UPDATE: After using the hitch for many trips and 19 months later the weigh scale or dial stopped showing any indicated weight. I emailed Weigh Safe and they responded within minutes and said to bring it in (or ship it) and they'd fix it right away. I drove there the same day and stayed there for about 7 minutes while they fixed it as I waited. They have a new design of the scale that they replaced mine with. It's the same hitch, just the dial is new and more reliable. All the staff I've interacted with were super friendly and helpful. They also have a replacement dial that they can ship you to replace yourself if you prefer.
Thank you for a great video. Do you have a link for the weight distribution comparison on the CAT scale. I recently measured mine like you did. And am questioning whether or not my trailer weight or tongue weight calculations are accurate given I weighed it with the weight distribution hitch on.
I'm not sure what the weight distribution comparison is you're referring to. I'm sure that the weight distribution hitch did change the figures of your CAT scale measurement since that's what a weight distribution hitch is for. However if that's how you intend to tow then that setup is how you should weigh it.
Go to lance website and build your trailer and use your options and see if they have changed that weight. That us a hugh discrepancy but with rv companies probably just them fudging their numbers. Just got thru helping a buddy with a Lance and man he was bummed on which trailer he could actually tow. It was the GCWR that got in the way.
I just tried doing that and they state total weight at 5,110 lbs and they don't mention the tongue weight. I've actually never found in my manual or stickers on my rig what my tongue weight was supposed to be. I'm certainly discovering that it's certainly a lost better in various ways to get a bigger truck than you think you're going to need.
I'd like to do that test too. I'm planning to contact Weigh Safe again after I have my Cybertruck to see if I can try out their weight distribution hitch at that time.
Anthony, We are loving your in depth, detailed videos regarding the 2185. It looks like you and your family are having an awesome time. We are especially interested in the 2185 because we have plans to purchase one and head from Northern California to the tip of Baja and back over a 6 month period. We have thoroughly plotted full size RV parks within 200-300 miles of each other along the way and would be taking our time. We would be using a 1/2 ton pickup truck to tow with and have spent countless hours researching payload capacities, tow capacities, tongue weights, etc. We have never towed a trailer of this size. Are we nuts? Would you feel comfortable taking this trip with your family/setup if you had your destinations well plotted and stayed on the major/well paved routes? Another big concern we have is mistakenly making a wrong turn down the wrong street, kinda hard to backup to a cross street with multiple cars already piled up behind you honking. We have watched hundreds of trailer videos on RUclips, but have yet to see what the turn radius of a setup like this might be like. How much room do you need to make a tight U turn? Any chance you might make an Ariel video demonstrating how much room is needed to successfully make a 1 point turn around with a travel trailer, could be invaluable for numerous viewers? Thanks for any input you have to offer and have a blast out there. (Also, just an fyi, from my research one really easy way to get an exact tongue weight measurement is to visit the CAT Scales and lower only the trailers tongue jack down onto the scale) We continue to enjoy your videos/adventures.
Thanks for the positive feedback, and yes we've enjoyed the trailer a lot so far. The biggest limitation I've run into is the payload capacity. Shortly after our 2019 was built they began using 7,000 lbs axles but ours only has the 6,000 lbs rated axles. If you're going to do such a large trip I think you'd benefit from the higher payload capacity of the new models. That certainly sounds like an awesome trip to go down to Baja and I'd love to do that myself someday! I don't think your nuts, but I do recommend a weight distribution hitch with sway control for half ton trucks towing the Lance 2185. We don't have one yet as I'm planning to tow our 2185 with the Cybertruck and I'm waiting for more details before getting such a hitch so I know it'll work. Plus the tri-motor Cybertruck is likely going to be more in the 3/4 ton category and may not need a weight distribution hitch. I'd feel comfortable taking my family on such a trip I think, but I don't have any experience crossing the southern border and how safe/dangerous that may be. I agree I sometimes get a little nervous thinking of getting into tight spaces and damaging my trailer, truck or other objects, but when I actually get out there and drive I haven't had any problems yet. I think by the time you drive from northern California to southern California you'll be practiced enough you'll be able to take on the more narrow roads in Mexico. Plus navigate really carefully so you don't get stuck on the wrong roads. The turning radius is a good question, but I'm not able to test that myself right now as the trailer is kind of taken apart is I'm working installing an electrical system in it. You may want to ask that online such as in the Lance 2185 owners Facebook group to see if others know that, although it does depend on the wheelbase of the truck too so that's kind of hard to know for sure. Thanks for watching, and good luck on your adventure!
