# Increasing Trailer Tongue Weight



## golfpercy5 (Oct 8, 2003)

Hi, this is the first year I really trailered my boat, and I noticed that there isn't nearly enought tongue weight. I could literally push up on the front of the boat and it could possibly flip. My boat is back heavy cause it's a I/O and with a kicker, but is there any way to increase the tongue weight. I've also heard about weight distribution hitches, but will that work for not enough tongue weight or are they made for trailers with TOO much tongue weight? I have it safely stored and winterized, but im just thinking ahead to next spring. Thanks in advance for the help  

Paul


----------



## POLARBEAR (May 13, 2002)

weight distributing hitches are for excessive tongue weight. 

you should be able to move the boat forward on the trailer. generally you will only have to move it a couple of inches. but if you do move it remember to watch the rear of the boat as well. things like speedo, and parts for your fishfinder. good luck.


----------



## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

Like Polarbear said, moving the boat forward will increase tongue weight. But you could get the same effect by moving the axle back also. This isn't an option on all trailers but take a look at yours. If it's doable, that might be an option.


----------



## Beave (Aug 26, 2002)

Usually you can move the post the winch is mounted to forward by loosening the bolts holding it to the trailer. As Polarbear said, depending on the kind of trailer you have and how big your boat is compared to the trailer you may not be able to. Watch how much room you have between your last bunk or roller and your electronics too.

Moving the axle back is a possibility on some trailers, but most of your higher end trailers that won't be possible anymore. They're now putting pins through the axle or welding brackets to the frame to assure the axle doesn't slip back. Before they were putting those on, a decent sized pothole at highway speeds could cause one side of your axle to slide back out of alignment. If you move the axle you also have to worry about re-alignment. I'd try to move the winch post first if you have room. A few inches is probably all you'll need.


----------



## golfpercy5 (Oct 8, 2003)

I've tried moving the winch post, and if i move it any more, the back of the boat won't be sitting on the rollers. Without the trailer sitting in my garage (it's in petoskey, im in east lansing), i'm not sure if moving the axle back is feasable, but who knows.


----------



## Beave (Aug 26, 2002)

Sounds like the trailer wasn't properly spec'd to the boat. Depending on boat size you should have 80lbs of tounge weight or more. For a big 24+ footer it should be more in the neighborhood of a couple hundred. If you look online there are websites that have the "ideal" trailer weight distribution forumlas that'll tell you about how much tounge weight you want for certain weight loads and trailer configurations. If you don't have enough tounge weight your boat will also be much more prone to fishtailing at higher speeds.

If it's an older boat and the trailer wasn't purchased with the boat you should see about moving the axle. If you have surge brakes that's probalby out of the question without new brake lines. Other things to look at are gas tank location and how full they are. My Grandfather's old Starcraft 22' has the gas tank in the back of the boat behind one of the jump seats, not under the floor. It's a horrible location for a tank because the tank is really heavy when full and is a good 5' behind the axle. With an almost empty tank of gas it rides really well on the trailer. With a full tank it has almost no tounge weight and rides like crap. It's an easy fix, we just make sure we don't put much more gas in the boat than we need plus a little extra for a safety factor. Where is the center of your gas tank with regards to the axle?

If you have anything you can move to the front of the boat for balast during towing that may be an easy fix too. I don't know how big your boat is, but if it's not too big you may even be able to help by tossing a few bags of sand in the very front of the boat while towing, then just toss them in the back of your truck when you get to the launch. You might also want to consider taking the kicker off for towing. Anything that far back from the centerline of the axle is going to have a big effect on tounge weight.


----------



## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

On most small single axle boat trailers, moving the axle back is a piece of cake, just a few U bolts, some trial tests as you slide the axle back and measure to make sure the axle is square before re-tightening the nuts. I had to move the axle on my rig after installing a jack plate that lightened the tongue weight to unacceptable levels.


----------

