Is tongue weight and hitch weight the same?
08-08-2018, 01:27 PM
#11
We have just brought our 1st pickup truck to tow our 19FT travel trailer that has a GVWR of 4,700 lbs. I thought buying a used pickup would be simple. How wrong could I have been ! I saw plenty of full size trucks that would not be suitable for even our little trailer. I tend to do research on anything I buy and quickly learn't that the trucks payload capacity & axle ratio make a huge difference. For instance I looked at a really nice RAM 1500 Laramie (Please don't shoot me yet !) My wife thought it would be perfect but it only had a measly 1,000 lb payload capacity and 3.21 rear axle.I showed her the math using the weights we got from our local CAT scale a couple of weeks back and she couldn't believe how unsuitable that particular truck was even though it had a big old 5.7 Hemi in it.
Yesterday we picked up our used 2014 Supercrew XLT 5.0 with max tow & max payload package (2,195 lbs) and 3.73 gears. I know it is probably complete overkill for us but I will be happy knowing we can load up and hit the road and enjoy the drive to wherever it is we are going. It was a pure stroke of luck finding this truck and we got it for a stellar deal to boot.
I would strongly advise anyone reading this post and considering towing any sort of load to thoroughly do their research. As it has been mentioned before here, RV dealers will tell you whatever they want you to hear to get a sale as did the dealer we purchased from. I knew we were pretty close to the limits when we brought the trailer and a few short camping trips later we knew we should get the right vehicle for the job.
I am so glad I did my homework I can't begin to imagine what it would have been like to tell my wife that the shiny pickup we brought is not actually suitable for what we want it to do lol
Yesterday we picked up our used 2014 Supercrew XLT 5.0 with max tow & max payload package (2,195 lbs) and 3.73 gears. I know it is probably complete overkill for us but I will be happy knowing we can load up and hit the road and enjoy the drive to wherever it is we are going. It was a pure stroke of luck finding this truck and we got it for a stellar deal to boot.
I would strongly advise anyone reading this post and considering towing any sort of load to thoroughly do their research. As it has been mentioned before here, RV dealers will tell you whatever they want you to hear to get a sale as did the dealer we purchased from. I knew we were pretty close to the limits when we brought the trailer and a few short camping trips later we knew we should get the right vehicle for the job.
I am so glad I did my homework I can't begin to imagine what it would have been like to tell my wife that the shiny pickup we brought is not actually suitable for what we want it to do lol
08-08-2018, 01:41 PM
#12
Thanks for all the info it's gonna take me a minute to decipher all this. How do I know how much weight the wdh adds to the overall weight of the tongue? And just for my clarification the tongue is the part that connects to the ball, right? Yes I need to get this basic lol. So if per the trailer specs the dry weight of the hitch is say 600lbs that does not include the extra amount added by the bars for the wdh, right? And where do I find out what the receiver weight limit is? Manual? Sorry so many questions. I want to make sure I get this right so I can get the right truck for the future when we get a bigger tt.
Tongue weight is the weight of the trailer tongue. If you were to drop the tongue on a scale, that's tongue weight.
Hitch weight is whatever is inserted into receiver plus whatever is attached to it. (Weight of hitch + trailer tongue). This is important because a WD hitch can weigh 100+ lbs.
It's really that easy.
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Boomerweps (01-21-2021)
08-08-2018, 07:06 PM
#13
SAE standards j684 and j2807 only add the weight of the WDH to the payload of the vehicle no where else. They do not add the weight of the WDH to hitch load on the receiver. So if you have a trailer with 1200 lbs tongue weight and the truck/hitch receiver is rated for 1200lbs your good.
08-09-2018, 10:48 AM
#14
SAE standards j684 and j2807 only add the weight of the WDH to the payload of the vehicle no where else. They do not add the weight of the WDH to hitch load on the receiver. So if you have a trailer with 1200 lbs tongue weight and the truck/hitch receiver is rated for 1200lbs your good.
08-09-2018, 11:06 AM
#15
There is no excluding it, you include it as payload added to the TV as part of the tow-vehicle trailering weight. It is part of the required towing equipment in SAE j2807 section 3.2.1.
08-09-2018, 01:05 PM
#17
Copied from SAE j684
6.4 Hitch Identification—The hitch shall be permanently marked by the manufacturer to show the following:
6.4.1—Hitch manufacturer's name, initials, or trademark.
6.4.2—Part, style, or model number.
6.4.3—Maximum trailer GVWR to be drawn.
6.4.4—Maximum vertical tongue weight to be imposed on the ball or other point of connection.
How they define “Hitch”
3.1 Hitch—That part of the connecting mechanism including the ball support platform and ball and those components that extend and are attached to the towing vehicle, including bumpers intended to serve as hitches.
6.4 Hitch Identification—The hitch shall be permanently marked by the manufacturer to show the following:
6.4.1—Hitch manufacturer's name, initials, or trademark.
6.4.2—Part, style, or model number.
6.4.3—Maximum trailer GVWR to be drawn.
6.4.4—Maximum vertical tongue weight to be imposed on the ball or other point of connection.
How they define “Hitch”
3.1 Hitch—That part of the connecting mechanism including the ball support platform and ball and those components that extend and are attached to the towing vehicle, including bumpers intended to serve as hitches.
08-09-2018, 03:34 PM
#19
So then according to that, if your hitch receiver is rated for 1200 lbs, and you have a tongue weight of 1200 lbs plus the WDH of 130 lbs, you're saying it's ok to have 1330 lbs on the hitch receiver that's rated for 1200?
I also find it odd that they say a 12k lbs WDH weights only 65lbs...
Realize also that most of this is a moot point unless you have a very low-rated hitch, but even then the 500/5000 basic hitch would never require a WDH. And again though, you'll probably run out of payload before hitch rating...
I also find it odd that they say a 12k lbs WDH weights only 65lbs...
Realize also that most of this is a moot point unless you have a very low-rated hitch, but even then the 500/5000 basic hitch would never require a WDH. And again though, you'll probably run out of payload before hitch rating...
08-09-2018, 03:43 PM
#20
So then according to that, if your hitch receiver is rated for 1200 lbs, and you have a tongue weight of 1200 lbs plus the WDH of 130 lbs, you're saying it's ok to have 1330 lbs on the hitch receiver that's rated for 1200?
I also find it odd that they say a 12k lbs WDH weights only 65lbs...
Realize also that most of this is a moot point unless you have a very low-rated hitch, but even then the 500/5000 basic hitch would never require a WDH. And again though, you'll probably run out of payload before hitch rating...
I also find it odd that they say a 12k lbs WDH weights only 65lbs...
Realize also that most of this is a moot point unless you have a very low-rated hitch, but even then the 500/5000 basic hitch would never require a WDH. And again though, you'll probably run out of payload before hitch rating...