Don’t risk an unstable and dangerous tow. Our Tongue Weight Calculator provides quick and easy calculations to ensure you have the perfect balance between your tow vehicle and the loaded trailer.
Result:
Using steps:
- Enter the maximum weight capacity of the tow vehicle’s hitch in pounds.
- Enter the total weight of the loaded trailer and its contents in pounds.
- Click on the “Calculate” button.
- The calculator will display the minimum and maximum tongue weight in pounds.
By following these simple steps, you can easily determine the tongue weight for your towing setup, ensuring a safe and stable towing experience.
Note: It is important to consult the manufacturer’s guidelines for your specific towing setup to ensure that you are within the recommended weight limits and towing specifications.
Benefits of Using Our Tongue Weight Calculator
Accurate Results:
Our tongue weight calculator provides you with accurate results that are based on the actual weight of your trailer and load.
This means you’ll receive more exact and precise measurements that are essential for safe towing and legal compliance.
Easy to Use:
The calculator is simple and intuitive to use. All you need to do is enter the weight of your trailer and the distance from the hitch.
The calculator will then quickly and easily give you the recommended tongue weight for your load.
Time-saving:
Our calculator can save you time and hassle when trying to determine your tongue weight distribution.
Instead of having to manually calculate the weight distribution, our online calculator will do it for you in just a few seconds.
Safe Towing:
The primary benefit of using a tongue weight calculator is its ability to ensure safe towing.
By correctly distributing the weight between the trailer’s hitch and axle, you can avoid swaying or tipping while on the road.
Improved Towing Performance:
Properly calculating your tongue weight can also increase your towing vehicle’s performance.
The right distribution of weight over the travel trailer’s capacity will result in a smoother and more efficient ride.
Legal Compliance:
By accurately calculating your tongue weight, you can make sure your trailer is compliant to local laws that regulate the maximum towing capacity of your vehicle. This is essential for avoiding fines or even impoundment.
Avoid Overloading:
The tongue weight calculator helps you make sure that your trailer doesn’t become overloaded.
This helps you avoid potentially dangerous situations while towing a travel trailer.
Cost-effective:
The tongue weight calculator is also cost-effective as it helps you maximize the efficiency of your towing vehicle.
With the right weight distribution, you can save on both fuel and maintenance costs.
Common Methods for Measuring Tongue Weight
1. Metal Scale:
A metal scale is a traditional, simple and relatively inexpensive tool for measuring tongue weight.
This device is usually made of steel and placed beneath the tongue of a travel trailer. The weight of the tongue is determined by the weight sensed on the scale.
This is an easy method, but accuracy may be an issue if the scale isn’t properly calibrated.
2. Tongue Weight Gauge:
This is a more advanced and accurate tool for measuring the tongue weight of a trailer.
It is basically a gauge, often digital, that is placed under the tongue of the trailer and measures the weight through pressure.
It is much more accurate than the metal scale and is highly recommended for trailers or campers that require precise measurements for safety reasons.
3. Tongue Scale:
A tongue weight scale is commonly available at trailer towing supply shops, and it’s a small scale particularly designed for measuring the tongue weight of the trailer.
It’s extremely straightforward to calculate the weight of the tongue using the tongue weight scale.
It involves only two steps, including placing the scale under the trailer jack and taking the reading.
If the jack doesn’t fit properly, you can place a sturdy pipe vertically between the scale and the coupler.
For better convenience, you can buy a model like the CURT BetterWeigh towing scale.
You can sync this device with your smartphone and get real-time towing weights as well as gross combined weight and weight distribution.
4. Weighing Platform:
Weighing platforms are devices that allow you to weigh the tongue of your trailer.
They are accurate and easy to use, requiring only that you place the platform on a level surface.
It will measure the tongue weight and also provide a reading of the trailer’s total weight.
This is a great tool for those who need to measure tongue vehicle weight often.
5 Calculating with a Bathroom Scale
You can also measure the tongue using a normal bathroom scale instead of a tongue weight scale.
However, the bathroom scale has limitations, like it might not measure over 300 pounds.
In addition, you have to put plywood on it before placing the tongue to protect the scale’s finish.
If you expect the tongue weight to be less than 300 pounds, put it on the scale.
If the tongue vehicle weight is likely to be more than 300 pounds, you can set up a test using some pipes and boards. Below is the step-by-step process:
- Park your trailer on level ground and chock the wheels.
- Place a 2×4 or a sturdy board below the trailer tongue on the ground. Make sure the board is a minimum of 3-1/2 feet long.
- Place your bathroom scale around two feet away from the trailer tongue and position a block roughly 1 foot away from the trailer tongue. As mentioned, place plywood on top of the bathroom scale to protect its finish.
- Put one horizontal pipe in the middle of the bathroom scale and the other in the middle of the block. Then note the distance from the tongue. Keep the pipe two feet away from the middle of the trailer tongue and one foot away from the block.
- Place a pipe vertically underneath the tongue and keep lowering the jack until the coupler rests on the pipe completely.
- Finally, note the bathroom scale and multiply the number by 3, which will be your desired tongue weight.
Calculating with a Vehicle Scale
Another alternative method to calculate tongue weight is by using a vehicle scale at the local dump. The process is:
- Weight the vehicle without the trailer hooked up.