The gauge on the hitch is wrong, my 2185 is with two propane tanks is 1100#. Regarding an equalizer hitch, if the front of the truck rises more than a 1/2” when hitched up, you need one.
@@ElectricTechAdventures I would suggest you log on to LOA. Not one 2185 owner has your numbers. Wouldn’t want this bad info to get out just so you can get a free hitch.
@@edrodrigues3333 I've perused LOA many times. My numbers are not out of the ordinary, which is a wide band of weights. Many people don't cite their weight source, whether it's a tongue weight scale of some sort, or they're doing math at a CAT scale. Also I haven't seen anybody specifically empty out their entire trailer of all their personal belongings to check that tongue weight. Cite a source and we can discuss details otherwise there's no point in generically stating what's right or wrong. As an example on this page community.lanceowners.org/topic/lance-2185-tongue-weights the last two posts on the page are more useful. One person said they had 1080# tongue weight (without stating how they measured it) then they made modifications and the tongue weight came in at 860#. They never mentioned whether the trailer had all their personal belongings removed. In my video I removed everything that didn't come with our trailer and I stated that in the video. I've now been using that weigh safe hitch since May 2021 (3.25 years) over thousands of miles and I monitor the tongue weight regularly. Our tongue weight hovers around 1200# now as I stated in this followup video after my significant modifications to the trailer adding lots of equipment. ruclips.net/video/4FyO0s7_L5U/видео.html There is about 100# of variance up or down from there depending on which of the water tanks is fuller, and whether we have bikes on the back of the trailer. I always put the heaviest cargo into the bed of the truck or on the floor where the bottom bunk is in the very back, and I put the lightest cargo in the passthrough storage of the trailer to minimize the increase of tongue weight from cargo. I've towed in many types of terrain from mountains to flat and with strong side winds with zero sway. Here's an example of strong side winds we've towed the trailer through. ruclips.net/video/Av66HC5MFW0/видео.htmlsi=S6gPxmn1f8qo9BPY&t=746
@@ElectricTechAdventures Your own CAT SCALE numbers don’t agree with the gauge. Which is not the best way to measure it anyway. My number of #1100 doesn’t even include the equaliser hitch and bars. It’s straight off the tongue. Under #800 is not a good number. You can get to #860 if you put a lot of weight in the garage, but don’t try to tow it. Makes it very unstable, I’ve tried.
Very good information. Thanks for putting together these videos. Was looking for a 2185 to tow with my Touareg TDI however seeing your tongue weight of 900lbs has me second guessing. 900 does seem high tho. That's over 17% of the entire weight of the trailer dry. I believe most ball hitch trailers are in the 10% to 13% range. *Subscribed*
Lance in my opinion is not very accurate with their stated weights on their website. It appears when they weigh they are leaving off a whole lot of basic stuff. I'm on multiple forums for Lance trailers and many people agree that their tongue weights are much higher than what Lance has listed.
@@ElectricTechAdventures I've just discovered your channel so I'm playing catch-up, but how's the weight of the trailer with the updated solar / electrical system? Maybe I missed that video? Re: Lance stated weights - I've read the same. They're also next to impossible to find here on the east coast.
My video that is scheduled to publish this Friday June 4th will discuss the Weigh Safe weight distribution hitch with the lead engineer at Weigh Safe. Stay tuned!
