WD Hitch/Tongue Weight help...

Hello all,

Relatively new member/poster on here, however I'm not "new" to online vehicle discussion forums. I seek help, and I HAVE used the search function, I'm just trying to find a no-nonsense, simpleton answer to what I'm sure is a pretty common towing question.

For a while I've had my eye on a Carson Rebel X toy hauler. Perfect size for my needs, excellent configuration, electric brakes on both axles. Really, a sweet trailer. Manufacturer specs have the dry weight listed at 4070 lbs and a tongue weight of 600 lbs. Let's assume after propane, battery, and gear I'm pushing 725 lbs or so at the tongue. For those that would like more info: http://www.carsontrailer.com/downloads/Carson_Model_FA.pdf

Now, I had figured for a setup like this I would need a WD hitch set-up so to educate myself on the mystery of how these hitches work I set off to browse the various internet forums. I ended up over on RV.Net and started reading a really heavy thread (pun intended) on WD hitches and got scared so I came over here, haha!

My '09 DC SB 4x4 w/ Tow Package has a tow rating of 6,500 lbs and I believe the maximum tongue load rating is 650 lbs. Can someone explain to me, as they would a child, if the proper use of a WD hitch could bring a static tongue weight of 725 lbs back within the vehicles maximum allowable 650 lbs? Do I seem to even understand how a WD hitch works? Am I seeking a trailer and tongue weight combination that you believe will end up being outside of the vehicle specs in one way or another?

 

The answer is no. A WDH does not change the tonge weight itself, it just distributes it from only loading up the rear axle of the tow vehicle.
The 650 lbs rating of the Tacoma requires weight distribution, with a 725 lbs tongue you would be over the limit.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/towing/27460-show-us-what-you-tow-72.html#post6030789

My camper has a tongue weight of 720 pounds and weighed 5300 pounds fully loaded. I pulled it over 200 miles round trip with no problems. See post #1424 in the "show us what you tow thread."

How do you know your tongue weight?

 

Thank you Cameronsn for your input. I was hoping someone would chime in here with an example of a trailer weight/tongue weight configuration similar to what I might experience. Do you tow that set up regularly? Or is it a once every few months kind of deal?

I'm glad that there are members out there that feel comfortable exceeding the max tongue weight of their Tacoma, but it doesn't sit easy with me. Your round trip distance is about half of what most of my trips would be each way.

I pulled the 600 lbs dry tongue weight of the Rebel X toy-hauler from the manufacturers spec sheet.

What I will probably end up doing is try to get with the dealer/factory and see if they can outfit the smaller 14' Rebel (3,200 lbs dry, 350 lbs tongue weight) with a few more options to make it how I want.

From various websites I have read that the ideal tongue weight percentage should be between 9 and 15% of the weight of the trailer...

Cameronsn, you're configuration would be...

(720 lbs/5300 lbs)*100%=13.6%

Perfect.

Rebel X: (600 lbs/4070 lbs)*100%=14.7%

Little on the heavy side.

If we shimmy some stuff around, the lowest tongue weight you would want to see in this example would be...

4070 lbs * 9% = 366 lbs <--- which would be perfect and we wouldn't even be here in the first place.

I wonder if they could just move the axles forward a bit reduce some of that tongue weight? Now we're gettin' fancy huh?

Thanks again for your input Cameronsn, and safe towing.