had an adapter made that would have allowed us to use the Cherokee's spare tire on the trailer if needed.  The adapter weighed next to nothing.  Never did use it.  Anyone want it (for free)? 

sportcoupe

Grumpy_G said:

My Gladiator has the "max tow" package which increases GVWR (6250 lbs) and tow rating (7650 lbs). It's a hard to find option but with the current economic situation you might be able to score one at a good price.

7650 lb Max Tow in 2022 Gladiator was only available in Sport or Sport S trims with automatic transmission.

d_v

Things I did when weight was an issue:
Changed LA batteries to LiFePo4. 75ish
Changed the LP tank to a 5gal. 20ish
Removed the spare tire. 40ish
Changed the off road tires and wheels to smaller ones. 40ish

subfreq111

I don't know if the 400 has storage under the bed, but when I installed our solar system on the 320, I removed the 60# battery from the tongue and installed two 45# lithium batteries at the very back of the trailer under the bed. Now with two 20# propane tanks on the tongue instead of one, our tongue weight is just over 200#. Point being, moving significant weight behind the trailer axle acts like negative tongue weight.

AnOldUR

subfreq111 said:

... our tongue weight is just over 200#. ...

That sounds light. Tongue weight should be 10% to 15% of your loaded trailer weight. For safe towing, being on the high side is better.