Tongue Weight

[jkane13]

How do you measure tongue weight? At the tip, or at the jack?

I have the Roll-A-Home, and I know it is on the heavy side. It fishtails on curves, and handles really bad over 65 MPH. I know, stay off those roads! I try, but too many times we want to get home sooner, and I like the freeway at that point. I hate being the guy who is in everyone's way slowing the whole traffic stream down!

I find if I add more weight to the front, it handles better. I did get a riser hitch to level the trailer so it does not point down in the front. But maybe that is making it worse?

So now that I have found a "balance" that keeps it tracking nicely, I decided to weight it. WOW! 70 lbs at the tip of the tongue! I was so surprised. I am pretty sure 25-35 was like max ratings, but maybe I recall wrong.

[motomac]

Rule of thumb for tongue weight is 10-12% of the total weight of the trailer measured at the ball connector and at the height of the ball. If the trailer is fishtailing, you don't have enough weight on the ball.

[G wizz]

How do you measure tongue weight? At the tip, or at the jack?


I have the Roll-A-Home, and I know it is on the heavy side. It fishtails on curves, and handles really bad over 65 MPH. I know, stay off those roads! I try, but too many times we want to get home sooner, and I like the freeway at that point. I hate being the guy who is in everyone's way slowing the whole traffic stream down!

I find if I add more weight to the front, it handles better. I did get a riser hitch to level the trailer so it does not point down in the front. But maybe that is making it worse?

So now that I have found a "balance" that keeps it tracking nicely, I decided to weight it. WOW! 70 lbs at the tip of the tongue! I was so surprised. I am pretty sure 25-35 was like max ratings, but maybe I recall wrong.

jkane13:
I'd say you're asking for trouble with that much tongue weight. If you check the rateing of your hitch, I'd be willing to bet it's somwhere in the neighborhood of 50 lbs. MAX.
I run between 30 & 40 lbs, tongue weight on our camper, and it pulls well at all speeds.
I'd be putting your trailer on a diet if it were mine.

G wizz

[jkane13]

Emailed McHitch. They rate it at 40 lbs tongue, and 400 total! Went to the roll-a-home site and see they have the camper at 325 empty! That's only 75 lbs of gear. I guess no more loading the cooler full and all the food inside. :( Plus, I keep the camp chairs on top and have taken a instant up shelter along on top too. Those will have to stay home.

I knew the roll-a-home was heavy, but didn't do the math all the way through ahead of time. I figured 600 lbs would be an OK weight since me and the bike are around 1,000 lbs, so it would not push us around too much. ;) Looks like the hitch really can't take that kind of stress.

[G wizz]

Emailed McHitch. They rate it at 40 lbs tongue, and 400 total! Went to the roll-a-home site and see they have the camper at 325 empty! That's only 75 lbs of gear. I guess no more loading the cooler full and all the food inside. :( Plus, I keep the camp chairs on top and have taken a instant up shelter along on top too. Those will have to stay home.

I knew the roll-a-home was heavy, but didn't do the math all the way through ahead of time. I figured 600 lbs would be an OK weight since me and the bike are around 1,000 lbs, so it would not push us around too much. ;) Looks like the hitch really can't take that kind of stress.

jkane13:
You could do as I did, and install a hitch on your wife's bike and have her pull a small cargo trailer ... share some of the weight with her.
Besides, you don't wanna leave the folding chairs home, it's no fun sitting at a picnic table all the time or sitting on the ground.

G wizz

[jkane13]

My wife? Really? She has a 3 wheel restriction. Rides a trike. I did put a hitch on it just in case we got stuck and needed it. But her restriction is due to her going into panic mode to easily. I would not want her to pull a trailer. She would be frazzled before the first potty break! :rolleyes:

But ... we have discussed that very concept! Actually, she has a welded hitch and the trike has car tires in back. The weight is not as much of an issue. But ... her engine has much less horsepower than mine. So I avoid over working her bike/trike. I just am not sure it is a good idea to put that much stress on the rider versus the machine! ;)

I could put the chairs on her trike rack. That's what we used to do. Just not the 6 foot tall instant shelter!

[BCST]

Jeff you could always build a little platform for the trike hitch and carry the shelter standing on end. I'm sure it doesn't weight enough to bother a trike.


Pete

[Bipeflier]

I have been pulling an Aspen Classic for a couple of years now. Total weight in the 450 - 500 lb. range most trips.

I use a fish scale hooked into the ball hitch socket and shoot for 40-50 lbs. tongue weight. Pulls very well at these numbers.

My GL1800 has a Kury hitch (I don't want to hear from your Bushtec hitch owners) and I haven't had even one small issue. I would do it the same next time.

[bvail]

There really is no magic number as far as tongue weight goes, depends on the bike and trailer. Rule of thumb is 10-15% of gross weight.

My Roll-a-Home was 'happy' with 55-65 lbs at the tongue and that was behind a Yamaha FJR1300. Lighter and the darn bike was all over the road at certain speeds.

My Aspen Classic is not picky at all as far as weight on the tongue goes behind my GL1800, no issues at all. Best pulling camping trailer I've had so far. I have the Bushtec hitch on mine, not that it makes any difference, but I appreciated the plug and play electric harness.

One way to discourage fishtail/wig-wag is to extend the tongue a bit. I was thinking about doing that, but not needed on my set up.

[jkane13]

I agree that the right weight helps a lot. But, I am afraid of wearing out rear wheel parts like bearings or shocks. The bike handles much better with the extra tongue weight, but it also far exceeds recommended settings!

Anyone beef up something on their bike just due to pulling heavy loads? If so, what parts did you consider "required"?

[G wizz]

I agree that the right weight helps a lot. But, I am afraid of wearing out rear wheel parts like bearings or shocks. The bike handles much better with the extra tongue weight, but it also far exceeds recommended settings!

Anyone beef up something on their bike just due to pulling heavy loads? If so, what parts did you consider "required"?

Myself, I would recomend NOT pulling a trailer if you have spoked wheels on the rear of your bike. I know there are lots of trailer tuggers out there that do, but, I've seen spokes loosen up from the extra stress of trailer pulling. Highly advise using cast wheels.
As an added benifit of cast wheels, they are less likely to have a blow out like a tube tire could. Who would want to have a blow out on the back of their bike while pulling a trailer? ... Not me!
Also you can plug a tubeless tire on a cast wheel if needed.

G wizz

[bvail]

Recommended settings IMHO is mainly lawyer speak. I haven't heard anyone wearing out shocks, bearings, etc. from towing trailers. I believe all manufacturers recommend against towing with a motorcycle, but thousands do every year. I think it's much easier and safer to tow a trailer than to load up the rear of the bike with camping gear, clothing and all the other stuff for an extended trip. Sometimes it gets ridiculous with stuff packed up above the sissy bar, etc.

For more information, check the link in my signature line.