Weight Distribution on my Boat Trailer

[jscottphisher]

I have a 2004 Lund 16ft 10in Alaskan and with the trailer it weighs about 2,000 lbs
according to the manual. The trailer weight is pretty heavy and I am wondering if it makes sense to move the boat back on the trailer 4 to 6 inches to shift more weight over the axle. The weight on the trailer hitch does affect the steering on my truck. Would moving it back affect the way the trailer follows and trails ?
Would it cause the trailer to fish-tail?
Any thoughts would help.
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[Anglinarcher]

Yes, a heavy weight can cause fishtailing and if you slam on the breaks it can cause jackknifing. But, I don't know how heavy the is on your boat so I can't respond on the 4 to 6 inches.

I had a similar boat and moving it back about 2" did what I needed. I had a scale and you should to if also if you are going to do these adjustments.

Your tow vehicle should have a rating for maximum weights, and I would follow that before the trailer rating, but both should be close to each other.

[jscottphisher]

Thanks for your insight and suggestions. Checking to weight makes good
sense. I need to find out where I can find a scale.
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[HeberCreeper]

Tongue weight should be 9-15% of total trailer weight.
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[Fowl-Hook]

Tongue weight is better a little heavy than light. If this setup has a trailer jack then 100+ lbs is normal, with No trailer jack that weight might be a bit heavy on the back.
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[fish_hntr]

[quote jscottphisher]I have a 2004 Lund 16ft 10in Alaskan and with the trailer it weighs about 2,000 lbs
according to the manual. The trailer weight is pretty heavy and I am wondering if it makes sense to move the boat back on the trailer 4 to 6 inches to shift more weight over the axle. The weight on the trailer hitch does affect the steering on my truck. Would moving it back affect the way the trailer follows and trails ?
Would it cause the trailer to fish-tail?
Any thoughts would help.[/quote]

A boat that light shouldn't be giving you any issues unless someone really goofed when setting up the trailer, what are you towing it with?
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[jscottphisher]

Thanks for all of you responses. I am towing it with a 2002 Ford Explorer and it has the 4.0 liter engine. It does a pretty good job pulling the boat.
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[fish_hntr]

[quote jscottphisher]Thanks for all of you responses. I am towing it with a 2002 Ford Explorer and it has the 4.0 liter engine. It does a pretty good job pulling the boat.[/quote]

Those do have a pretty soft rear suspension, no idea why they went to an independent rear axle setup. Still have the original shocks under it?
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