Looking for input on trailer choices

[joshuabardwell]

That's the part that's still in question, though. From what I understand, the problem with tongue weight is not when "at rest". Instead, it's when you're moving. Actually, when you're trying to STOP moving...

I'm familiar with that argument. I'd be kind of surprised if Toyota went to such trouble to advertise its 10k tow rating only to put an asterisk on it and say "with a WD system." And if the truck is rated to tow 10k without a WD, then it should be good to go, you would think, trailer dive or not.

- I have the ability to take some of the tongue weight off simply by backing the tractor up a little on the trailer and shifting the weight a little more toward / over the rear axle of the trailer.

You sound like you know what you're doing, but I would be very careful about that one. Once you get lower than about 10% tongue weight, things can get wobbly. Be careful.

my bed, fully compressing the rear springs (meaning about 1200-1300 pounds in the bed), and the truck never felt like it was "squatting" in the rear. I realize that having more weight applied *behind* the axle is worse than what I had *over* the axle, but I don't believe I will find myself in that situation.

Right. Bear in mind that weight in the bed applies partially to the front axle. Weight on the hitch applies entirely to the rear axle. If you're really curious, you can just get a tape measure out and measure from the ground to the top of the wheel arch with the truck unloaded, and then in various loaded conditions, to quantify the amount of squat you've got.

 

[meburdick]

I'm familiar with that argument. I'd be kind of surprised if Toyota went to such trouble to advertise its 10k tow rating only to put an asterisk on it and say "with a WD system." And if the truck is rated to tow 10k without a WD, then it should be good to go, you would think, trailer dive or not.

I believe Ford is one vendor that does exactly this. I would not be surprised if Toyota did the same. I'm still looking for a documented maximum tongue weight rating... That will give me a much better idea as to whether their ratings were based on using a WDH or not.

You sound like you know what you're doing, but I would be very careful about that one. Once you get lower than about 10% tongue weight, things can get wobbly. Be careful.

I'm new to trailering heavy loads / long trailers. But, I'm fairly mechanically inclined, I do a lot of reading about what others are doing, and I ask a lot of questions when something doesn't make sense to me. I know that too little tongue weight is just as bad as too much, although for different reasons. I'm planning to load up and short haul around the neighborhood to set up the brake controller as well as get a feel for towing that much weight.

Right. Bear in mind that weight in the bed applies partially to the front axle. Weight on the hitch applies entirely to the rear axle. If you're really curious, you can just get a tape measure out and measure from the ground to the top of the wheel arch with the truck unloaded, and then in various loaded conditions, to quantify the amount of squat you've got.

I've been thinking about the measuring part. Using known quantities of weight at the back of the bed and measuring will give me a pretty good idea of "how much tongue weight makes it squat a certain amount". It isn't perfect because the length of the moment arms (the amount of leverage) for the weight will not be exactly the same as on the tongue, so I'll have to do some math to get the numbers that would be associated with having weight on the tongue. I'd pile it onto the tailgate, but Toyota specifically tells you the gate isn't rated to handle over a few hundred pounds.

 

[Diamondpilot]

All manufactures use the it can tow this when properly equipped approach. For example my F-350 is rated at about 18,000# but thats GN/5th wheel. For bumper pull its rated at 12,000# towing or 15,000# WD.

Chris