Weight of the Trailer Tongue

The tongue load (A) of any trailer is an important weight to measure because it affects the total gross weight of the vehicle. The Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) includes the curb weight of the vehicle, any cargo carried in it, and the people who will be riding in the vehicle.

If there are a lot of options, equipment, passengers or cargo in the vehicle, it will reduce the tongue weight the vehicle can carry, which will also reduce the trailer weight the vehicle can tow. If towing a trailer, the tongue load must be added to the GVW because the vehicle will be carrying that weight, too.

See Vehicle Load Limits for more information about the vehicle's maximum load capacity.

For a weight-carrying hitch, the

For a weight-carrying hitch, the trailer tongue (A) should weigh 10 to 15 percent of the total loaded trailer weight (B).

After loading the trailer, weigh the trailer and then the tongue, separately, to see if the weights are proper. If they are not, adjustments might be made by moving some items around in the trailer.

    See also:

    Preset Destination
    The preset destination entry method lets you set a destination by selecting from one of five previously stored destinations. Besides voice tagged destinations, these are the only destinations avai ...

    Anti-theft Alarm System
    Your vehicle has a content theft-deterrent alarm system. This is the security light. To arm the theft-deterrent system: 1. Open the door. 2. Lock the door with the Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) tra ...

    What to Use
    WARNING Adding only plain water or some other liquid to the cooling system can be dangerous. Plain water and other liquids, can boil before the proper coolant mixture will. The coolant warni ...