Caravan towing tyre pressures

[rambada]

I was reading an article the other day that recommended that when towing a caravan that the rear tyre pressures be increased by 5psi & front decreased by the same. The point being that it improves the tyre footprint.
The D4 has self leveling suspension, so some weight will be transferred to the front wheels, but there is still weight on the tow ball/rear tyres from the van. Our van is approx 2000kgs.
So, in regards to the self leveling suspension and caravan towing tyre pressures, does anyone have any opinions please. :confused:

[catch-22]

Running the 19 inch wheels I now run 48psi on the rear and 40 on the front. Van is 2.5t.

[RobA]

Tyre placard pressures are what we started with for a full car and we have not moved too far from them.

Rob

[catch-22]

What does the placard state? Ours has been gerni'd off

[Narangga]

What does the placard state? Ours has been gerni'd off

Which model Disco do you have?

[catch-22]

2010 SDV6 HSE

[Glynhouse]

The D4 has self leveling suspension, so some weight will be transferred to the front wheels, but there is still weight on the tow ball/rear tyres from the van.

Same old same old, but a self levelng suspension can not transfer weight from or to any where !!
It will keep the vehicle level but the weight will not move, I tend to set my tyre pressures by the heat after a decent run - within limits.

Use an infa-red gun these days, the difference will amaze you, the rear vehicle tyres always way hotter than the van or fronts, also a big difference if one side only in the sun ( can vary by close to 8/10*c).

Born and worked in the N.T. up and down the Stuart, temp was the only way to judge the pressures !

DD

[Narangga]

2010 SDV6 HSE

Assumed you had a D4 but was checking. I can only give you the D3 figures sorry.

[catch-22]

Same old same old, but a self levelng suspension can not transfer weight from or to any where !!
It will keep the vehicle level but the weight will not move, I tend to set my tyre pressures by the heat after a decent run - within limits.



Super Quad road trains will shift weight around using suspension alone

[jon3950]

Self levelling suspension doesn't shift the weight of the vehicle around as such, but it changes the effective weight on each wheel by changing the spring pre-load. This effects how the vehicle handles rather than what it weighs.

Google corner weighting. Its a very important part of setting up a race car.

Cheers,
Jon

[Milton477]

With 250kg on the hitch, I run 300kPa (43psi) rear with the fronts at normal unloaded pressures. I keep a watch on tyre temperatures though & might increase the rears a bit when summer comes around.

The self leveling suspension will not transfer any of the ball weight to the front wheels, that's why a WDH arrangement is popular. By leveling the suspension when hitched, the fulcrum of the lever between the hitch & the front wheels does not move back towards the hitch so the decreased weight on the front wheels stays the same.

Happy towing.

[RobA]

With 250kg on the hitch, I run 300kPa (43psi) rear with the fronts at normal unloaded pressures. I keep a watch on tyre temperatures though & might increase the rears a bit when summer comes around.

The self leveling suspension will not transfer any of the ball weight to the front wheels, that's why a WDH arrangement is popular. By leveling the suspension when hitched, the fulcrum of the lever between the hitch & the front wheels does not move back towards the hitch so the decreased weight on the front wheels stays the same.

Happy towing.

Just remember that LRA does not recommend nor warrant the fitting of load distribution hitch's on Disco.

Rob