'15+ 240/242 tongue weight

[Rodney Findley]

Is it me or do these boats fill heavy on the tongue? When I pull, it feels real "spongy" and gives the sensation of being overweight but that is not the case. I have pulled trailers for years but this boat fells a little different?

 

[bronze_10]

What are u pulling it with?

 

[Julian]

I'm curious to know how much more tongue weight my boat has....it is definitely much more than my SX 230. Wonder if I have a scale that would go that high?

 

[Rodney Findley]

What are u pulling it with?

2013 Ford Expedition

 

[McMark]

Use 2 scales with a board across. Add the weights together.

 

[Zeus2013]

2013 Ford Expedition

I am pulling a 2015 Sx240 with a 2013 Expedition EL. What do you mean by "spongy"?

 

[Hana]

Curious myself, I'm towing a 2016 242x with a 2005 Expedition. It seems pretty heavy on the tongue. Also wondering how you guys leveled your trailer for the hitch height. I see that when I place a level at the front of the trailer it gives a different reading than if I put it between the axles or behind the axles.

 

[Zeus2013]

I have do not have a drop in my hitch and it is fine. I had a 3" drop and it was low. Tongue weight appears fine.

 

[rsg1963]

Have not noticed anything excessive here. Should be about 10-15% of the total weight on the hitch ball (about 500 give or take for my setup) and that seems inline with what mine is. I tow with two different vehicles and they both feel fine with it. I'm wondering if your tires are inflated to max, tires are spec'd for the weight, or perhaps the rear shocks are ready for retirement? Scale idea is a good one. Using a 4x4 across two bathroom scales should do it. I might just try that myself, just so I know.

 

[Rodney Findley]

I am pulling a 2015 Sx240 with a 2013 Expedition EL. What do you mean by "spongy"?

On bumps and road transitions, it seams to bounce a lot at the tongue. I might try and adjust the ball height, I currenly have a 2" drop hitch on the Expedition.... If I leveled it out it might work better.
I shoud have thought of that first? I think the ideal hich height is around 26-27" correct?

 

[Julian]

My understanding is that the maximum tongue weight on a Class III hitch (ball) is limited to 500 lbs. So they'd better not have put 15% of the trailers weight on the tongue! In my case that would be 5382 pounds (dry) *.15 = 807 pounds! Even at 10% it would be to high for the hitch. Hopefully they've balanced these trailers to ensure that with gas and gear they aren't going over the 500lbs....

 

[Zeus2013]

On bumps and road transitions, it seams to bounce a lot at the tongue. I might try and adjust the ball height, I currenly have a 2" drop hitch on the Expedition.... If I leveled it out it might work better.
I shoud have thought of that first? I think the ideal hich height is around 26-27" correct?

I never checked the height. However, on bumps, you are going notice some bounce depending on the amount of transition in the road.

 

[Bennie]

@Rodney Findley - What kind of tires are on your Expedition? My wife has a Yukon and we have the same problem with get vehicle. Though no problem with my F150....which has LT tires, "E" class. Here's are passenger rated.

Let me know what your tires say or just take a pic. We're happy to help

 

[Fozzy]

I know this is a old thread , but I am new member snooping around. My weigh-safe hitch shows it at 500 lbs 2016 242LSE

 

[Bennie]

@Fozzy - That thing is friggin SWEET!!

 

[subysti]

Like that hitch. Where did you find that??

 

[Fozzy]

I live in Utah and they are a local company. Very nice hitch but they are expensive. Consider the price of your tow vehicle and the toys you tow, it's worth it.
https://www.weigh-safe.com

 

[rsg1963]

Sounds about right at roughly 10-11%?

 

[Frank Marshall]

My Shoreland'r manual says it should be 5% to 7%.

 

[Mainah]

My Shoreland'r manual says it should be 5% to 7%.

I did some research on this. The 10-15% rule of thumb is based on most other trailer types out there. The pivot point on most boat trailers is further back as a percentage of total length of the trailer/load which means less tounge weight is needed. At least that is what I read amd how I understand it. Makes semse based on the physics of leverage. That said I still like the 10% rule of thumb.