Tongue Weight Explained: What is Tongue Weight and How Do I Weigh It?

Tongue Weight Explained

Tongue weight is the downward force that the front of a trailer exerts on the hitch of the tow vehicle. It’s a critical measurement because too little or too much tongue weight can make towing unsafe.

If the tongue weight is too light, the trailer can sway or fishtail, reducing control and increasing the risk of accidents.

If it’s too heavy, it can overload the rear axle of the tow vehicle, affecting steering, braking, and suspension.

Proper tongue weight is typically about 10–15% of the total trailer weight for most trailers, though this can vary depending on trailer type and cargo distribution. Ensuring correct tongue weight helps maintain stability, control, and overall towing safety.

Start with following the 60-40 rule. Load 60% of your cargo weight in front of the axle, and 40% behind the axle. This should get you very close to that target of tongue weight being 10-15% of gross trailer weight. But you really want to check that, especially for heavy hauling. The 60-40 rule is just a rule of thumb, it does not guarantee that your tongue weight will be on target.

Why It’s Important

Tongue weight that is too high can overload the tow vehicle’s rear axle, causing the rear suspension to sag and the front wheels to lift slightly. This reduces steering control and braking performance, making the vehicle harder to handle, especially during sudden stops or sharp turns. Excessive tongue weight also puts extra strain on the hitch, frame, and drivetrain, potentially causing long-term damage.

(Lifting/tilting is shown in an exaggerated way in this graphic to demonstrate the point.)

Conversely, tongue weight that is too low—often from loading cargo too far toward the back of the trailer—can make the trailer unstable and prone to swaying or fishtailing. This side-to-side motion can quickly escalate, making it difficult to control the trailer at higher speeds. Proper tongue weight, achieved through careful cargo placement, is essential to maintain towing stability, vehicle control, and safety.

Is Hitch Weight Different?

Hitch weight and tongue weight are effectively the same in everyday use of the terms, and they’re used interchangeably.

Their meanings of hitch weight and tongue weight are slightly difference when you’re speaking technically. Tongue weight specifically refers to the downward force the trailer’s tongue exerts on the vehicle’s hitch. Hitch weight often refers to the actual weight the trailer hitch itself is supporting at any given moment, which is usually the same as tongue weight for standard trailers, but the term can also include additional forces depending on the type of hitch (like a weight-distributing hitch).

In most towing discussions, especially for conventional trailers, the terms are used interchangeably—but technically, tongue weight is the measurement you should use to ensure proper trailer balance and safe towing.

How to Weigh Tongue Weight

Here I’ll outline three ways you can measure tongue weight, rating their easiness and cost.

Method 1: Drive‑On (Vehicle) Scale

• Ease: 2 stars. Price: $11-20 depending on price of scale, not including gas to take you there.

You can use a commercial truck/vehicle scale (like at a truck stop or public weigh station) to get a very accurate tongue weight. There are public scale locators provided by Penske and Cat Scale.

1. Weigh your tow vehicle without the trailer hooked up.
2. Then hook up your fully loaded trailer (with trailer wheels off the scale) and drive the vehicle onto the scale again. Your trailer’s wheels can’t be on the scale or this will not work!
3. Subtract the first weight (vehicle only) from the second weight (vehicle + trailer).
   The difference is the tongue weight — the downward force the trailer hitch is applying to the tow vehicle.

Q: Can I just use my tongue jack?

A: No, the tongue jack is almost always farther backward than the coupler. To accurately measure the force down on the tow vehicle’s hitch, the jack would need to be at the hitch point, otherwise it is closer to the fulcrum (the axle or axles) which throws the measurement off.

Method 2: Bathroom Scale (Good for Smaller Tongue Weights)

Ease: 1 star. Price: Free if you have the basic materials around. If not, $20-$50 depending on what you buy.

Materials You’ll Need (You may substitute with other items that are hard/rigid enough to support the weight shown, but exercise caution and common sense.)

• One bathroom scale
• One wood 2x4, at least about 4.5 feet long
• One pipe or wood support
• Two small steel pipes as contact points
• One flat block or stone, roughly same thickness as bathroom scale

This is a DIY way to approximate tongue weight if you don’t have a tongue‑weight gauge:

• For light trailers (under about 300 lbs tongue weight), you can sometimes place the trailer tongue jack directly on a sturdy bathroom scale and read the weight — that reading is the tongue weight. If your trailer’s load is distributed safely using the 60-40 rule you can expect that the tongue weight will be 10-15% of the gross weight. So if you think your trailer’s gross (loaded) weight is over about 2000 lbs, you might risk going over your scale’s maximum and potentially breaking your scale.
• For heavier trailers, you can build a simple lever system to spread the load between a scale and another point, and calculate true distance from there. You’ll need your bathroom scale, measuring tape, two short metal pipes, a long, thick board like a 2x4 (at least 4.5’ long), a flat stone or block, and wood or a pipe that’s long enough to rest the trailer’s coupler on it and support its weight. You can do a 3:1 ratio or 2:1 ratio setup—this example is 3:1, better for heavier trailers.
  1. Park on level ground and chock the trailer wheels.
  2. Find the point on the ground directly under the coupler. This will be our reference point. Place the scale 3 feet away from the reference point in one direction. Place the stone or block 1 foot away from the reference point in the opposite direction.
  3. Place a horizontal pipe on the scale precisely 3 feet from the reference point. On the flat block or stone, place a pipe precisely 1 foot from the reference point.
  4. Lay the 2x4 board horizontally across both pipes.
  5. Use a pipe or piece of wood standing up horizontally from the reference point to support the trailer’s coupler. Take the weight off the tongue jack, if there is a tongue jack.
  6. Read the bathroom scale and multiply by the ratio (e.g., × 4 if the board distances give a since we’re using the 3:1 ratio. If you use a 2:1 ratio multiply by 3.).
     This lever trick uses mechanical advantage to safely spread the load and calculate the real tongue weight.

Method 3: Hitch with Built‑In Scale (WeighSafe Hitches)

Ease: 4 stars. Price: $150-$300

Some hitches (like most WeighSafe ball mounts, which we carry) have built‑in tongue weight scales right on the hitch itself. These let you:

• Hitch your trailer normally, and the built‑in scale displays the tongue weight when loaded.
• Get a real‑time, on‑the‑ball reading without separate tools or setups.
  This method is convenient because it measures directly at the connection point and you don’t need to build a lever or visit a scale.
• These will last for years when cared for properly, so you can spare yourself future trips to the scale, or the time and expense of assembling a DIY scale, etc. You can also read more about them at https://www.weigh-safe.com/.

Tips for All Methods

• Always park level and chock the trailer wheels before measuring.
• Load the trailer with everything you’ll carry during towing (water, gear, cargo, etc.) because tongue weight changes with what’s onboard.
• Aim for about 10–15 % of your trailer’s total loaded weight as tongue weight for stable towing.

Follow these guidelines to make sure your trailer is carrying the appropriate tongue weight. Read more loading tips and guidelines here!