Weight distribution/sway hitch effect on tongue weight

Researching these and they weigh 110lbs. How much of that gets added to tongue weight of the trailer? Yes it’s added into CGVWR but it doesn’t seem like all the weight of the hitch should be on the tongue just because of what it does. If it’s added to the tongue then I don’t have the payload after 3 people, dog,5 gals gas and trailer tongue.

 

So if you have a 110 lbs WDH, then the total amount that gets added to the tongue weight (TW) is 110 lbs.

So a WDH doesn't increase/decrease the TW at all, it just redistributes the load from the drive axle to the trailer and steer axle. What's happening is when you're towing a trailer without a WDH, it's pushing down on the back of the tow vehicle and moves the front up, like a seesaw. That means there's less weight on the steer axle, which is where you have the majority of your braking. Not really a good thing when you're towing the extra weight and you need to stop. The WDH is going to make the connection between the trailer and tow vehicle more rigid so it doesn't sag as much in the back and more of that weight is distributed among the remaining axles. So because you have more weight acting on the steer axle, you retain more braking ability as well as a more level towing setup. It's not about the load on the hitch, it's about making sure your vehicle and trailer remain stable.

The weight of the hitch is still acting on the tow vehicle the same way the TW is, so most guidance I've read out there includes that weight of the hitch along with the TW when it comes to the max TW for the tow vehicle. In either case its still weight on the truck, and that goes against the payload. So no, if you have a trailer where you need a WDH, you probably won't have the payload for what you're asking. I hate to be that guy cause I always hate this response, but if you can't keep the TW, hitch, occupants, and cargo under the Tacoma's payload rating, then it may be time to start looking at 1/2 tons.

 

I haven’t bought the trailer yet so I’m just going to make sure I get something that weighs less.

 

It is a good question. I think since its function is to distributes the weight it is safe to just add it to gvw / tw. Keeping in mind that some of the weight of the WDH is tongue weight.
Very interested to see what comes from this thread, and other peoples thoughts.

 

This is more or less the correct and safe answer. Add the weight of the WDH when calculating a safe tongue weight, and also factor the weight in both truck payload and gross combined. (Tongue weight counts as payload!) The reason being, remember that the WDH is a spring. The weight that it's redistributing will be a slightly dynamic load, bouncing between tongue, front axle, and towed axles.

In practice, this is a little bit of overkill. Probably a lot overkill. There are tutorials out there on how to ballpark axle loads when considering a WDH, and whether they're within your vehicles' ratings. That method gets you much closer to reality.

Personally, I wouldn't bother looking for it, because 90% of the time the tongue rating isn't going to be the limiting figure when towing. Almost always it's the truck GVWR (aka payload) that gets violated first.




Me, I'd rather err on buying far too light than to discover on a truck scale that my non-returnable financed trailer is a little too fat.

 

I’ve been watching too many YouTube videos about towing and such and I’m certain that allot of Tacoma owners that are towing big trailers are over payload and don’t realize it. By far my biggest concern is not whether the truck can do it, it’s that in the event of any bad luck, you’re not insured.

One YouTube video has a sport like mine with a 940 pound payload capacity with hard tonneau, side steps, weight distribution hitch, 2 car seats and kids, driver, passenger and he’s pulling a trailer with an over 500lbs tongue weight. There’s no way that’s not over payload. Given that, the truck performs remarkably well. He mentions that truck struggles a bit in the Rockies but damn, it’s way too much trailer.

 

It's easy to do. I always say the Tacoma is more capable than a lot of people give it credit for, but there are still hard limits that can make towing heavy trailers tricky. I would take that setup one further and say that guy probably doesn't even have 940 lbs available for his payload with a full tank of gas. I have a sport with the tonneau cover but no side steps. The remaining payload is just above 910 lbs. I bet he's under 900 lbs remaining. The TW plus the hitch would likely leave him with less than 300 lbs. Not very likely he's below the max with the extra PAX and cargo.

The Tacoma can tackle larger trailers, but generally you're not carrying that much in the truck when you do. You can usually handle two adults and a trailer at max TW IF you load most of the cargo in the trailer. More PAX or cargo though almost always takes you over.

 

This.

 

You’d still be hard pressed to tow with anyone else in the truck other than the driver. A 6400lb trailer, 180lb driver and a 50lb WDH hitch and you’re at 1000lbs of payload.

 

Luckily it’s going to be only the wife and I (combined we are about 300) plus the dog 95% of the time and the trailer we’re looking at is 340 on the hitch so

Passengers 300
Dog 40
WDH 110
5 gals gas 50
Soft Tonneau 25
Hitch 340
= 865

So I’m understanding that being that close to payload and pulling #3500 (loaded) the truck is not going to be a sports car. I’m planning on pulling at around 55-60mph and just taking my time to get to destinations.

 

The weight distribution hitch and anti sway make a huge difference when we’re pulling our camper. 17ft camper. Truck is lifted on deaver expeditions with 12” fox 2.5 shocks and it doesn’t squat at all

 

Your idea is in line with what my wife and I have tried to do(keep it light). I recently started a thread about my experience:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-travel-trailer.795383/#post-28504743

IMO, a good WDH is a must have. I bought ours used on FB for $250. It's a R-3 Recurve and has built in sway control and you can back up with sway control on.