I duplicated your spreadsheet exactly, and it was quite helpful for working with my enclosed cargo trailer. I also added some calculations based on empty trailer weight and loaded trailer weight, and then calculated 10-15% for optimal tongue weight range. So the question then becomes, if my steer axle decreases by 180 pounds with the trailer attached, and my drive axle increases by 600 pounds, is the tongue weight just as simple as 600-180, or 420 pounds?
I've looked into them and decided not to get one because we now have a 3/4 ton truck and we've driven 2,000+ miles over mountains and in windy conditions and there's zero indication that we need it. I also don't like the added complexity of hitching/unhitching the trailer or the cost to buy it. Obviously I'd get one if I needed to.
So that you know how much weight you can add to it. Plus why would anybody care how much my trailer weighs with my stuff in it when they have their own stuff that weighs different from my stuff?
Yes the Lance 2185 is well known in the Lance community as being a very tongue weight heavy trailer. Some of that tongue weight depends on the options that are installed on it obviously but regardless I don't think a manufacturer should let a trailer out of their facility with such inordinately heavy tongue weight. In my case I just made sure to purchase a truck that can handle the tongue weight and it does make for a trailer that tracks very well and has zero sway as long as the truck can handle the weight.
I also have several Weigh Safe hitches. They do not stand behind their products or the engineering of them. Sad, because this could be a great product. I contacted them in regard to a 3 year old product, and they told me that they don't support it. WHAT????? Would not recommend to anyone !!!
That is unfortunate. Did they give more details around why specifically they won't support your hitch? Was it outside of their warranty specifications?
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UPDATE: After using the hitch for many trips and 19 months later the weigh scale or dial stopped showing any indicated weight. I emailed Weigh Safe and they responded within minutes and said to bring it in (or ship it) and they'd fix it right away. I drove there the same day and stayed there for about 7 minutes while they fixed it as I waited. They have a new design of the scale that they replaced mine with. It's the same hitch, just the dial is new and more reliable. All the staff I've interacted with were super friendly and helpful. They also have a replacement dial that they can ship you to replace yourself if you prefer.
It’s nice to see someone who knows how important it is to know all these weights. It keep everyone in the vehicle and everyone else safe on the road.
Your propane and batteries add to that tongue weight. Most manufacturers specs don’t include that.
Yep
Thank you for a great video. Do you have a link for the weight distribution comparison on the CAT scale. I recently measured mine like you did. And am questioning whether or not my trailer weight or tongue weight calculations are accurate given I weighed it with the weight distribution hitch on.
I'm not sure what the weight distribution comparison is you're referring to. I'm sure that the weight distribution hitch did change the figures of your CAT scale measurement since that's what a weight distribution hitch is for. However if that's how you intend to tow then that setup is how you should weigh it.
Go to lance website and build your trailer and use your options and see if they have changed that weight. That us a hugh discrepancy but with rv companies probably just them fudging their numbers. Just got thru helping a buddy with a Lance and man he was bummed on which trailer he could actually tow. It was the GCWR that got in the way.
I just tried doing that and they state total weight at 5,110 lbs and they don't mention the tongue weight. I've actually never found in my manual or stickers on my rig what my tongue weight was supposed to be. I'm certainly discovering that it's certainly a lost better in various ways to get a bigger truck than you think you're going to need.
Would love to see the difference with a weight distribution hitch. Thanks for all the info.
I'd like to do that test too. I'm planning to contact Weigh Safe again after I have my Cybertruck to see if I can try out their weight distribution hitch at that time.
