trailer tow ball weight

[aussie john]

My 2000 21i over here in australia is sitting on an extreme trailer is so heavy on the back of my car and i was just woundering how much weight is to much and do i need to push the boat further back on the trailer. Any help is great help thanks guys.

[Ewok]

The basic rule of thumb is 10% of the total weight of the boat and trailer should be the tongue weight. If the boat and trailer weigh 5,000 lbs then the tongue weight should be 500 lbs. Check your tow vehicle as well to make sure it can handle that tongue weight, it should be in the owners manual or online somewhere.

[Ewok]

This is how to calculate your tongue weight. Load the boat up like you normally do, get the trailer level and follow these instructions to determine your tongue weight. You should load the boat so the tongue weight is about 10% of the total weight of the boat and trailer (and all the other stuff in the boat).

For heavier tongue weights, place a household scale and a brick that's as thick as the scale 3 feet apart as shown. Set a length of pipe on each and rest a beam across the pipes. Re-zero the scale to correct for the weight of the beam and pie. Securely block the trailer wheels. Rest the trailer coupler on the beam , 1 foot from the brick and 2 feet from the scale. To obtain tongue weight, multiply the scale reading by 3. For even heavier weights, place the scale and brick 4 feet apart, rest the coupler on the beam 3 feet from the scale and multiply scale reading by 4.

[aussie john]

Thanks Ewok. Should i be sliding my boat back futher to lighten up the front of trailer? My front winch loop is right up to the front roller as in all the photos on here. Is that right ?

[NICKYPOO]

Thanks Ewok. Should i be sliding my boat back futher to lighten up the front of trailer? My front winch loop is right up to the front roller as in all the photos on here. Is that right ?

You would need to slide the winch stand back to make that adjustment. You don't want to move it too far back or else you're going to end up with a trailer with a mind of it's own. What you should do is put some airbags in the rear suspension of your tow vehicle.

Oh ya, Ewok is 100% correct on the 10% thing.

[Ewok]

Thanks Ewok. Should i be sliding my boat back futher to lighten up the front of trailer? My front winch loop is right up to the front roller as in all the photos on here. Is that right ?

First thing I would do in your shoes is take the boat to a truck stop and weigh it with a all your gear like you would normally tow it. Your going to have to unhook the trailer and have only the boat on the scale. This is the ONLY way to get the actual weight of your boat and trailer.

Then go back to your house or a flat parking lot and try the above method and determine your tongue weight. If your tongue weight is actually 10% of your total boat and trailer weight, you need to look at the springs on your car or truck. If the tongue weight is more than 10% of your total weight, look at how the boat is loaded and try to put move heavy stuff to the back of the boat and check your tongue weight again. If there is no way for you to balance the load on the boat to acheive 10% tongue weight, then experiment with moving the boat aft on the trailer.

Be very careful because you don't know the center of gravity of the boat, otherwise you could figure out exactly how far aft to move the boat to get 10% tongue weight. Moveing the boat aft on the trailer will require you to move the bow stand with the bow roller and winch. Not too har of a job but you need to know how far aft to move it all before you spend the time to cut and weld to the new location. It will have to be trial and error going back and weighing the tongue after each movement of the boat on the trailer until it is 10%.

Even after all that, you still might need to beef up the rear suspension of your tow vehicle. My 4runner is rated to tow 7,000 lbs. The dry weight is 4150 + the trailer (1200) = 5350. On an actual scale, empty, the boat weighs 5,800 lbs. With a full tank of gas and gear, I'm towing 6500 lbs (on the scale) with a tongue weight of 600 lbs. I added Timbren helper springs to keep the back end from sagging and it worked great. I just moved from TX to WA and had it loaded up a little more than 7,000 lbs total weight and had no problem with sag or mountains or keeping up with traffic.

Based on my experience, this is not an easy fix for you, but the time spent testing will pay off in the end.

[aussie john]

Thanks for the help and i will let you no how i go

[aussie john]

tow ball weight

Just getting back 2 you guys . My towball weight is 210 kgs or 462 lbs. On here the specs of my 2000 21i boat says its 2900lbs. I have an extreme trailer. How muct would that weigh?? my wagon specs say i can tow more weight than this but i am thinking there is 2 much weight on my towball. What do you guys think?

[jmhatchett]

There should be a tongue weight rating also that shows you what you can put on the tow ball, what are you using to tow the boat??

And the only things i can think that would be "iffy" is the wheelbase if it is an SUV it will be short and you wont have as much stability on the road or control over the trailer. But that also depends on speed, distance and terrain.

[NICKYPOO]

, what are you using to tow the boat??

I'm guessing Holden.

Sorry, Can we see some pics of your set up John? Nobody (almost nobody) tows with a wagon in the states anymore. My grandfather always towed his Cobalt with his Oldsmobile.

[Ewok]

We towed our last boat with a Buick roadmaster estate wagon. The boat and trailer were over the 5,000 lb tow rating but we used a load leveling hitch setup to keep the boat and tow vehicle level. Of course we went through one transmission and added an extra big transmission cooler and still went through another transmission after a few years.

Aussie, unfortunately your going to have to weigh the rig and find out how much your really are towing. You might ultimately have to get a bigger tow vehicle. I would look at airbags or helper springs and/or a load leveling hitch to even out the ride.

[aussie john]

Yes Nickypoo our wagon is a Holden 5.7ltr gen3 with a turbo 700 auto and it towes the boat like a dream
I will have to take a look at my pics to see a good one to put up on here

[kko]

Yes Nickypoo our wagon is a Holden 5.7ltr gen3 with a turbo 700 auto and it towes the boat like a dream
I will have to take a look at my pics to see a good one to put up on here

Errr Ummm not trying to be to much of a smartazz but if it tows it so well why are we having this discussion . Any way I want to see a pic of this setup as well. Moving the boat back is not a good idead IMPO. Air bags or airshocks would be the way to go.

[robert theisen]

Most people refer to tow as pulling.So he may be concerned about handling of the vehicle.

[chadster2]

when you move it back it increases the wag factor! So go slow....