Question re towball weight & springs

[Simon]

Seeking views from those with more knowledge than I

Its trailer related, but put here as I have a 2013 110 Puma so its a Defender specific thing

We are looking at camper trailers, and there seems to be a huge range of ball weights between differing types

Just wondering at what point (if at all) heavier ball weight may require uprated rear springs to avoid sag.

We will be trying to keep load in the 110 to a minimum

Cheers

Simon

[firsttimedefender]

Hi mate
If you only worried about sag, have you thought about poly air bags (or equivalent other brand)?

[pop058]

If you have a LR fitted bar, it should have the max ball weight listed on it. I would be reluctant to put more than 100 kgs on the ball. Some say 10% of trailer GVM but I think that is a load of rubbish personally :D

[weeds]

Once you have trailer and load up to how you plan to tour than will see if you sag or not....than go from there. Stiffer springs, air bag helpers, convert to full air bags, redistribution of load

Oh what camper are you looking, the greater the distance between hitch and axle the greater the tow ball weight will potentially come. Oh and the more storage boxes up front or jerry can holders, water tanks these all add to tow ball.

From memory mine is around 100kg mark and with the defer loaded in touring mode I sag

[n plus one]

Seeking views from those with more knowledge than I

Its trailer related, but put here as I have a 2013 110 Puma so its a Defender specific thing

We are looking at camper trailers, and there seems to be a huge range of ball weights between differing types

Just wondering at what point (if at all) heavier ball weight may require uprated rear springs to avoid sag.

We will be trying to keep load in the 110 to a minimum

Cheers

Simon

New springs wouldn't be needed to cover a 250kg ball weight, but in combination with an addition 250kg in the vehicle you'll experience a bit of sag - but not enough to make it look like you're carrying the same weight in a Prado!

As others have indicated, helper airbags may be an option if you don't carry much load on a day to day basis.

[Simon]

Thanks all for the responses.

I have a Hayman Reece bar, max ball 250kg - although I wouldn't fancy trying to shift that around by hand

Which camper is still an open debate. In/out/in/out of the list have been the Kimberley Classic, Trak Shak, Trackabout Safari, Camprite and a couple of others. All part of a larger debate over a year out doing a lap of Australia

SWMBO would like extra comforts, I'm happy to go more basic, plus we have 3 kids to fit in somewhere. Personally I love the design of the Patriot or Mission but not sure if they would tick enough boxes with the controller

Sounds like we would need to keep an eye on things and look to air bags / springs should the need arise down the track

Cheers

Simon

[cewilson]

Most of those campers you have mentioned will result in an approximate ball weight of around 150kg based on the camper being 1500kg loaded.

Get the camper you want, do a couple of trips with the suspension standard, swing by a weigh-bridge at some stage and note the axle weights. Then take it from there - you will know your 'base' which makes it a lot easier to plan.

[Rextheute]

Max ball weight is 150kg on a Defender , and off road max trailer weight is 1500kg .

Be careful with the campers you have listed - from experience ball weight is 'speculative' at best .....as others have noted , load a trailer then weigh it you may be surprised ( this is from experience ) I have a camper and just moving the contents around can alter the ball weight up to 25kg .

Try to dissapaite as much weight back if possible , but you do need 'positive 'ball weight in order to have the trailer tow nicely and not ' wag '

Lighter is better - with three kids and a long trip this may be a challenge , Good Luck !

[slug_burner]

Happy wife is a happy life, a year on the road is a long time with someone who is not entirely happy with the selection of camper.

Weight should be around the trailer axle, the further away the greater the pendulum effect. A long drawbar and 5 - 10% of the ATM on the ball will make for a nice towing trailer. Good suspension and firm tyres on both vehicle and trailer will help to stop the vehicle squirming about will also help prevent the swaying from starting up. If you are still concerned about swaying trailers

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W9s8qIyDSZA

If you feel the suspension is sagging too much then see about getting the airbag helpers

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2V2IHJBloBM

Then finally there is the full airbag option

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VX0_998rgRs

I don't have any association with the providers of the products displayed on the videos and have only used them as an easy way to show what is involved or how they work.

[Simon]

Interesting point re the max ball weight for the Defender - just looked at my manual and there is a table showing max tongue/nose weight at 150kg plus a warning in bold that exceeding this may lead to loss of control

However underneath is a note for Australia which includes "...The tongue/nose weight must be a minimum of 7% of gross caravan/trailer weight, up to a maximum of 250kg.."

Seems a touch contradictory

[DiscoMick]

Our Aussieswag does cause the back to drop a bit on the Disco, which has TJM XGS suspension with linear coils. Airbags would fix it.
Remember that you need some towball weight to make the trailer stable.

[Simon]

An update.

We crawled over a whole heap of trailers at the Sydney 4WD Adventure Show last Friday.

SWMBO obeyed surprised me, agreeing the Mission best suited what we would want if we make the extended trip.

Seeing it set up really helped underline the impression this is a very well thought out piece of kit

Cheers

Simon