Anthony, We are loving your in depth, detailed videos regarding the 2185. It looks like you and your family are having an awesome time. We are especially interested in the 2185 because we have plans to purchase one and head from Northern California to the tip of Baja and back over a 6 month period. We have thoroughly plotted full size RV parks within 200-300 miles of each other along the way and would be taking our time. We would be using a 1/2 ton pickup truck to tow with and have spent countless hours researching payload capacities, tow capacities, tongue weights, etc. We have never towed a trailer of this size. Are we nuts? Would you feel comfortable taking this trip with your family/setup if you had your destinations well plotted and stayed on the major/well paved routes? Another big concern we have is mistakenly making a wrong turn down the wrong street, kinda hard to backup to a cross street with multiple cars already piled up behind you honking. We have watched hundreds of trailer videos on RUclips, but have yet to see what the turn radius of a setup like this might be like. How much room do you need to make a tight U turn? Any chance you might make an Ariel video demonstrating how much room is needed to successfully make a 1 point turn around with a travel trailer, could be invaluable for numerous viewers? Thanks for any input you have to offer and have a blast out there. (Also, just an fyi, from my research one really easy way to get an exact tongue weight measurement is to visit the CAT Scales and lower only the trailers tongue jack down onto the scale) We continue to enjoy your videos/adventures.
Thanks for the positive feedback, and yes we've enjoyed the trailer a lot so far. The biggest limitation I've run into is the payload capacity. Shortly after our 2019 was built they began using 7,000 lbs axles but ours only has the 6,000 lbs rated axles. If you're going to do such a large trip I think you'd benefit from the higher payload capacity of the new models. That certainly sounds like an awesome trip to go down to Baja and I'd love to do that myself someday! I don't think your nuts, but I do recommend a weight distribution hitch with sway control for half ton trucks towing the Lance 2185. We don't have one yet as I'm planning to tow our 2185 with the Cybertruck and I'm waiting for more details before getting such a hitch so I know it'll work. Plus the tri-motor Cybertruck is likely going to be more in the 3/4 ton category and may not need a weight distribution hitch. I'd feel comfortable taking my family on such a trip I think, but I don't have any experience crossing the southern border and how safe/dangerous that may be. I agree I sometimes get a little nervous thinking of getting into tight spaces and damaging my trailer, truck or other objects, but when I actually get out there and drive I haven't had any problems yet. I think by the time you drive from northern California to southern California you'll be practiced enough you'll be able to take on the more narrow roads in Mexico. Plus navigate really carefully so you don't get stuck on the wrong roads. The turning radius is a good question, but I'm not able to test that myself right now as the trailer is kind of taken apart is I'm working installing an electrical system in it. You may want to ask that online such as in the Lance 2185 owners Facebook group to see if others know that, although it does depend on the wheelbase of the truck too so that's kind of hard to know for sure. Thanks for watching, and good luck on your adventure!
The gauge on the hitch is wrong, my 2185 is with two propane tanks is 1100#.
Regarding an equalizer hitch, if the front of the truck rises more than a 1/2” when hitched up, you need one.
@@edrodrigues3333 trailer tongue weight varies, even between the same model. Depends on installed options etc
@@ElectricTechAdventures I would suggest you log on to LOA. Not one 2185 owner has your numbers. Wouldn’t want this bad info to get out just so you can get a free hitch.
@@edrodrigues3333 I've perused LOA many times. My numbers are not out of the ordinary, which is a wide band of weights. Many people don't cite their weight source, whether it's a tongue weight scale of some sort, or they're doing math at a CAT scale. Also I haven't seen anybody specifically empty out their entire trailer of all their personal belongings to check that tongue weight. Cite a source and we can discuss details otherwise there's no point in generically stating what's right or wrong. As an example on this page community.lanceowners.org/topic/lance-2185-tongue-weights the last two posts on the page are more useful. One person said they had 1080# tongue weight (without stating how they measured it) then they made modifications and the tongue weight came in at 860#. They never mentioned whether the trailer had all their personal belongings removed. In my video I removed everything that didn't come with our trailer and I stated that in the video. I've now been using that weigh safe hitch since May 2021 (3.25 years) over thousands of miles and I monitor the tongue weight regularly. Our tongue weight hovers around 1200# now as I stated in this followup video after my significant modifications to the trailer adding lots of equipment. ruclips.net/video/4FyO0s7_L5U/видео.html There is about 100# of variance up or down from there depending on which of the water tanks is fuller, and whether we have bikes on the back of the trailer. I always put the heaviest cargo into the bed of the truck or on the floor where the bottom bunk is in the very back, and I put the lightest cargo in the passthrough storage of the trailer to minimize the increase of tongue weight from cargo. I've towed in many types of terrain from mountains to flat and with strong side winds with zero sway. Here's an example of strong side winds we've towed the trailer through. ruclips.net/video/Av66HC5MFW0/видео.htmlsi=S6gPxmn1f8qo9BPY&t=746
@@ElectricTechAdventures Your own CAT SCALE numbers don’t agree with the gauge. Which is not the best way to measure it anyway. My number of #1100 doesn’t even include the equaliser hitch and bars. It’s straight off the tongue. Under #800 is not a good number. You can get to #860 if you put a lot of weight in the garage, but don’t try to tow it. Makes it very unstable, I’ve tried.
