Recommended Methods to Reduce Trailer Tongue Weight

Question:

looking for a receiver that has a wheel that will remove some of the tongue weight from the vehicle, pulling my RV trailer with riding mower, old trailer had #500lb tongue weight and had no problems, new trailer will have #800lb and not wanting to put that much weight on axel, thanks.

asked by: Michael W

Helpful Expert Reply:

You may be able to adjust the loaded trailer's tongue weight (TW) enough by changing the position of the riding mower and other items on the trailer. If the trailer is long enough for you to keep the mower further back, further away from the trailer tongue, this will reduce the TW to some degree. Ideally TW will be 12-15-percent of the trailer GVW. You can measure TW using a scale like # e99044 or by one of the other methods outlined in the article I included for you.

I do understand the kind of device you're looking for but there is no such item available to our knowledge.

Weight distribution (WD) systems are offered to help solve the problem you're describing. These mount on the trailer frame and shift some of the trailer TW forward onto the tow vehicle's front axle. This helps to keep the trailer and vehicle level, and to reduce sag in the tow vehicle's rear end. In order to use one of these systems your hitch must be rated for use with WD; the safety sticker on the hitch will indicate if it is rated for use with WD systems.

I have linked an article about weight distribution and also our page for systems that are rated for an 800-lb TW. I will be happy to recommend a system if you'd care to tell me a bit about the trailer and the type of brakes it uses. For example, if you have a 2-inch hitch rated for WD and the trailer is an a-frame with electric brakes you can use a set-up like the Pro Series # 49570 with sway bar # 83660. This system both shifts TW forward and also helps to prevent trailer sway.

expert reply by: Adam R