What if your tongue weight is too high?

[cpaharley2008]

here is a solution....
"Stinger Hitch Helper, Hell-Ya Hitch Helper to stablize your heavy loads and trailers. Hitch Helper, Truck and SUV load solution for heavy payloads or towing. Fast and easy solution for horse trailers, RV trailers, slide in campers, car trailers, sli

[Mike Magee]

Looks like a nice product. Too bad the company isn't making them any more. I wonder if anyone else makes something similar?

I suppose the wheels would turn very fast, which might cause a lot of bearing heat and so perhaps bearing failure would be a frequent problem. But due to the nature of the device, one would simply raise the wheel and make do until it could be serviced.

[Kevin K]

Illegal in some states.

[Raz]

I can't say why but that just looks scary to me. Maybe it's the "wheel barrow" wheels??? Raz

[cpaharley2008]

I think this was the set up used by Lucy and Desi in the movie "Long,Long Trailer" where they buy an Airstream 25' and tow with a ford convertible. They had this setup because of the heavy tongue weight.

[Borden]

Was popular in the 50's and a tv favorite

Originally Posted by Kevin K

Attachment 39869
Illegal in some states.

[Borden]

This type will stop the tail wag prob but the price will hurt
also regular wd setup can help in some cases

In the end shift your load (repack) is just a good idea for heavy tongue

Still depends on your TV, hitch and drawbar setup limits as well

[rgrugg]

The tow dolly was used before the invention of the weight distributing hitch. Back then you either put overload springs on your car or used a dolly. My parents used a dolly to tow our 1939 Kozy Koach trailer from Florida to Michigan with a 1937 Ford (85 hp) in 1947. Earlier dollies had the wheels on about a 3 foot long axle. Impossible to back up. Later ones had the wheels close together as in the photo and they swivilled so backing was possible. I know this stuff because I'm an old fart.

[Orlen Wolf]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I think this was the set up used by Lucy and Desi in the movie "Long,Long Trailer" where they buy an Airstream 25' and tow with a ford convertible. They had this setup because of the heavy tongue weight.

The system shown is completely different than the one used in "The Long, Long Trailer."

The dolly used in the movie was a Watson Dolly. It used a pair of eight inch wheels on a swivel post and a separate tow bar that attached at two pivot points to the top of the dolly frame. All of the tongue weight was supported on a spring and shock absorber inside the swivel post. They also made a version with two swivel posts and four tires.

I installed a Watson Dolly on a trailer I owned from 1973 to 1984. It worked great. The only problem I had was that you couldn't lower the tongue to level the trailer. If the tongue was high you had to put blocks under the main wheels to level the trailer. The owner's manual also cautioned that your hitch drawbar had to have no play (it couldn't wiggle in the receiver) and you had to use a sway control bar (friction type). It also had a bulldog type coupler to avoid slop in the connection from coupler to ball.

We towed from Illinois to Maine, Maine to California, several trips from Maine to Colorado and a trip from Maine to Texas as well as many local area camping trips in Illinois and Maine. We even took it off-roading a lot in Maine, towed behind a FJ-55 Land Cruiser. When we sold it the new owner took it to Alaska from Maine.

We never had any problem with bearing or tire failure. I think I replaced the tires once in the whole time we had it and repacked the bearings every couple of years.

I don't think a Watson Dolly (even if you could buy one today) would work with our smaller fiberglass campers because they sit too close to the ground. Maybe it would work on a larger Bigfoot.

I only saw one other Watson Dolly and it was mounted on a large Airstream. The owner told me the dolly was designed specifically for Airstreams.

Well, enough of my rambling. Back to your normally scheduled program.

[Lizbeth]

The Watson Dolly

Popular Science - Google Books

Watson was an interesting fellow!

[Roy in TO]

I agree with Borden.

Redistribute your load, use a Weight Distributing (WD) hitch or both.

I think that all depends on how much overweight your tongue is. The tow vehicle must match the trailer and the trailer must be loaded properly.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

I agree with Borden.

Redistribute your load, use a Weight Distributing (WD) hitch or both.

Be sure to read your vehicles manual first! A number of vehicles manufactures do not support the use of weight distributing hitches.

[reeves99]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Be sure to read your vechiles manual first! A number of vechiles manufactures do not support the use of weight distributing hitches.

Also, have a hitch expert check your hitch. My Class III hitch can't support WD because of the way it's mounted, or so says my hitch guy (who has 30 years of experience in the business).
Phil

[Mike Magee]

My tongue weight must be too low, because my tongue keeps wagging. Yak yak yak...

[Donna D.]

And here I was thinking throw more beer and dutch ovens (inside) behind the axle!

[Carol H]

Donna, that works for me - way easier