- Weight the vehicle once again, hooking up the trailer. Make sure the trailer wheel doesn’t touch the scale.
- Then deduct the reading without the trailer from the reading with the trailer and the difference is your required tongue weight.
Proper Tongue Weight
Maintaining proper tongue weight is crucial. Too little torque weight can cause the vehicle to sway from side to side and makes it difficult to keep control behind the wheel.
Conversely, excessive vehicle tongue weight can weigh down the rear wheels of the vehicle and make steering fairly difficult.
Typically, the tongue weight should be around 10% to 15% of the loaded trailer’s total weight. It is also known as GTW (gross trailer weight).
It means if you are hauling a trailer with around 2000 pounds of cargo, the tongue weight should be around 400 to 600 pounds.
Why Tongue Weight Calculator Is Important
1. Helps ensure proper balance and stability
Utilizing a tongue weight calculator helps maintain balance between the trailer and the towing vehicle, ensuring that the tongue weight is properly distributed and the vehicle is not overloaded.
2. Encourages safe and comfortable trailering
Tongue weight is a major factor to consider when determining safe towing capacity. A calculator helps you determine the ideal tongue weight for your trailer and towing vehicle combination.
3. Prevents vehicle overload
Ensuring that the tongue weight is correctly proportioned will prevent overloading the vehicle, which can cause instability or create a dangerous situation.
4. Helps you determine the ideal towing vehicle
Using a tongue calculator is a valuable tool to use when selecting a towing vehicle. It can help you make sure the vehicle you choose is suitable for your application and make sure you don’t overload it.
5. Reduces the risk of accidents and damage
An overloaded vehicle is more likely to be involved in an accident, which could result in costly damage to the trailer or vehicle, or even injury to the driver or occupants.
The vehicle tongue weight calculator helps ensure that the trailer and vehicle are appropriately matched and safely loaded.
6. Improves trailer handling
Finding the right tongue weight for your trailer and vehicle combination will help maintain an even distribution of weight over the towing hitch, improving overall handling and braking.
7. Maximizes fuel efficiency
When everything is properly balanced and evenly distributed, the vehicle is able to use its power more efficiently, reducing fuel consumption and maximizing fuel efficiency.
8. Maintains proper torque
Proper vehicle tongue weight helps ensure proper torque between the trailer and the towing vehicle, avoiding undue stress on the suspension and axle that could damage the trailer or vehicle.
9. Promotes a longer lifespan
Overloading your vehicle or trailer can damage critical components and reduce the lifespan of your equipment.
Using a tongue calculator helps ensure that these components aren’t placed under excess strain and maximize their service life.
10. Promotes smooth, safe trips
The right combination of tongue weight and trailer weight distribution makes for a smoother and more comfortable towing experience, and a safer trip overall.
How To Maintain Proper Tongue Weight
In general, every towing vehicle comes with information about the safe towing weight.
A vehicle owner shouldn’t tow more than the recommended handle that it can’t handle.
If you load over or under the gross trailer tongue weight, you should adjust the load before starting the vehicle.
If the tongue weight is too low, move some cargo near the front of the trailer to add more tongue weight.
Conversely, if the weight is too much, move the cargo away from the tongue. You may also need to remove cargo to avoid damaging the tow vehicle.
While adjusting the cargo from front to back, try to maintain the balance on the right and left sides.
Why Is Maintaining Proper Tongue Weight Vital for Towing?
Calculating and maintaining proper tong weight is crucial to avoid causing a driving hazard to the driver himself as well as others on the road.
Incorrect tongue weight can easily cause trailer sway, which makes it difficult to regain control, making it extremely dangerous.
Other potential consequences of incorrect tongue weight include:
- Tire blowouts.
- Brakes that become unresponsive.
- Traffic accidents.
- Serious damage to the trailer or vehicle.
- Rear tire overload.
- Personal injury or even death.
FAQs
Is The Tongue Weight And The Hitch Weight The Same?
No, the tongue weight and the hitch weight are not the same.
Tongue weight is the weight that the trailer places on the hitch of the tow vehicle, while the hitch weight is the weight of the trailer that is transferred to the hitch and onto the tow vehicle’s axles.
The tongue weight should be a portion of the total weight of the trailer and its contents and is an important factor in determining the safe towing capacity of a vehicle.
The hitch weight, on the other hand, is the weight that is actually transferred to the hitch and onto the tow vehicle’s axles and is used to determine the stability of the towing combination.
Is The Higher Or Lower Trailer Tongue Better?
Neither a higher nor a lower trailer tongue is better. Maintaining a balanced tongue weight is always best. But if you can’t maintain the balance, go slightly lower.
Can Too Much Tongue Weight Cause Sway?
Yes, too much tongue weight can cause swaying from side to side and make it challenging to control.
Even the extra force can overload the rear tires of the vehicle and push the back end of the towing vehicle around.
Final thoughts
The Tongue Weight Calculator is a great tool for helping people accurately and quickly calculate their tow vehicle’s load capacity.
It’s simple to use and provides immediate results, making it a great resource for anyone who needs help figuring out the right amount of weight their vehicle can safely handle.
Overall, the Tongue Weight Calculator is an invaluable tool for anyone looking to safely and accurately plan their trips.