How did you figure out your tongue weight?

[AzWebMan]

Ok, last weekend I traded in my POS van (after the 2nd trip to the emmissions station...) and my wife's car and got a '99 Dodge 1500, which I'll be using to tow my Heep.

I've towed trailers before, but always a single axle and total weight was around 2000lbs. With those, I just loaded the trailer so that there was weight on the tongue, but I could still lift it myself.

I figure Jeep+Trailer weighs in at about 5500lbs I'm no body builder so doing a "lift test" at 500lbs is not an option. So how did you figure out where to park your rig on your trailer?

Here's what I'm thinking:

1. Measure to the bottom of the hitch on the truck before adding the trailer.

2. Add the trailer & move the Jeep around on the trailer until the hitch on the truck is 1" to 1.5" closer to the ground.

Eventually I will be pulling up and down some pretty steep hills and want to make sure that I'm loading the wieght correctly.

[That Mick]

My best recommendation.

Make friends w/ the guy at your local scrap yard, feedlot, truckstop, ect.

Drive the heep and the tow rig to the scale, Set everything so the trailer axle is just off the scale, with the pickup on it.

Load Heep, and drive forward until the scale registers an additional 500 lbs. Mark your position, and use that for a reference.

The 10% rule is a guideline. you may find you need a little more or you might be able to use less. Don't be afraid to experiment a little bit.

[70~K5]

you could get one of these and know for sure.
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...7&skunum=12638

[Recurve]

This is how I did it. You'll need a bathroom scale, 4' 2x6 and 1' 2x4. Draw a line on the 2x6 at 1' increments. With the end of the board being number 1, number the lines 2,3 and 4 and the other end of the board 5. On level ground place the number 1 end of the 2x6 on the middle of the scale. Place the number 5 end on the middle of the 1' piece of 2x4. If your trailers jack is close to the tongue, lower the trailers jack down on line number 4. Adjust the position of the vehicle until the scale reads 125#. The physics of the contraption means you have 500# on the jack since the scale is only reading 1/4 of the weight. I've oversimplified for clarity. I didn't hafta do all the numbering and stuff. Hope you get the idea. Don't forget to mark the position of your rig on the trailer.
................................jack
.................................| |
.................................| |
....1_____2_____3_____4_____5
...._________________________ <---2x6
....^.....................................^
..scale.................................2x4

[Tusker]

The above contraption is a great idea. Another way to use it would be to measure out a bunch of even graduations along the main beam and set the trailer tongue down anywhere along it. Take the scale reading, multiply it times the total number of graduations, and divide it by the number of graduations bewteen the trailer jack and the 2x4.

Me, I just roll my rig forward until the center of gravity is over the front trailer axle. My trailer has a long tongue, and I can lift the tongue with my Sami even farther forward than that. I don't think I could get it to 500#.

[Travis Waldher]

jeez... to much work there. Here's what I do.

I run as toungue light as possible without affecting the ride of the trailer. I have a 96 1500 with 2,500lb overload springs. I drive forward until the rear of the truck drops a inch or two. Here's how I figured out where to stop though.

I pulled a jeep on to far foward and constantly bottomed out the suspension on bumps and lost some steering. (only took me 2 blocks at 35mph to find out I did wrong)

If you load the jeep to far back, your trailer is going to "wag" and potentiall get out of control.

I loaded it just in between.

[AzWebMan]

Thanks for all of your replies. I was real tempted to try the scale thing, but the one we've got is electronic, you push the button wait for the display to say "0" then step on when the weight settles it displays the weight -- I dunno if I could wind the jack down fast enough

Here's what I did.

1. Measure the distance between the ground and the bottom of the bumper on the truck. Completely unloaded.

2. My wife and I together weight around 400lbs. We stood on the bumper and my son measured again. -- 2" difference.

3. Loaded the Jeep on the trailer so that it had about a 2" difference. (2 1/8" actual)

I hauled the Jeep out to a trail close by (15 miles) last night and all seemed good. Now all I have to do is get the trailer brakes wired up.

