Not an expert here, but my experience through 4 trailerable boats is that you want to err on the side of having a little too much tongue weight. Your boat will want to try to walk and dance along side your vehicle if you are too light.
Gary
In a message dated Mon, 16 Aug 1999 11:04:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time, JBlumhorst@aol.com writes:
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> West Wight Potter Website at URL
> http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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> Hi Webgang,
>
> I'm hoping to get some sound advice from one or a few of our trailer gurus...
>
> My P19 and trailer weigh about 2000-2100 pounds (fully loaded with gear. I weighed the tongue today using a home scale and it read 250 pounds. The conventional wisdom says that tongue weight should be between 5 and 10% of total weight, right?
>
> I'm bringing it in tomorrow for a warranty repair on something else -- should I have them move the axle to get the tongue weight down to 200 pounds or less? What is the effect of having the tongue weight too heavy?
>
> I have noticed that the trailer causes my tow vehicle to "bounce" a bit when the trailer goes over a bump. (Dodge Grand Caravan with factory tow package consisting of heavy duty shocks, tranny cooler, factory tow wiring. Rated to pull 3500 pounds)
>
> Thanks in advance. Judy B
> WWP19 #266 Redwing
> Sailing SF Bay, CA
>
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> <br>Subject: Trailer Tongue Weight Question
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