Nice video of tongue weight being too low, bad outcome

[RobertB]

I recommend you think about how you plan to exceed at least one of the limits. In my experience, the Mac is just a bit heavier than what our Swedish cars are listed for. I chose to concentrate on stability by accepting that I was already heavy (as far as weight pulled) and addition of the extra axle yielded large benefits in stability and tongue loading. Rolling weight is only an issue on acceleration (drivetrain) and braking. Drive real easy and you can minimize the effects.
If you keep your boat light and do not add so much stuff like I have, then you may be able to just carefully manage your loading - and keep your speed down and do not allow any passengers when towing.
We now tow exclusively with the F-150 (did I mention that that Volvo transmission was really expensive!?)

[bobbob]

All agreed, and that's probably what I will do. Considering the trailer is almost 20 years old my comfort level would go up getting a new trailer for that reason alone.

[RobertB]

Consider the factory trailer and add an axle. It is designed kind of minimalistic in that the boat hull becomes part of the structure. Adding the axle itself is easy, the fender is a bit more involved but lots of info on the site here (including my project).
What year XC60 do you have? AWD? R-model?
Mine is a 2005 but a rare build with the 4-C electronic suspension (designed for the P2 platform R-models 2004-2007).

[seahouse]

Another reason to always check to see that the boat is all the way forward into the bumper. Just a little way back and this balance is all screwed up. Personally, I like to shoot for 20% on the tongue. That way I have some leeway in boat contents or loading. Sort of extra margin for error.
Dave

Be aware that you are getting close to having used up your margin for error at 20%, if you haven't already. More tongue weight also means you have less steering control. Pushing down on the rear unweights the front (steering) wheels, which is a bad thing. You can have too much of a good thing, which is why the recommendation is between 10 and 15%.

- B.

[bobbob]

Consider the factory trailer and add an axle. It is designed kind of minimalistic in that the boat hull becomes part of the structure. Adding the axle itself is easy, the fender is a bit more involved but lost of info on the site here (including my project).
What year XC70 do you have? AWD? R-model?
Mine is a 2005 but a rare build with the 4-C electronic suspension (designed for the P2 platform R-models 2004-2007).

Yeah I have been considering that as well. The whole trailer would probably need to be overhauled and it might not be any cheaper than buying new.

I have a 2010 XC60 T6 AWD and, as it turns out, has the electronic suspension as well. Not sure if that's a plus or minus when it comes to towing - should I leave it in comfort mode or stiffen it up?

Looks like Magic Tilt has several dual axle trailers around 800 lbs - that would be quite doable I think.

[CampCook]

Seahorse correctly admonished me to beware of too heavy tongue weight. In my case I don't think I will worry as Bubba, my tow beast (a GMC 3500 Dually) could very likely carry 50% weight on the hitch and do just fine. So, we come back to the other end of this discussion -- what is the capability of the tow vehicle. I submit that if you cannot handle 15 to 20 % tongue weight without adversely affecting steering it is not a good choice for safety. Look at the tow rating of the vehicle. It should be able to handle 15% of that on the hitch. You should not exceed that weight on the tongue.

Now, why do I have Bubba for a tow vehicle? It is a long and boring story.

[BOAT]

'boat's' friend is BULBASOR the van - he is 3/4 ton truck that is only 4 feet shorter than 'boat' so 'boat' is pretty happy behind BULBASOR:



Also the back doors on BULBASOR swing all the way open so I have them open all the way folded against the side of the van when I am putting 'boat' in the water so I can walk right from the drivers seat out onto the tongue and manage the winch and even climb up on to 'boat' if needed all without even getting my feet wet.

[bobbob]

Seahorse correctly admonished me to beware of too heavy tongue weight. In my case I don't think I will worry as Bubba, my tow beast (a GMC 3500 Dually) could very likely carry 50% weight on the hitch and do just fine. So, we come back to the other end of this discussion -- what is the capability of the tow vehicle. I submit that if you cannot handle 15 to 20 % tongue weight without adversely affecting steering it is not a good choice for safety. Look at the tow rating of the vehicle. It should be able to handle 15% of that on the hitch. You should not exceed that weight on the tongue.

Now, why do I have Bubba for a tow vehicle? It is a long and boring story.

I guess the more margin you have the better, however tow hitches are usually rated for 10% tongue weight. You wouldn't find a tow package/vehicle that was rated for 3500lbs/750lbs hitch for example. To me that tells me a 10% tongue weight must be considered to be safe.

[BOAT]

BULBASOR is 8500 pounds towing capacity from Mercedes and the hitch is rated for 800/5000 pounds dead tongue weight/towing weight depending on the hitch you slide in there. It's the cargo van towing option package from the factory.

The hitch receiver is rated over 5000 pounds dead weight but the actual slide in hitch ball part is the weak link - that takes the dead weight capacity to 1200 unless I use a shorter slide in but I don't want a shorter slide in because I like the extra length because I never get the van wheels wet at the ramp that way. There is a round eye receiver with no ball for the hitch that is made for hauling heavy equipment like back hoe trailers and stuff and it has zero extension - it's a round eye that goes right into the receiver slide - with that hitch I can hold 5000 pounds dead weight, but I would not want to try it on the freeway! The round eye receiver is mostly for flatbed equipment haulers and when loaded they are VERY heavy on the tongue (those trailers usually have a very short tongue or none at all.

I don't have enough overhang to start a fishtail - my worries are not much on the ball or receiver or even the single axle - I'm more concerned about the front bumper support on the boat trailer breaking than anything else. It does not look strong enough to me so I strap the back of the boat real good on the road. I worry that "macbumps" will weaken that support.

[bobbob]

I've been doing a bit more reading about European tongue weights vs US tongue weights. It seems the standard in europe is much lower (5-7%) because the assumption is that the trailer will be dual axle with some kind of dynamic suspension/load balancing between the axles (so that the up and down movement on the hitch is significantly damped). Is this a feature available on aftermarket trailers over here?

[kurz]

I've been doing a bit more reading about European tongue weights vs US tongue weights. It seems the standard in europe is much lower (5-7%) because the assumption is that the trailer will be dual axle with some kind of dynamic suspension/load balancing between the axles (so that the up and down movement on the hitch is significantly damped). Is this a feature available on aftermarket trailers over here?

I dont know what you mean with the "load balancing". But your are right, here in Europe the tongue weight is not as much.
With my 27 years old Mercedes 300TD (w124) I tow my 2axle 1000 miles even over the alps and have just 75kg/165lb. It tows ok. As long as I run the 80kmh (50mph) it runs completely save. As soon I go to 90kmh or near 100kmh, the trailer starts to slinger around.
Just Germany gives you am max speed of 100kmh under some conditions, and one is that you have to ad some extra shock absorber/dampers to the axles like these ones.

[Catigale]

While kurz's tongue weight seems incredibly low, the 50 mph tow speed is the figure to note there.

I notice a big difference in squirrel factor between 60 and 70 mph at 350 # tongue weight

[RobertB]

But have you considered what color the squirrels are? I understand the ones with a richer tone handle better at the higher speeds

[bobbob]

Good to know. I'm pretty comfortable with an 80km/h limit - I only plan to tow a couple hours away at the most.

[Catigale]

But have you considered what color the squirrels are? I understand the ones with a richer tone handle better at the higher speeds

The slow blue squirrels trailer much better than the fast white ones....