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Trailer tongue weight

Iowa_Buckeye

Iowa_Buckeye

Smartest person here
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Linn County Iowa
So how much weight can you put directly down on a hitch, minus a trailer?
We are getting ready for our moose hunt and I borrowed this 400qt grizzly from a buddy. He has a nice sturdy bumper rack to put it on, and would guess it all weighs 225/250 as it sits empty.
Just how much meat do we dare put in it? Or should we put other things on the rack and throw the hopefully full cooler in the bed of the truck on the return trip?
I could definitely feel the just the empty cooler back there on my way home from his place!

IMG_6849.jpg
 
I would be worried about that rack failing. If it was me, the lightest things would go in that.

Side note, you have to make your license plate visible. You will get pulled over and ticketed for it, or at least I have.
 
giles said:
I would be worried about that rack failing. If it was me, the lightest things would go in that.

Side note, you have to make your license plate visible. You will get pulled over and ticketed for it, or at least I have.
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My thoughts exactly. And he nailed it about the license plate too.

It's a tundra... That thing can tow a space shuttle can't it? [emoji57]
 
The rack is homemade and is built like a brick shithouse.
I think I will put it in the truck bed if we are lucky enough to get one (or two..) though.
Better safe than sorry.
 
It would be interesting to see just how much beer this group consumes on a TOO outing. How much $ we could get for recycling all of our cans. LOL
 
Bend down and look at the sticker on the hitch. Each truck/hitch is different, hence the classes (2,3,4, etc). There will be a non weight distribution rating and a weight distribution hitch rating (wdh)
 
Bad idea hanging heavy weight off the back of the truck like that as it acts like a lever pulling the front up in the air. I haul a lot of ammo and always put it in the front of the bed by the cab. The boys loaded me one time too far back and I made them reload to the front.
Too far back and it makes for light front wheel contact on the road. Not a save way to travel. If you do use that carrier I would only put light weight sleeping gear in it and nothing heavy.

I also drive a Tundra.
 
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5cent nailed it. There is more to the factor than what the truck can handle. The hitch is what my concern would be. MKIII has a good point about the weight distribution as well. Learned my lesson years ago when someone loaded a trailer tail heavy on me. Lost one of my lives that day if I were a cat. Lucky we didn't wreck.
 
You could fill it half way with water to give you an idea...

Also, the farther you get the weight back, the more it'll be on that hitch. Kinda like holding a gallon of milk next to your body and then extending your arm out.
 
giles said:
You could fill it half way with water to give you an idea...

Also, the farther you get the weight back, the more it'll be on that hitch. Kinda like holding a gallon of milk next to your body and then extending your arm out.
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Hell of a comparison, Dave. I thought for sure you'd use a case of bud light instead of milk[emoji23]
 
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