TOWING
B - 4
B
B - 5
Tire Information Placard), and Cargo in mind. These ratings should never be
exceeded. Your safety depends on not overloading the trailer, trailer axles, and
tires. See the specification section for rating list.
WEIGHING YOUR TRAILER
The diagram below shows how to weigh the trailer on
scales.
1. Trailer’s total weight, cannot exceed GVWR
2. Trailer’s weight on axles cannot exceed GVWR.
3. Weight on trailer tongue. The allowable personal cargo must be distributed
in your trailer in such a manner that the Gross Axle Weight Rating is not ex-
ceeded.
To determine this, it is necessary to load all of your allowable personal cargo
and variable weights. Then hitch the trailer to the tow vehicle with load equal-
izing hitch properly adjusted as shown on the following pages.
Place the trailer on a scale with both axles only on the scale (see illustration).
If the weight on the axles exceeds the axle system GAWR then some of the
personal cargo must be redistributed forward in order to place some of this
weight on the tongue.
The tongue weight should be in between 10% - 15% of the trailer’s total weight,
and must not exceed the tow vehicle’s or the hitch’s maximum weight rating.
To determine tongue load, unhitch tow vehicle and place the tongue hitch post
on a scale. The trailer must be properly loaded as determined above, with your
allowable personal cargo and variable weights.
Use a scale, such as a bathroom scale, that has a lower weight limit than your
tongue load, to check the tongue weight by using the following method (see
illustration).
Place a piece of wood of approxi-
mately the same thickness as the
bathroom scales on the ground in
line with the trailer hitch jack as
shown. It should be so spaced
that a short piece of pipe or other
round piece will lay exactly one
foot from the centerline of the jack
extension.
Place the scales so that another round piece can be exactly two feet from the
2 FT.
1 Ft.
Pipe
Pipe
Bathroom Scale
Wood Support
1.
2.
3.