stealthrt95

That is more than just a little bit of math. You're clearly an engineer

AlbertQ7

Buy a Sherline tongue scale: https://www.sherline.com/product/she...-weight-scale/

I jack mine up into position with my car jack to confirm hitch weight when needed. Your picture, though not from the side, certainly looks like you are "close enough" to level. Several consideration: the more nose-down the trailer, the more the hitch weight will increase, so be sure to measure with the scale at the same height as when you are towing. If you are within spec, then it's probably fine nose-down a couple of inches.,,,, only because you have a single-axle trailer. My trailer is dual-axle, so being level is more important to properly distribute the weight between the two axles (otherwise the front can be overloaded with the nose too far down).

Regarding the sway bar. Things may seem stable, etc, and it is true that if you have enough weight on the tongue sway shouldn't be an issue. But it is cheap, easy insurance to have, My trailer is very stable as well, but I am always amazed at the occasional wind gust, etc, that can move me around a bit, so I added sway control. If for no other reason, if the **** hits the fan some day, I can't be faulted for NOT having sway control!

Also, remember: if sway ever does start to happen, hit the trailer brakes on your electronic brake controller, not the brake pedal on your car. You want the trailer brakes to engage to slow the trailer and drag it back in position behind you, rather than slowing the car and having the trailer whip around you.

mike95776

Most locations have a truck scale.... drive onto the scale with just your tow vehicle (TV) attached to the loaded trailer and record the weight.... pull forward and weigh the TV and trailer.... pull forward and weigh just the trailer... do the math... or, if you they will let you weigh the TV with the trailer attached and then again without it attached.

As I posted before... our 20ft Springdale trailer maxed out our Gross Vehicle Weight (with the tongue weight at 750, my 220lb self and 150lb wife,and a full tank of gas... we would have enough left over for a 12 pack of beer and a box of toothpicks).... and, I would have needed a 7 inch riser to level the trailer... on a single axle trailer you can do an inch or two nose down. On a double axle trailer this will put more weight on the the front bearings and could cause damage to the front bearings and uneven tire wear... I bought an F150 with a tow package and it works great... I do use the Q7 to tow my 18ft boat and it works perfect...

stealthrt95

Thanks for all your great insights! They've been really helpful. In light of all the considerations, including the weight measurements I took today (see below), I'm going to use the Audi hitch.

That's a pretty heavy tongue weight for a 20ft trailer. Luckily, I'm nowhere near that. I took the Q7 to a CAT scale this morning to get the weight measurements. Apparently, I managed to balance things fairly well on the first try. Using this towing calculator and the scale measurements, the tongue weight was at 520, which was at 12%. I also received the WeighSafe hitch (right after I got home from the scale), and I put that on at the same height as the Audi hitch. It showed right around 520 lbs for tongue weight (bit hard to tell exactly where it is). Raising the hitch up another 4" (which was more than was necessary to level the trailer) reduced the tongue weight by only 10 lbs or so--it was still over 500 lbs. I was on the fence about whether to add a second battery to the front of the trailer, so the lower tongue weight made my mind up.

I was 500 lbs below trailer max weight, with a few more things to add, so I'll have plenty of room even for a full clean water load, which I don't plan to travel with unless it's a short distance and we're going to a place without hook ups. With me, wife, toddler, dog, full tank of gas, and the few things that will be in the car, we still have 200 lbs of room to max vehicle weight, which is good because the tongue weight might get a little higher.