Trailering Random Question

[Pfu]

Interesting conversation. I learned a lot for a 62 year old man!

 

[seasick]

I should mention that you have to take into account the load in the tow vehicle. That includes anything other than a driver and a tank of fuel. The total of the excess load and the trailer tongue weight shouldn't exceed the load capacity of the tow vehicle. For example, you load up your tow vehicle a one ton truck with some gear and two passengers. Let's say that works out to 400 pounds. That leave 600 pounds of available tongue weight capacity. Using a 10% factor, that works out to about a 6000 pound max tow load ( and that includes the trailer). You can see that it is not that hard to place too much load on a tow vehicle. That condition will greatly stress the rear tires and suspension. It can also cause a loss of steering control if the overload causes the front wheels to 'lift'.

 

[Ekea]

I should mention that you have to take into account the load in the tow vehicle. That includes anything other than a driver and a tank of fuel. The total of the excess load and the trailer tongue weight shouldn't exceed the load capacity of the tow vehicle. For example, you load up your tow vehicle a one ton truck with some gear and two passengers. Let's say that works out to 400 pounds. That leave 600 pounds of available tongue weight capacity. Using a 10% factor, that works out to about a 6000 pound max tow load ( and that includes the trailer). You can see that it is not that hard to place too much load on a tow vehicle. That condition will greatly stress the rear tires and suspension. It can also cause a loss of steering control if the overload causes the front wheels to 'lift'.

i think you are referring to a half ton, not a one ton. also, a newer half ton will have more than a 1,000 payload.

that being said, your point is valid. in the real world, you will eat up payload faster than towing capacity with a half ton

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Just a side note... that 10% is more about travel trailers/5th wheels. For boat trailers, the manufacturers recommend 5% to 7%.

I was just on the Grady White website and looked up probably a dozen different years, makes and models of Grady White boats, of which per the GW owners manuals, every one of them recommend that you be anywhere between 5%-10%. The following is a direct quote from the manual... "The adjustment and balance of your boat on the trailer determines how easily your boat may be transported. The tongue weight on the hitch ball should be 5-10% of the total weight of your boat, motor and trailer. Tail-heavy loads cause swaying while trailering. The rollers and/or bun- kers of your trailer should be adjusted so that the weight is distributed evenly across the stern and forward throughout the keel sections. Your dealer can help adjust your trailer properly." So, while 10% would definitely be on the higher end of normal, it's still within the normal range that the dealer recommends, at least for just about all of their boats that have been built within the last 30 years.

https://gradywhite.blob.core.windows.net/media/21860/2004-226_228.pdf

 

[seasick]

i think you are referring to a half ton, not a one ton. also, a newer half ton will have more than a 1,000 payload.

that being said, your point is valid. in the real world, you will eat up payload faster than towing capacity with a half ton

I stand corrected

 

[Bumpye]

I have had an ongoing issue with trailer sway. IMO the boat sits to far rearward causing low tongue weight. Weighed the boat and trailer and found it to be 8000lbs. Using a weigh safe trailer hitch (with built in scale) I found tongue weight to 400 lbs. Too light. I have moved the winch post as far forward as possible. My trailer guy said he has only installed anti sway bars on boat trailers twice. Both were driving across the US to the west coast. He said most important is to make sure the trailer is level or slightly low at the hitch. It’s a little better now. I keep it at 55 MPH and I do ok. Interestingly my old F250 was worse than my Tundra. Both with 10K tow capacity.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I have had an ongoing issue with trailer sway. IMO the boat sits to far rearward causing low tongue weight. Weighed the boat and trailer and found it to be 8000lbs. Using a weigh safe trailer hitch (with built in scale) I found tongue weight to 400 lbs. Too light. I have moved the winch post as far forward as possible. My trailer guy said he has only installed anti sway bars on boat trailers twice. Both were driving across the US to the west coast. He said most important is to make sure the trailer is level or slightly low at the hitch. It’s a little better now. I keep it at 55 MPH and I do ok. Interestingly my old F250 was worse than my Tundra. Both with 10K tow capacity.

I've done 3 different cross country roadtrips for boats over the past 6 years and the only time that I ever really had that much of an issue with the trailers having some sway was with towing lighter boats. Every time I've done the cross country roadtrip was from Maryland to Seattle, which my last trek was for my Grady and was 3,009 miles, which the boat/trailer handled it quite beautifully. Maybe I was just lucky and the trailers were all really dialed in? Though I think that the biggest parts of the problem would be people buying a trailer that's not meant for their boat because it's less money and they want to go the cheap route. That, and the other major consideration that I think would pose a serious issue would be the design of the boat as well as the manufacturer. The first two boats that I purchased and did the roadtrips with are called an Arima. The boats are made out here in Seattle and they have an almost cult like following out here, of which because of that, they bring a high demand in terms of resale value and a used one is typically still in the mid to high $30k range, if not more. I bought the one in Maryland because it was only $16.5k, used it hard for 4 seasons and then sold it for $27.5k and actually made $11k in profit off of it in 4 seasons. The issue that comes to mind though with that boat is the way it's designed, in that the bow is very light, it's a modified vee hull and will all the weight in the stern of the boat. The engine, fuel tank, batteries and everything else is all located in the stern and with it being a pretty light boat overall, there wasn't much of any weight up front.

I could honestly stand on the ground in the front of the trailer, put one hand under the bow of the boat and the other underneath the trailer and lift it partially off the ground. I'm quite strong, and the average person likely wouldn't be able to do that, or even close to it. But I'm sure there's next to no chance to be able to do that when I compare that to my Grady. There were a few times where when I was traveling across the country that I'd have moderate sway back and forth with these Arima's, especially in parts of Montana where you'd have some pretty severe wind gusts of over 50+ mph and it would push you around a little bit. Nothing too terribly serious or extremely dangerous, but I could definitely see there being an issue with a boat like that which is light overall and had all the weight in the stern and with using a trailer that isn't meant for that boat. The boat was so light that if felt like I was towing a dinghy and at times I even forgot that I was towing anything because you couldn't really feel the weight of the boat and trailer. Overall, the boat, motor and trailer probably weighed less than 5k lbs and depending on the truck you're towing with, that might not feel like much at all. I was towing it with a 1995 Ford F-250 with a 7.3L diesel and again, it was like I was towing a dinghy or next to nothing back there. My current tow rig is a 2010 Toyota Tundra with the 5.7L motor and it has a maximum tow rating of almost 11k lbs, and with my Grady back there, you definitely don't forget you're towing something and can very much feel the weight of the boat and trailer.