2018 21BHS tongue weight

[Paul]

I weighted my tongue with my trailer all loaded up for a trip and the result is 500lbs. I am bit surprised I was expecting more. I will weight it again in September before my next trip

[Merlin]

That's interesting. You have a well-balanced load! The tongue weighs less than on our 16TBS fully loaded. Do you have any freshwater in the tank?

[Paul]

That's interesting. You have a well-balanced load! The tongue weighs less than on our 16TBS fully loaded. Do you have any freshwater in the tank?

No water in the tanks. I was expecting it to be more maybe I don't have a lot of stuff? My F150 with no WDH has a maximum tongue weight of 500lbs. So I don't think I will bother with a WDH for now.

What surprise me more is that most of my stuff is stored in the front of the trailer except the food in the fridge that is behind the axle and the stuff in the kitchen cabinet is over the axle. The rest of the stuff is under the bed and in the front outside storage.

[charliem]

Paul,
Sounds about right. Do you have added batteries and/or propane tanks on the tongue? That's worth another 100 pounds. My 2014 21RBS with two 6V GC2s and two 20# propane tanks on the tongue and two bikes on the rear weighed 525# at the tongue +/- measurement error. The 2014s were lighter than the newer Thor versions so I think you're about right. BTW, if you're going to tow for long trips you'll like the improved ride with a WDH, even on the 150.

[Paul]

Paul,
Sounds about right. Do you have added batteries and/or propane tanks on the tongue? That's worth another 100 pounds. My 2014 21RBS with two 6V GC2s and two 20# propane tanks on the tongue and two bikes on the rear weighed 525# at the tongue +/- measurement error. The 2014s were lighter than the newer Thor versions so I think you're about right. BTW, if you're going to tow for long trips you'll like the improved ride with a WDH, even on the 150.

On my tongue I have a regular group 24 battery and two 20# propane tanks. I don't plan doing much big trip this year I will stay more at my seasonal site but I should do a couple of trip that is like 150km away.

[alazear]

Could I ask how you weighed your tongue weight? 

Using the CAT scales weighting with and then without the trailer, I came up with about 850 lbs. tongue weight for the same trailer, but I'm unsure of the accuracy of my numbers.  I've since moved some weight to the bunk beds in the back, but being unsure of my numbers, I'm not sure if I'm on the right track or not.  I know tongue weight is recommended as 10-15% of trailer weight.  If my numbers were accurate, I think I was up at 18%?

Adam

[Gary M]

This is another reason I moved my batteries off the tongue and under the bunk. I have a couple 30lb tanks and also towing with F150.

[charliem]

Although I have no hard data I have long suspected a CAT scale designed to weigh semi trucks might not be very accurate on 3500# trailers. It doesn't take much error to make a huge difference in your tongue weight, especially when you're subtracting two larger numbers. The best methods are the bathroom scale with a beam method or one of the several tongue weight scales available. The first is cheap and available; the second is more expensive but convenient.

[Paul]

Could I ask how you weighed your tongue weight? 

Using the CAT scales weighting with and then without the trailer, I came up with about 850 lbs. tongue weight for the same trailer, but I'm unsure of the accuracy of my numbers.  I've since moved some weight to the bunk beds in the back, but being unsure of my numbers, I'm not sure if I'm on the right track or not.  I know tongue weight is recommended as 10-15% of trailer weight.  If my numbers were accurate, I think I was up at 18%?

Adam

I have put my trailer level and used a tongue weight as you can see in my picture it's a sherline lm-1000
https://sherline.com/product/sherline-trailer-tongue-weight-scale/

Once my trailer level I have put the scale on blocks so the scale is at the same height and in the tongue (a bit lower) and then retracted my jack so the weight goes all on the weight.

[Popup2012]

Merlin, what is the tongue weight of your 16TBS and do you have any water in the tanks.  My 16TBS is 400 LBS on the Tongue weight with no water in the tanks.  I have the old model with 4 tires.

[gbpack]

Our 2015 21BHS usually has a tongue weight of around 600 pounds when fully loaded for a big trip (no water in the tanks). We always have a bunch of gear back in the bunk area (rear of the axles) which helps offset some of the load up front. We have a lot of stuff under the bed up front and in the basement (front pass-through storage area), as well as two 6-volt GC batteries and a steel battery box and two 20-lb propane tanks up on the nose. We use the same 1,000 pound Sherline scale that Paul mentions above and it seems to be very accurate.

[Merlin]

Merlin, what is the tongue weight of your 16TBS and do you have any water in the tanks.  My 16TBS is 400 LBS on the Tongue weight with no water in the tanks.  I have the old model with 4 tires.

Our 2-axle 16TBS has a tongue weight of 320 lbs when in storage mode (no stuff and no water) and 540 lbs when fully loaded ready for the road with about 30 gallons of freshwater in the tank. See details here:

https://aluminumcamperforum.com/index.php?topic=391.0

[DavidM]

Your unloaded weight makes sense. Our 2013 16TBS weighed 280 lbs the day I brought it home from the dealer. But I would be surprised if it weighs as much as yours now, loaded and ready to camp but with no water. Will check in the next few weeks. I suspect 400 lbs all due to stuff in the pass through. Other than the pass through we store very little stuff forward of the axles.

David

[Merlin]

2 batteries, 2 propane tanks, 60 feet of heavy wire, a full pass-through and a full fresh tank will rack up the pounds quick. We don't always travel with a full fresh tank on long hauls or in the mountains. That water forward of the axles is heavy. On short hops or local camping we do travel heavy.

[Paul]

I am getting ready for a trip and I thought about checking my tongue weight since it could be different after the recall and I also got a heavier mattress. I was really surprised to see that the tongue weight was still 500lbs