Tongue - Fiberglass RV
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 08-20-2012, 12:23 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
je.bedard's Avatar
 
Trailer: Trillium 13 ft
Posts: 19
Tongue

Hello. I was thinking on adding my spare tire under my tongue but I'm not sure if it will be too heavy. I already have one propane tank and one battery. I have a trillium 1300. Thanks for your help.
je.bedard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 12:36 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Carol H's Avatar
 
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
Registry
It depends on what your tow vehicles tongue limit is as well as the hitch class & ball limit you are using.
Carol H is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 12:43 PM   #3
Junior Member
 
je.bedard's Avatar
 
Trailer: Trillium 13 ft
Posts: 19
I have a Mazda tribute 2009 and my load capacity is 2000 lbs. I've weight the camper last week and the total weight was 1100 lbs.
je.bedard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 01:09 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Carol H's Avatar
 
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
Registry
What does just the tongue weigh? My guess with two full propane tanks & battery you are probable over 200lbs. What does the tow vehicle manual say in regards to max tongue weight? What class hitch do you have on the car? whats the ball size - most of the balls have a weight limit stamped on the top of them.
Carol H is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 01:34 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Carol H's Avatar
 
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
Registry
Jerome, I did a quick google search and it looks like your Mazda may only have a tongue rating of 150lbs. I would give Mazada a call to confirm that. 150lbs is pretty easy to go over .. if you havent weighed just the tongue with the trailer loaded you may want to do that. You may need to loose one of your propane tanks even without the tire on the tongue ;-)
Carol H is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 01:46 PM   #6
Junior Member
 
je.bedard's Avatar
 
Trailer: Trillium 13 ft
Posts: 19
I only have one tank
je.bedard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 01:52 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Carol H's Avatar
 
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
Registry
Quote:
Originally Posted by je.bedard View Post
I only have one tank
Sorry my mistake. Even so I suspect you are up in the 150lb range if not higher - I only have one 20lb tank and one battery and dont carry a lot in the front of the trailer and its in the 220lbs range when the tank is full.
Carol H is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 02:35 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
David Tilston's Avatar
 
Name: Dave W
Trailer: Trillium 4500 - 1976, 1978, 1979, 1300 - 1977, and a 1973
Alberta
Posts: 6,926
Registry
Since your fresh water holding tank is behind the axle, put water in the holding tank to lower your tongue weight. This will of course increase your total weight.
David Tilston is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 03:01 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Carol H's Avatar
 
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
Registry
Quote:
Originally Posted by David Tilston View Post
put water in the holding tank to lower your tongue weight. This will of course increase your total weight.
It will also increase the chances of a sway issue if you drop the tongue weight to below 10% of your total weight after having increased your weight at the rear with water.
Carol H is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 04:10 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
David Tilston's Avatar
 
Name: Dave W
Trailer: Trillium 4500 - 1976, 1978, 1979, 1300 - 1977, and a 1973
Alberta
Posts: 6,926
Registry
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carol H View Post
It will also increase the chances of a sway issue if you drop the tongue weight to below 10% of your total weight after having increased your weight at the rear with water.
Yes, that is a concern.
David Tilston is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 06:32 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
honda03842's Avatar
 
Name: Norm and Ginny
Trailer: Scamp 16
Florida
Posts: 7,517
Mazda Tribute and Ford Escape

I own neither a Trillium or a Mazda Tribute, but I believe a Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute are vehicle clones. You might PM Floyd, he has an Escape and has towed extensively with it. As well Floyd has a 13 foot trailer.

As to carrying water in your tank to balance the tongue, I do carry about 8 gallons. I have not seen any sway with our trailer, admittedly it is not a Trillium.

I was wondering why you want to move the tire to the front hitch. Is it typically at the rear of the trailer?

Safe travels.
__________________
Norm and Ginny

2014 Honda Odyssey
1991 Scamp 16
honda03842 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 06:33 PM   #12
Raz
Senior Member
 
Raz's Avatar
 
Trailer: Trillium 2010
Posts: 5,185
Quote:
Originally Posted by David Tilston View Post
Since your fresh water holding tank is behind the axle, put water in the holding tank to lower your tongue weight. This will of course increase your total weight.
Last year I did a little experiment to see how I could effect the tongue weight on my Trillium. One of the things I tried was adding water . What I found was that for every 2 1/2 gallons of water (approximately 20 lbs) I added to my tank, the tongue weight dropped by only 5 lbs. Moving something from the front to the back was the most effective. Raz
Raz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2012, 08:11 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
LukeP's Avatar
 
Trailer: 1972 13 ft Boler American
Posts: 262
Registry
You may have thought of this, but are you concerned about clearance? My tongue jack, which would have a similiar amount of clearance, has scraped on 2 occasions where the dip was too severe coming out onto the street - the jack bent slightly, a tire may not be so forgiving? Just a thought.
LukeP is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-21-2012, 02:42 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Name: Jesse
Trailer: 1984 Scamp 13'
Maryland
Posts: 815
I would not recommend moving any more weight to the front. My 13 food Scamp had a tongue weight of nearly 180 pounds when I bought it. I removed the battery from the tongue and replaced the steel propane tank with a fiberglass one and am now sitting somewhere around 130 pounds. It is easy to make additional adjustments by loading the trailer properly.

Sway is induced by having low tongue weight combined with high speeds. The norm in Europe is to have 4% of the trailer weight on the tongue. They tend to tow a bit slower than we do.

Keeping the tongue weight to a safe, low level will make towing much more pleasant with a smaller vehicle like your Mazda.
__________________
-Jesse
SOLD! - 1984 Scamp 13 in Maryland.
mcbrew is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-29-2012, 07:22 AM   #15
Member
 
Name: Mark
Trailer: Trails West Campster
California
Posts: 50
Use a bathroom scale and a jack to get the weight of your tongue with the tire up front, and at the original mount.

Mark
- - -
Mark Godfrey is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Tongue boxes rgrugg Modifications, Alterations and Updates 4 11-09-2011 01:54 PM
Tongue weight cpaharley2008 Towing, Hitching, Axles and Running Gear 69 03-25-2011 03:12 PM
Tongue Weight Chester Taje Towing, Hitching, Axles and Running Gear 26 07-03-2007 10:59 PM
Tongue Job Gerry Modifications, Alterations and Updates 0 05-28-2007 03:54 AM
Tongue Weight Chester Taje General Chat 0 01-01-1970 12:00 AM

» Upcoming Events
No events scheduled in
the next 465 days.
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:59 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.