I just received my Stromberg Carlson RV Cargo - CC-255 tongue rack and wondered how much actual tongue weight it would add. I have read multiple places that adding weight there could have serious impacts. So I did this:
Weighed the rack as delivered in the box -- 65#
Made sure the wheels were not chocked, made sure the rear stabilizer jacks were retracted. Got my bathroom scale (capacity 390#) and but some pads on it so the tongue support would not harm the scale. With the front stabilizer jacks down and the front of the trailer resting on them, cranked up the tongue jack so that it was off the ground and high enough to slip the scale under. Then I cranked the jack down until the entire tongue was resting on the scale. Result, 255#.
So far so good. So then I took the rack, still in the box, and placed it on the tongue approximately where it will be bolted. Result: Scale did not register any more weight. Hmmmm....
So I stood on the tongue, with the rack still in place, adding about 280# to the tongue. I had my wife look at the scale. It had increased by maybe 2 or 3 pounds. I got off the tongue, and removed the boxed rack. Hardly any difference. Double checked to make sure the wheels were unchocked and the front stabilizer jacks were well off the ground.
Then I cranked up the jack so that the entire weight was back on the stabilizer jacks and verified the scale once again read zero.
I repeated the whole process. Both my wife and I understand physics and math (or thought we did), but each of us had guessed that adding nearly 300# to the tongue would add at least 30# to the tongue weight.
This is an RP-179, approx 80" from back of trailer to axle, and approx 160" from axle to tip of tongue.
If anyone can explain the math behind these results, I would much appreciate it. While I wait, I'm going to finish the installation and not worry about adding too much to the tongue weight.
Thanks!