Towing Setup & Capacity
The Best Way To Measure Your Trailer Tongue Weight
Every hitch decision on this site depends on one number almost nobody measures. Here are the three ways to get it, and what each costs.
By Mike M. ·
How this page is funded: we earn a commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which product we rank first. Prices come from Amazon and are read automatically — each one shows the date it was read. Full disclosure.
Quick picks
Scored on how often you will actually use them (40%), build (25%), storage (20%) and price (15%). The honest winner depends on whether you want the number once or every trip.
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sherline LM 2000 Trailer Tongue Weight Scale A hydraulic scale you set the coupler down on. It is the only tool here that answers the one question every hitch decision depends on, and it reads up to 2,000 lb. Most accurate | Measuring loaded tongue weight properly, once and for all | 7.4/ 10 | |
| 2 |  Weigh Safe Aluminum Adjustable Hitch with Tongue Weight Scale An adjustable ball mount with the scale built into the shank, so the number appears every time you couple up rather than only when you remember to get the scale out. Measures every time | Seeing tongue weight every time you hook up, not once a year | 8.0/ 10 | |
| 3 |  Milton S-986 Dual Head Tire Pressure Gauge, 10-160 psi Trailer tires often run 50-80 psi, which is past the top of a typical car gauge. This one reads to 160 psi and the dual head reaches an inner dually valve. | Reading trailer tire pressure that a car gauge cannot | 9.6/ 10 |
Tap any row to jump to the full write-up. Prices come from Amazon and are read automatically — see each product below for the date.
The short answer
Loaded tongue weight is the number everything else on this site is sized from: your bar rating, whether you need weight distribution at all, and how much of your truck’s payload is already spent before anybody gets in.
And almost nobody knows theirs. The brochure’s dry hitch weight is not it, is usually 100–250 lb lower, and is the source of most of the bad hitch purchases in this category.
The three methods
1. A dedicated tongue weight scale
A hydraulic cylinder with a dial gauge. You jack the coupler down onto it, read the dial, and that is the number. The Sherline reads to 2,000 lb, which covers essentially every bumper-pull trailer, and it needs no batteries and no calibration routine.
Accuracy: best of the three. Cost: the highest of the hardware options. Catch: you need level ground and the coupler at roughly the right height, and it is bulky enough that most people store it in a garage rather than the trailer.
2. A ball mount with the scale built in
An adjustable ball mount with a gauge in the shank, so tongue weight reads out every time you couple up. The number appears as part of hooking up rather than as a separate job you have to remember.
Accuracy: good, with a caveat worth stating — it measures the load at the ball with the trailer coupled, which is not identical to a scale under the coupler, and the reading changes as the ball mount deflects. Treat it as a repeatable indication rather than a certified figure. Cost: high, but it replaces a ball mount you were buying anyway. Catch: aluminum body, and you need the right drop.
3. A public truck scale (free)
This works and it costs nothing but a trip. Method:
- Load the trailer exactly as you travel, including water in the tanks you fill.
- Weigh the truck and trailer coupled, with the whole rig on the scale. Record it.
- Pull forward so that only the trailer axles are on the scale and the truck is off it, still coupled. Record it.
- Uncouple, leave the trailer on its jack with only the trailer axles on the scale, and weigh again. The difference between this and step 3 is your tongue weight.
Most CAT-style scales allow multiple weighings in one transaction. Call ahead and ask; it saves an argument in the queue.
The common mistake
The bathroom-scale method, and why we are not recommending it
You will find a widely shared method using a bathroom scale, a length of pipe and a lever made from a plank: put the scale under one end, the coupler a measured distance along, and multiply.
The arithmetic is sound. The practical problems are not trivial: domestic bathroom scales top out around 300–400 lb and are not designed for a point load, the lever has to be rigid enough not to flex, and a 900 lb tongue sitting on an improvised timber lever over a plastic-cased scale is a genuinely bad idea.
If you cannot buy a scale, use the truck scale. It is free, it is accurate, and nothing can collapse.
What to do with the number
| Check | What to compare it against |
|---|---|
| Is it 10-15% of loaded trailer weight? | Below 10% is sway-prone; above 15% wastes payload |
| Which bar band? | The chart in the hitches section |
| Does it fit the vehicle's tongue weight limit? | The towing section of your owner's manual |
| Does payload still work? | The door-jamb sticker, minus passengers, hitch and cargo |
Then act on it: the hitch chart maps your figure to a bar band, and payload vs towing capacity does the subtraction that matters.
