Re: Trailer tongue weight scale

[John Hofstetter <hofs@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Monday, June 30, 2003, at 01:14  PM, Joel M Brodsky wrote:

> I checked on that trailer tongue weight scale, and it's $107.  Not bad
> at
> all.  So, do you load the trailer up while the trailer is connected to
> the
> vehicle, then after it's all loaded and hooked up, put the scale under
> the
> tongue jack, and jack the ball off the hitch and see what the scale
> reads,
> then too much/too little, reconnect the ball, then adjust the load,
> then
> retry?
That sounds like a good way to use it.  What I like about your plan is
that you wouldnt have to lift the trailer far off the ball to get a
reading. In regard to what I just posted, I dont think youd need a
scale with an equalizer hitch, but it would be fun to measure what
were actually doing.

I used to tow a 4000 lb. trailer with a Rambler station wagon with
springs made for comfort. No problem with an equalizer hitch, but I bet
I was equalizing so that the rear springs werent supporting more than
maybe a 100 lbs. over what they supported with no trailer. That Rambler
with something over 300,000 miles eventually almost killed me when the
rear spindle broke off and threw the car into a rock bank on the
opposite side of the road. Interesting to speculate what might have
happened if the trailer had been on and the equalizer hitch had been
doing its job. Could I have stayed on the road with 5 wheels?

John Hofstetter