I bought this wiring harness plug, the instructions say there's supposed to be a plug under the dash for it, but darned if I can find it. I'll probably just splice it in somewhere -- if I can just figure out which one of the 8 wires coming off the brake light switch to use...

[TEX]

I've always just used trial & error. Better to err on the side of too much rather than too little. Then, I keep inching it back every trip until I start to get a hint of wag on downhill runs. That's when I know I've gone too far back.

BTW, under absolutely NO circumstances should you tow anything with that 1/2 ton Dodge with OD on.

TEX

[Travis Waldher]

Originally posted by TEX
I've always just used trial & error. Better to err on the side of too much rather than too little. Then, I keep inching it back every trip until I start to get a hint of wag on downhill runs. That's when I know I've gone too far back.

BTW, under absolutely NO circumstances should you tow anything with that 1/2 ton Dodge with OD on.

TEX

who.. me? Only time my truck ever sees OD towing is very level and doing 75mph. If its even a hint of bogging down (like I have to press the gas more than I would for driving unloaded) I drop it back in to 3rd.

[TEX]

Originally posted by twaldher



who.. me? Only time my truck ever sees OD towing is very level and doing 75mph. If its even a hint of bogging down (like I have to press the gas more than I would for driving unloaded) I drop it back in to 3rd.

If it were me, the only time your truck would see OD would be level at 75 and NO trailer. There's no true "need" for OD even running empty at that speed. Keep in mind, you probably have the same axle ratio that they used back before OD even existed. Running at 75 in 3rd gear is NOT going to hurt your engine, nor will it mess with your fuel mileage while towing because you'll be running at an RPM where the engine makes more power & runs more efficiently.


TEX

[Travis Waldher]

My truck has 3.92 gears, vs the standard ~3.55 gearing.

I always run OD. I did a test and ran without OD on a long trip doing 70mph and running OD. OD got me 2mpg better fuel economy.

[Eskimo]

It's all about the heat... speed is not relevant.. You don't want the truck to stay in OD with the torque converter unlocked.. it generates a TON of heat like that while towing. Heat will kill that slushbox...

That's the biggest reason for towing out of OD.

[Travis Waldher]

Originally posted by Eskimo
It's all about the heat... speed is not relevant.. You don't want the truck to stay in OD with the torque converter unlocked.. it generates a TON of heat like that while towing. Heat will kill that slushbox...

That's the biggest reason for towing out of OD.

Yeah, I know... but I also can tell if OD is being overworked when towing. If it takes any more throttle to maintain say 70mph loaded than it does empty. I take it out of OD.

The tranny has a overtemp warning indicator on it that works (well.. at least the dummy light comes on when you turn the key on), and will also kick out of OD in to drive if overheated. Neither of those have occured.

[AzWebMan]

I hadn't planned on using OD except maybe on those long hauls across the indian reservation with the ever so slight down-hill. Also coming down the mountain out of Flagstaff its a gentle down hill after Grey Mountain (I think?) about 1% grade or less -- smooth and flat. I figured it wouldn't hurt to hit OD in those situations.

Other than that, around here everything is hills or mountains -- no OD for those.

[Eskimo]

Not to beat a dead horse, but if that light comes on, it's too late... Over on the diesel forums, a guy posted a table of temps vs. fluid life, and above 250 degrees (your light probably doesn't come on until 300+), the lifespan was measured in minutes.

[TEX]

Originally posted by Eskimo
Not to beat a dead horse, but if that light comes on, it's too late... Over on the diesel forums, a guy posted a table of temps vs. fluid life, and above 250 degrees (your light probably doesn't come on until 300+), the lifespan was measured in minutes.

That's one reason I'm glad my new truck came with an actual tranny temp gauge. Running at 75 MPH with a trailer in tow, on a 101 degree day, I never got over 190

TEX