The verdict
Buy the Sherline if you want one accurate number and will store it in the garage. Buy the Weigh Safe ball mount if you tow often, because a number you see every time beats a number you measured once. Use a truck scale first either way — it is free and it tells you whether the hardware is worth buying at all.
The picks in full
Sherline LM 2000 Trailer Tongue Weight Scale
Sherline · Best for measuring loaded tongue weight properly, once and for all
A hydraulic scale you set the coupler down on. It is the only tool here that answers the one question every hitch decision depends on, and it reads up to 2,000 lb.
Key specifications
- Capacity
- 2,000 lb
- Type
- Hydraulic dial gauge
- Use
- Jack the coupler down onto the scale
- Power
- None — mechanical
How it scored
- How often you use it (40%)9
- Build quality (25%)9
- Takes up little room (20%)4
- Price for capability (15%)5
Weighted average of the figures above. We did not test this product — see how we pick.
What it does well
- Gives you the loaded number, not the brochure dry number
- No batteries, no calibration routine, no app
- Capacity covers essentially every bumper-pull trailer
What it is bad at
- Expensive for a tool most people use twice a year
- Bulky to store
- You need level ground and the coupler at the right height to read it accurately
Price as of October 5, 2026. #ad How this is funded
Weigh Safe Aluminum Adjustable Hitch with Tongue Weight Scale
Weigh Safe · Best for seeing tongue weight every time you hook up, not once a year
An adjustable ball mount with the scale built into the shank, so the number appears every time you couple up rather than only when you remember to get the scale out.
Key specifications
- Gross trailer weight
- 12,500 lb
- Drop
- 4 in adjustable
- Balls
- Stainless 2 in and 2-5/16 in
- Receiver
- 2 in
- Extras
- 2-piece lock set included
How it scored
- Rated capacity (25%)8
- Adjustability (25%)9
- Security (20%)8
- Build quality (15%)8
- Price for capability (15%)6
Weighted average of the figures above. We did not test this product — see how we pick.
What it does well
- Measures tongue weight as part of hooking up — zero extra effort
- Dual stainless balls cover both common coupler sizes
- Adjustable height, so one mount fits two trailers
What it is bad at
- The gauge reads loaded tongue weight at the ball, which is not identical to a scale under the coupler
- Aluminum body scratches easily
- Expensive for a ball mount
Price as of October 5, 2026. #ad How this is funded
Milton S-986 Dual Head Tire Pressure Gauge, 10-160 psi
Milton · Best for reading trailer tire pressure that a car gauge cannot
Trailer tires often run 50-80 psi, which is past the top of a typical car gauge. This one reads to 160 psi and the dual head reaches an inner dually valve.
Key specifications
- Range
- 10-160 psi
- Head
- Dual head chuck
- Type
- Straight foot, mechanical
- Model
- S-986
How it scored
- How often you use it (40%)10
- Build quality (25%)9
- Takes up little room (20%)9
- Price for capability (15%)10
Weighted average of the figures above. We did not test this product — see how we pick.
What it does well
- Range actually covers trailer tire pressures
- Dual head reaches awkward and inner valves
- Mechanical — no battery to die in a cold trailer
What it is bad at
- Analog scale is harder to read precisely than a digital gauge
- No calibration certificate
- Brass head is heavy in a pocket
Price as of October 5, 2026. #ad How this is funded
Common questions
Use a public truck scale: weigh the coupled rig, then with only the trailer axles on the scale while coupled, then uncoupled on the jack. The difference between the last two is your tongue weight. Step by step.
If you own a trailer you plan to keep, yes. The number determines your bar rating, whether you need weight distribution, and how much payload is already spent. Getting it wrong costs more than the scale.
Accurate enough to be useful and very repeatable, which is what matters for tracking loading changes. It measures at the ball with the trailer coupled, which is not identical to a scale under the coupler.
Sources
- CURT published towing product specifications — read October 2026
- SAE J2807 — tow-vehicle gross combination weight rating procedure — read October 2026
- SAE J684 — trailer couplings, hitches and safety chains — read October 2026
- 49 CFR 393.70 — coupling devices and towing methods — read October 2026