How to Measure Tow Ball Weight
Towing a heavy trailer takes some planning to ensure that it is being transported safely. A trailer that has too little or too much tow ball (or tongue) weight can adversely affect the handling of the entire rig and possibly cause an accident. In addition, the towed vehicle and its hitch have limits on the amount of trailer tongue weight they can handle. It is important to measure your trailer's tongue weight to ensure that you are not overloading the tow vehicle. You can measure your trailer's tongue weight using items you may already have.
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Things You'll Need
- Measuring tape
- 2 wheel chocks
- 2 automotive jack stands
- Bathroom scale (300 pound capacity)
- 1 brick
- 2 lengths of 1-inch diameter steel pipe, 12 inches
- 4-foot length of 4-inch by 4-inch lumber
Instructions
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1
Connect the trailer to the tow vehicle and park on a level, firm surface such as a driveway or a parking lot. Measure the ride height of the trailer by extending a measuring tape from the ground at the front of the trailer to the bottom lip of the trailer tongue. Make a note of this measurement.
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2
Disconnect the trailer from the tow vehicle. Chock the wheels of the trailer to prevent any unwanted movement. Lower the front leveling jacks of the trailer. If the trailer does not have built-in leveling jacks, place automotive jack stands under the front frame rails of the trailer on both sides.
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3
Raise the trailer's tongue jack so that the jack is several inches off the ground and the weight of the front of the trailer is supported by the leveling jacks or the jack stands.
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4
On the ground under the trailer's tongue jack, place a bathroom scale and a brick approximately 3 feet apart from each other. Place a 12-inch length of 1-inch diameter pipe on the scale and another on the brick. Use a measuring tape and adjust the position of the scale and brick to make sure the pipes are exactly 3 feet from each other. Place a 4-inch by 4-inch by 4-foot long piece of lumber across the pipes on the scale and the brick.
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5
Lower the trailer's tongue jack to rest on the lumber. Make sure the tongue jack is 2 feet from the pipe on the bathroom scale and 1 foot from the pipe on the brick. Adjust the height of the front of the trailer with the tongue jack to the ride-height measurement obtained in the first step.
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6
Read the amount of weight on the scales and multiply it by three. This is the total amount of the tongue weight that will be resting on the towed vehicle's hitch ball.
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Tips & Warnings
Experiment with the loading of your trailer while it is set up on the scale. Most trailers should only have 10 to 15 percent of their total weight on the tongue.
To get the total weight of your trailer, transport it to a commercial scale, such as the kind used at truck stops.
