Tongue weight

[mustangcats]

Yesterday I took my trailer to the scale to weigh it. The trailer weighed 2580 lbs, the truck 4860 lbs and the tongue weight calculated to 360 lbs (14% of the trailer weight). My truck is a 2006 Dodge Dakota quad cab 4WD V6, and the owners manual recommends a weight distributing hitch for tongue weight over 150 lbs and required for over 300 lbs. However, when hitched up the drop at the rear wheel fender opening is only 1" and the front fender opening only raises 1/2". The rear axle of the truck has a capacity of 3600 lbs and I weighed the truck with only the rear wheels on the scale and it was 2100 lbs., so even if the 360 lb tongue weight is added, it is still way below the maximum rating. So based on this information, do you think a weight distribution hitch is really necessary even though Dodge says so, or am I missing something? I can't find any specific information online regarding tongue weight for the Dodge Dakota and it's even hard to find accurate information about the towing capacity.

[Mojave Bob]

I'm gonna disagree with Slow on this one, and say, yes, you need to either get the tongue weight below 300 lbs, or use a WDH. Your primary braking, and all of your steering and directional stability comes from your front wheels. Taking that weight off the front will dramatically reduce your control, particularly in a wind, on loose gravel, or at highway speeds.

We have had a lot of discussions (disagreements) about the tow ratings of cars, and whether the US or the Euro ratings are the appropriate ones to use. Cars in the US are (probably) conservatively rated for towing. This does not seem to hold true of pickup trucks. Manufacturers seem to put the highest tow rating they possibly can onto trucks, so that it will seem more like a "real" truck. If they say the limit is 300 lbs, I'd listen.

[CarlLaFong]

Sometimes corporate lawyers are covering their butts and sometimes the manufacturers actually know what they're talking about. I would err on the side of caution.
BTW, all Dodge Dakotas, of a given year, are the same size.

[wincrasher]

Those ratings seem very low for your truck. I'd take it out for a short tow to see how it behaves, but I'd suspect that you are just fine without WD.

[Mojave Bob]

... I can't find any specific information online regarding tongue weight for the Dodge Dakota and it's even hard to find accurate information about the towing capacity.

You already found the accurate information - that would be the owner's manual. WDH over 300 lbs.

Quad cab trucks are rated lower than "work" trucks, because the quad cab itself weighs a lot more than the cargo box, using up some of the capacity of the chassis.

On the farm, you can overload a truck like crazy, and it will carry it. But, on the highway, at highway speeds, with other drivers WHO DON'T KNOW HOW OVERLOADED YOU ARE, who you can kill in a heartbeat, ... no. Not good.

[CampsALot]

I'd be careful going over the tongue weight.
The truck may not crouch much but you may be taking too much away from the front wheels.
Just driving over the normal humps and bumps on the road and your steering may get real light at times.
Being only 60 pounds over should be easy to deal with by re distributing weight within the trailer.
Add or remove water from the tank, move the beer forward or back....

Warren

[2bits]

360 seems awfully heavy to me but that doesn't mean it's wrong, my car hauler is probably similar. How about transferring some storage to the rear of the camper?

Oh Slow, my 10' Prowler Standy had about a 70lb tongue weight before I gutted it, I would just pick it up and put it on the hitch