What Is Tongue Weight?
Tongue weight is the amount of weight a trailer puts on the towing vehicle’s trailer ball.
The tongue is the part of the trailer that sticks out ahead of the cargo area; it’s typically two rails that form a V shape, but sometimes it’s just a single rail. It holds a coupler at its forward end that fits over and attaches to the trailer ball.
Related: These 10 SUVs Have the Highest Towing Capacity
In many cases, the maximum allowable tongue weight is between 10% and 15% of the maximum allowable trailer weight, which includes the weight of the trailer itself plus the load it’s carrying. That weight is typically dictated by either the manufacturer of the vehicle or by the manufacturer of the trailer-hitch receiver that carries the trailer ball.
For example, if the maximum allowable trailer weight is 4,000 pounds, the maximum tongue weight should be about 400 to 600 pounds.
You want to have some weight on the trailer ball, because if the trailer is heavier in the back than in the front, it will want to lift the coupler off the ball (the coupler incorporates a clamp that locks the trailer onto the ball, but it’s not foolproof), taking weight off the vehicle’s rear wheels. This can lead to instability — and you don’t want instability when towing a trailer.
You also don’t want to have too much tongue weight, as that can overload the vehicle’s tires or rear suspension and lift weight off the front wheels, which can likewise lead to instability.
In most cases, the trailer is designed so that even if the cargo area is evenly loaded, there will still be weight on the trailer ball. Not only does the tongue itself have weight, but the axle is usually placed behind the center of the cargo area so more of the load’s weight is likely to rest on the front, which means on the trailer ball.
When the trailer is loaded and the coupler is disconnected from the ball, the coupler should be resting on the ground, and lifting it should require an effort equal to lifting 10%-15% of the estimated weight of the trailer and its load. Even when the estimated total trailer weight is only 2,000 pounds, that means lifting at least 200 pounds, which is a lot for someone to lift. As such, many trailers have a screw jack at the front to help raise the tongue up to the height of the ball. Particularly with heavier trailer loads, scales should be used to determine these weights.
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