silver buckle

Hi Audi Folks,
Looking to buy an Audi Q7 2017 or 2018 with a tow package. The question is if the max tongue weight is 770 Lbs. and the Airstream I want to tow is
the RB25. The RB25 has tongue weight of 837 Lbs. Is it as simple as just moving some weight to the rear of the trailer like the spare tire thats on the
tongue and the batteries also in the tongue that should reduce the tongue weight by at least 100 Lbs. I'm I thinking right is it that simple or am I thinking wrong.

Look forward to any info.

Thanks
Silverbuckle

timshuwy

Experts typically say that the tongue weight should be 10% of the weight of the entire trailer.. ie.. if you trailer is 7700 pounds, then you need a tongue weight of 770 pounds.
So.. the answer isn't just about moving weight to the back. You should only do that IF the trailer is out of balance. The max trailer weight on the Q7 is 7700 pounds so you are in luck if your trailer (loaded) is less than this.
See also this company who has a video showing moving stuff around in a trailer. They also have a nice (expensive) hitch that does a live weight of the tongue. https://www.weigh-safe.com/towing-sa...t-mrtruck-com/ (Not necessarily recommending them.. just saw it and thought it was cool.)

But THIS Video is probably the best demonstration of why proper tongue weight is important:

silver buckle

Thanks for the video, The trailer weight is 5503 Dry weight with Propane. Max trailer wight 7300 . My thoughts are if I can get it to a loaded weight
of say 6500 Lbs and the tongue should be about 700. It should work.

Any thoughts out there on if I'm thinking right.

Thanks

SIlverbuckle

RickObe

I think you are basically right. Ideally, you should try to balance to get the tongue weight to be 10% of the loaded weight. But if you are going to be off, better to be a little heavy on the tongue weight than too light. (As long as you don't go over the 770# limit.)

campingmanbc

you need to also consider the payload (carrying capacity) of your Q7. The tongue weight of your trailer also factors in and from what I understand you deduct that from the payload. I explain it here

gm4511

I think trying to lighten the tongue weight by moving that much weight to the rear of the trailer will lead to sway, braking, and handling problems. I've towed a lot of big boats, but never this large of a travel trailer, so I'm no expert. Check with an Airstream dealer and see what they say.

ang934

The calculations are pretty simple. Look at the driver door sticker for the weight capacity. Subtract the weight of ALL the passengers and all cargo. What is left is the trailer hitch capacity with 770 lb. being the max., whichever is less. If you can't meet this, that is not the trailer for you.

AlbertQ7

Do you already have the trailer, or are you still thinking of buying it? The numbers you listed are from the posted specs. You need to actually weigh the trailer at a weigh station and actually weigh the hitch weight. Once you get the Q7 you can weigh the combo at the weigh station and make sure your axle weights and total payload weights are also within specs. Trailers and tongue weights are often higher than what's listed on the website. Most people (myself included) end up very close to the trailer's GVWR when ready for a trip. But even so, if you are close to 7300 lbs, you could safely tow at 770 lbs and be over 10% tongue weight, so likely be OK with sway. My previous trailer was very tongue heavy, and by moving the spare tire to the rear and relocating the batteries inside (only OK if AGM or Lithium batteries), behind the wheels, I was able to significantly reduce the tongue weight. Some is the see-saw effect, but mostly it's the direct removal of the weight so close to the tongue that will be of benefit. Get a Sherline tongue scale to keep track of your tongue weight. You will be very close to the limits with that trailer, but that would be true with a well-optioned F150 as well. The Q7 tows extremely well, but you have to make careful measurements to do so safely.

One last thing - if you are going to tow that trailer, you REALLY want the air suspension! "Tow package" does not equate air suspension, you need to look for that suspension as well.

ang934

Oohh not a good idea. Yes you met the tongue weight, but trailers are designed the way they are for a reason. (Watch that sway video again.) If anything, you want the front end too heavy. Otherwise you bought the wrong trailer.

AlbertQ7

Actually, that trailer was renowned for being unnecessarily tongue heavy. That was made worse by installing two solar panels at the very front of that particular unit at purchase, before I realized how tongue heavy it was. It weighed 6300 lbs, loaded for camping, and had over a 1000 lb tongue weight. which is 15.8%. With the changes above and careful packing, I would run ~800 lb tongue weights, which kept my rear axle and payload capacities under max. 800lb tongue weight on a 6300 lb total weight trailer is still 12.7%, which is actually in the ideal range. I towed that trailer for 7 years and 15,000 total miles, and never had any issue with sway even with semis and strong winds. It was super stable. The sway video is VERY important, but notice that they are truly making their trailer tail-heavy. If you go below 10% tongue weight, that sway occurs. But reducing from 15.8% to 12.7% is not necessarily bad. All that said, your point is important - I would not have been able to know that I was OK without ACTUAL weights. I went to weigh stations multiple different times, unloaded and, importantly, when fully loaded for a trip. As the trailer gets heavier, that tongue weight can go from good to too light pretty quickly. When weighing the hitched trailer, do not forget to add the tongue weight to the trailer axle weights to get a total weight, which is then used for the calculation (For instance, when hitched, my trailer's combined axle weights were 5500 pounds, but 5500 lbs + 800 lb tongue weight = 6300 lbs total, which is what is used for the tongue weight ratio calculation).