Hitch Weight by Spec or Percent

[MGRAM57]

I know this is a widely discussed topic but I haven’t found exactly what I am looking for, apologies in advance if this is answered. I am looking at eventually getting a travel trailer. I found a few I really like. Shasta 26BH and Shasta 26DB are my top 2. Their hitch weight on manufacture specs are 480 and 580 respectively, their GVWR are 6250 and 6950 respectively. I have seen some posts suggest hitch weight was a percentage of trailer GVWR at 10%, others say 15%. A percentage measurement would differ from the specs, which I understand is possible due to loading but would it be by almost 300 lbs?

More info if it helps:
Unloaded weights are 4443 and 5318

Truck Specs
Payload 1665
GVWR 7100
Curb 5435
GCWR 17000
GAWR(Front) 3900
GAWR(Rear) 4100

Most passengers/gear I would have in truck in addition hitch weight would be ~1000 lbs.

I’ve tried to do a lot of the homework on this just need some help form those with more experience.


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[Zeronet]

See the specs of my trailer in my signature. Two people camping and I’ve done a lot with loading the trailer to reduce tongue weight. Batteries (2) are lithium (30lbs each) replaced the lead batteries (60 each) that were mounted on the tongue and are now mounted further back in the camper. Advertised dry tongue is 658. Loaded for camping it’s 850 plus another 100 for the weight distribution hitch. So yes, about 300 pounds for my rig. About 120 of that is transferred to the trailer axles with weight distribution engaged. Net added weight to the truck is about 830. Leaves me about 650 payload for occupants and cargo in the truck. These are scaled weights.

To answer your question, in my case, the loaded trailer tongue weight of 850 is a little more than 11% of the 7600 GVWR. And I’m way below the trailers GVWR at about 6700 ready to camp. If I was loaded to GVWR I’m sure the tongue would be closer to 13-14%. At 6700, the 850 tongue is 12.7% and that is with conscious efforts to reduce tongue weight.

Another way to look at it. The advertised tongue weights of the trailers you listed are 11-13% of the dry weights. As you load the trailer with your gear it will affect the tongue weight at a similar 11-13%. So your 1700 of cargo capacity in the trailer times 12% is an additional 204 tongue weight on top of the advertised tongue. I’d expect 684 for the smaller trailer and 784 for the larger, loaded and ready to camp. Don’t forget the weight of the weight distribution hitch, typically an additional 80-100.

Hope that helps.

 

[blakei]

We bought our Jayco 28BHS partly due to the spec tongue weight of 765 lbs and weight of 6700. It ended up at 7000 lbs dry, closer to 8000 lbs loaded, and the tongue weight is 1000-1100 lbs depending on loading. I’d definitely go with 12-15% of the trailer weight rather than the listed spec.


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[MGRAM57]

Thank to both of you for the help. Does give me a better picture. I think my next step is to get a true truck base weight with gear at a CAT scale. I wouldn’t have imagined loading the camper to add about 1,000 lbs which seems to be the case for both of you, so I’ll assume that’s pretty standard? Are there any perticularly heavy items or is it just everything added up? Totally new to this so sorry if that’s a silly question I was thinking some food, clothes and camp chairs would be all we would need. I know full water tanks add weight too.

 

[LoNeStAr]

It all adds up. Clothes, blankets, pillows, towels, food, drinks, plates, bowls, cups, pots, pans, silverware, sewer hose, fresh water hose, leveling blocks, tools, power cords, etc. So much more I haven’t even listed

 

[Drewster]

I know this is a widely discussed topic but I haven’t found exactly what I am looking for, apologies in advance if this is answered. I am looking at eventually getting a travel trailer. I found a few I really like. Shasta 26BH and Shasta 26DB are my top 2. Their hitch weight on manufacture specs are 480 and 580 respectively, their GVWR are 6250 and 6950 respectively. I have seen some posts suggest hitch weight was a percentage of trailer GVWR at 10%, others say 15%. A percentage measurement would differ from the specs, which I understand is possible due to loading but would it be by almost 300 lbs?

More info if it helps:
Unloaded weights are 4443 and 5318

Truck Specs
Payload 1665
GVWR 7100
Curb 5435
GCWR 17000
GAWR(Front) 3900
GAWR(Rear) 4100

Most passengers/gear I would have in truck in addition hitch weight would be ~1000 lbs.

I’ve tried to do a lot of the homework on this just need some help form those with more experience.


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You answered your own question. Their hitch weight looks to be ~10% of the unloaded weight. How you load the trailer and where will obviously impact the actual tongue weight.

 

[blakei]

It’s amazing how fast the weight adds up. We didn’t think we had much in the pass through storage - camp chairs, paper goods, water hoses, leveling blocks, some toys for kids, camp gear. Ended up being 250 pounds! We trimmed that down and used organizer bins. Guess what? The organizer bins weigh 5 pounds empty...

Weigh a laundry basket of clothes. Probably 20-25 pounds.

Food is heavy...lots of water content if you are taking drinks / fruit / veg.

Throw in a generator at 100 pounds, toolbox, etc.

Weight adds up quickly if you don’t pay attention to it.

We took to loading heaviest items in bins over axle while traveling and try to keep bulky lighter items (like camp chairs) in the pass through to keep down tongue weight.

If you are not going out for long you could easily remove one propane tank and save yourself 55 or so pounds of tongue weight.


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[MGRAM57]

Thanks I didn’t realize weight added up so quickly. I went to a CAT scale today and found there is about 100 more lbs weight in the truck alone than what I expected. I guess dealer installed options and the few things I carry added up.

Appreciate all the examples from your experience and tips on how to balance it out.


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