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TOWING
B - 4
WEIGHING YOUR TRAILER
The diagram below shows how to weigh the trailer
on scales.
When loading heavy objects such as tools, skillets,
irons, and boxes of canned goods, etc. keep them as
low as possible - preferably on the floor. Try to hold
additional weight behind the axle to a minimum.
CAUTION: The allowable personal cargo must
be distributed in your trailer in such a manner that
the Gross Axle Weight Rating is not exceeded.
To determine this, it is necessary to load all of your
allowable personal cargo and variable weights.
Then hitch the trailer to the tow vehicle with load
equalizing hitch properly adjusted as shown on the
following pages.
Place the trailer on a scale with both axles only on the
scale (see 2). If the weight on the axles exceeds the
axle system G.A.W.R. then some of the personal
cargo must be redistributed forward in order to place
some of this weight on the tongue.
The tongue weight should be in between 10% - 15%
of the trailer’s total weight, but must not exceed the
manufacturer’s maximum recommended hitch weight
of the tow vehicle or hitch. To determine tongue load,
unhitch tow vehicle and place the tongue hitch post
on a scale. The trailer must be properly loaded as de-
termined above, with your allowable personal cargo
and variable weights.
Used a scale, such as a bathroom scale, that has a
lower weight limit than your tongue load to check
the tongue weight by using the following method
(see illustration).
Place a piece of wood of approximately the same
thickness as the bathroom scales on the ground in
line with the trailer hitch jack as shown. It should be
so spaced that a short piece of pipe or other round
piece will lay exactly one foot from the centerline of
the jack extension. Place the scales so that another
round piece can be exactly two feet from the cen-
terline of the jack extension in the other direction.
Place a 4 x 4 on the two round pieces and screw
the jack extension down on the top of the 4 x 4 until
the tongue of the trailer is supported by it. Multiply
the scale reading by three. This will be the tongue
weight of your trailer. If you exceed the capacity of
the bathroom scales, increase the two-foot dimen-
sion to three or four more feet, but always multiply
the scale reading by the total number of feet between
the wood and scales.
Note: Be sure trailer is level when you read scales.
2 FT.
1 Ft.
Pipe
Pipe
Bathroom Scale
Wo
od Support