Very good information. Thanks for putting together these videos. Was looking for a 2185 to tow with my Touareg TDI however seeing your tongue weight of 900lbs has me second guessing. 900 does seem high tho. That's over 17% of the entire weight of the trailer dry. I believe most ball hitch trailers are in the 10% to 13% range.
*Subscribed*
Lance in my opinion is not very accurate with their stated weights on their website. It appears when they weigh they are leaving off a whole lot of basic stuff. I'm on multiple forums for Lance trailers and many people agree that their tongue weights are much higher than what Lance has listed.
@@ElectricTechAdventures I've just discovered your channel so I'm playing catch-up, but how's the weight of the trailer with the updated solar / electrical system? Maybe I missed that video?
Re: Lance stated weights - I've read the same. They're also next to impossible to find here on the east coast.
Great info thanks. 😎👍👍👍😎
Thanks!
Do you have a video on weight distribution or anti sway?
My video that is scheduled to publish this Friday June 4th will discuss the Weigh Safe weight distribution hitch with the lead engineer at Weigh Safe. Stay tuned!
I duplicated your spreadsheet exactly, and it was quite helpful for working with my enclosed cargo trailer. I also added some calculations based on empty trailer weight and loaded trailer weight, and then calculated 10-15% for optimal tongue weight range. So the question then becomes, if my steer axle decreases by 180 pounds with the trailer attached, and my drive axle increases by 600 pounds, is the tongue weight just as simple as 600-180, or 420 pounds?
I believe the answer is yes, that the increase in the drive axle is simply the tongue weight, plus what came over from the front axle.
I would buy a weight distribution hitch for that trailer it will transfer some of the tongue weight back to the front axles
I've looked into them and decided not to get one because we now have a 3/4 ton truck and we've driven 2,000+ miles over mountains and in windy conditions and there's zero indication that we need it. I also don't like the added complexity of hitching/unhitching the trailer or the cost to buy it. Obviously I'd get one if I needed to.
You're completely wrong not using a sway control at least with your trailer. There is a reason that people use them they aren't complex
why would i want to know what my trailer weighs empty
So that you know how much weight you can add to it. Plus why would anybody care how much my trailer weighs with my stuff in it when they have their own stuff that weighs different from my stuff?
So the Lance is transferring 17% of it's empty weight to the truck. That's insane to have such a high tongue weight for such light weight trailer.
Yes the Lance 2185 is well known in the Lance community as being a very tongue weight heavy trailer. Some of that tongue weight depends on the options that are installed on it obviously but regardless I don't think a manufacturer should let a trailer out of their facility with such inordinately heavy tongue weight. In my case I just made sure to purchase a truck that can handle the tongue weight and it does make for a trailer that tracks very well and has zero sway as long as the truck can handle the weight.
I also have several Weigh Safe hitches. They do not stand behind their
products or the engineering of them. Sad, because this could be a great
product. I contacted them in regard to a 3 year old product, and they
told me that they don't support it. WHAT????? Would not recommend to
anyone !!!
That is unfortunate. Did they give more details around why specifically they won't support your hitch? Was it outside of their warranty specifications?
You keep posting this but how about more details as to why?
@@dougsweldingfabrication953 That’s because you don’t have a RUclips channel advertising it.