What do you weigh?

Jay_and_Kat · July 2023

So out of curiosity, for those who have tongue scales or other ways to determine their tongue weight, what's your tongue weight and what do you have in the camper when you took the weight?

I'll go first!
'22 T@B 400 Boondock - 380lbs - empty camper / mostly full propane tank / Jackit bike rack mounted

(OK, and yes, this is sort of related to my paranoia post about my tongue weight!)

Denny16 · July 2023

Jay, you also need to know what the gross weight of your trailer is, in addition to the tongue weight. Whilst the tongue weight is good to know, you also need to know what the ratio to tongue weight to trailer weight is, to have a safe towing setup.

The normal recommended tongue weight of any trailer is a minimum of 10% of the trailer’s total weight, so a 3,500 lbs trailer would need to have at least a 350lbs tongue weight. This in the minimum weight, a little more tongue weight is better to insure a stable towing setup. I shoot for 12%, and 15% is about max for the tongue weight. If the tongue Weight is greater than 15%, you need to shift some trailer weight back Behring the axle to a just the weight.

To answer your first question, my 2018 TaB 400 with empty propane bottle and 1/2 tank of water is 400lbs.

Cheers

AnOldUR · July 2023

For our 2020 320S we run between 240lbs and 280lbs fully loaded (water, propane, all our gear). We adjust the load to keep within the 10% and 15% that @Denny16 mentioned. Recently switch from two 125ah AGM batteries in the tub to two 100ah LiFePO4's and took 100lbs from the tongue box. Had to adjust the load on the back to compensate.

bergger · July 2023

2021 T@b 400. Just packed it up today for a week long trip. Clothes, food, normal camping stuff and two inflatable kayaks sitting on the bed. No water as we will have hookups. Propane is at 60% and the tongue weighed in at 350lbs on my etrailer scale. Last month I had the opportunity to weigh the trailer. It was loaded the same as now minus the kayaks so now it is maybe 90lbs heavier today. The CAT scale showed 3120lbs on the trailer axle. So my tongue weight is 11-12% if I calculated that correct. I have weighed the tongue with water onboard as well but can't find the paper that I wrote it on! I believe it added somewhere around 40-50lbs to the tongue. I'll have to do it again when I fill up for another week long off grid trip a week from Thursday. Only a one day turnaround between trips!

I don't get worried about overloading the 3900gvwr of the T@b 400 or overloading the tongue weight. I have to actually watch the gross weight on my truck's drive axle. I have a heavy topper on it and when packed for camping I'm at the drive axles max rating. I'm sure there is some buffer room in the ratings but I still don't like to go over it. I've started putting a few of the heavier things in the 400 instead of the back of the truck. Those are numbers many people do not pay attention to. Just because your vehicle does not sag does not mean your way under the axle rating.

Last month was the first time I used a CAT Scale and it was super easy. I really do recommend people get not only their trailer weighed but also their tow vehicle.

Jay_and_Kat · July 2023

So fully loaded out (full water tank, bikes on the bike rack, clothes, etc loaded by the bed,) the tongue weighed in at 500lbs. Tomorrow I'm planning to hit the first CAT Scale I come across if needed move some stuff around. Right now, the "heavy" stuff is in the bed and back of the Jeep ahead of the back axle and I'm 99% sure the Jeep still has a fair bit of load capacity remaining.

TimandLaurie · July 2023

Took our second trip with the Tab400 BD 2022. Here are the facts and nothing but the facts.
Loaded the camper for a 13 day 1542 mile round trip. Towing with a 2015 Tacoma access cab V6 prerunner with tow pkg. Weighted the camper and truck at Local Cat scale before leaving.
Trailer weight with all provisions and 5gal of water in freshwater tank with a tab of vinegar to sanitize. Also 4gal of distilled water for drinking. Full gas tank and extra propane tank and portable solar panel and two bikes in back of truck.
trailer wt 3340#
tongue wt 380#
truck wt 4680#
total combined wt 8020#
GVWR 5060# (5400# rated)
GCWR 8020# (10860# rated)
TWR 3340# (6500# rated)
On the first leg of trip had no sway control on hitch. Did not notice any problems with sway or squat on truck. Our last leg of trip I put on the Anderson sway control, could be psychological but it seemed to be more secure to me and to Laurie when she was driving. Usually drove in 4th gear unless in flat areas then put it in overdrive (D). We drove from Ohio to SC coast and averaged 14mpg with 13mpg in the mts and 14.5mpg on the flats.
As I stated in our first post I installed a bigger transmission oil cooler and it kept the pan transmission 20 degrees cooler on average. Also drove between 55 and 60 mph. Everybody else passed us but who cares we are retired. Everything on the camper worked fine and weather was great. Next big trip will be to Florida. Happy Trails to you. Sincerely Tim and Laurie

bergger · July 2023

@Jay_and_Kat hopefully you are all good but don't forget that if you tow without a weight distribution hitch, I don't use one, the tongue weight will also transfer weight from the front, steer axle, onto the rear, drive axle. When I'm hooked up the trailer it transfers about 200lbs to the drive axle, in addition to the actual tongue weight. Something I did not think of until I started to look at the numbers. I could not figure out at first why the drive axle had an additional 580lbs when hooked to the trailer when the tongue weight was only 380lbs. There can be a lot to think about other than just towing capacity and overall tongue capacity. Which is all dealers tell you about!

Jay_and_Kat · July 2023

@bergger understood. This is the first time we've loaded up this much "stuff," namely the bikes. We tow with a '22 Jeep Gladiator Sport S automatic with the tow package (not max tow,) and it's been good. This might be the trip that pushes us to seriously look at a WDH, though.

RCB · July 2023

All this chat about weights, is only about the static load - when just parked somewhere. Well once you start to roll those numbers go all over the map. A pot hole, hump in the road, a railroad crossing can decrease or increase the tongue wt considerably. The back of the TV goes up and down and at times quite violently - up increases the load and down decreases it. As long as I’m somewhere near the design load specs I’m happy. Rough and uneven roads etc however can be a concern as you’ll definitely exceed your vehicle’s spec’d limits. However the vehicle designers understand dynamic loads and include for it: but to what extent I don’t know. When on uneven or rough surfaces, slow down to reduce the effect of dynamic loading.

Denny16 · July 2023

RCB, good points, dynamic loading is just, if not more important.

Jay, I would not recommend using a weight distribution (WD) hitch on the Gladiator, which is much heavier than the TaB, and you will be transferring some of that weight to the TaB axle, which could overload it. I keep the heavy stuff in the truck bed on our Gladiator, and adjust the TaB loading to keep heavy stuff over or behind the trailer’s axle. This helps to keep the load fairly well distributed. We use the Jeep’s back seat here (seats folded down) to carry some of the camping gear, also, and bulky stuff in the truck’s bed. You a get a 2x6 and cut it to fit the the Gladiator’s bed brackets to create some compartments in the truck bed. We do put the Yeti cooler in the rear of the bed, for easy access.

The TaB isn’t going to overload the Gladiator’s rear axle rating, but do double check your rig weight and it’s axle distribution on a CAT scale. Knowledge is power, and helps,in good decision making. Enjoy your trip and happy camping.
cheers

Jay_and_Kat · July 2023

So I did stop at a scale on my drive, but I was lazy and didn't weigh twice, with and without the camper.

The we're are with a full fresh tank, the bikes in the tongue rack, and a fair bit of stuff in the bed and backseat of the Jeep...

I will say the camper pulled well, I didn't notice anything concerning. Of course, only having been towing for a whopping 16 months (and not all of those!) That's not saying much...

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