Tongue Weight of 02 TM2619
I'm in the process of upgrading our WDH and need to decide the proper weight class. I checked the tongue weight of our 2002 TM2619 for the first time today and found it much lighter than I expected. Sitting in our garage with two full propane bottles and one battery, but little inside, the tongue weight is 320lbs. This model has the spare tire on the rear bumper so I removed the 45lb spare tire and the tongue weight went up to 340lbs. Placing the spare on top of the TM & just in front of the step (which I understand is where the later models carry their spare underneath) pushed it up to 354lbs. I found it surprising that moving the spare tire forward only added 34lbs of tongue weight. I would have expected closer to twice that. Leaving the spare on the rear bumper and adding an 80 lb WDH and our 25 lb RoadWing cross bar and mud flaps still leaves us well shy of justifying the 1000/10,000 WDH most people here recommend for TMs.
I should point out that we have a stripped model and the spare tire was our only option. We skipped the awning, a/c, hanging cabinet, microwave and whatever because our TV at the time was a minivan and we were challenged to stay under GCWR. Now that we have the pickup we may add an a/c but it will be either a portable which we'll carry in the truck or a side unit which should add very little tongue weight. We do take extended trips and carry a lot of clothing but I think the full wardrobe in the rear and the 4-6 one-gallon jugs of filtered water we keep in the shower probably offset the small tv and other stuff we carry up front. We do travel with cooking gear and considerable food but that weight is clustered around the axle. I don't think we've ever had water in the fresh water tank and I don't expect that to change-- We are always hooked up. I might add that I removed the 15lb stock dinette table and it's heavy steel undercarriage and replaced it with a much lighter "two-person" table made from the extra leaf they supply. This also makes the walk-around space about 2' longer since we rarely drop the table.
We haven't found any convenient scales since trading TVs but we did weigh the three axles with the minivan while fully loaded. The TM's axle at the time was 2950lbs and now that I have a better idea of it's tongue weight I can estimate that our 2619 weighs around 3200lbs loaded for travel. This means it's 350-400 lb tongue weight is right on the money for safe towing.
About our TV and a WDH: Even with it's heavy fiberglass cap the rear of our Tundra pickup sits 1 to 1&1/2" higher than the front and even though I haven't weighed it I am sure there is several hundred lbs less weight on the rear axle. I want it level while towing with equal weight on both axles so I am inclined to ignore the published instructions (drop front and back the same amount) for setting up a WDH. It just isn't logical to me that a lightly loaded rear axle is better for towing than a heavily loaded one assuming the front axle is no lighter than before. Those instructions should be fine for a heavily loaded Suburban but not a two-occupant Siverado.
Has anyone else found the tongue weight of their 2619?
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Frank
Former 2002 TM2619 Owner
2005 Toyota Tundra AC 4X2
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