Thread: Tow ball weight

Originally Posted by Disco Jim

Is there any way of increasing the TBW of disco 1.The books state the max is
150KG which is low compared to a D2

interesting, a few things to consider, how the tow ball is mounted. eg nomber of ancor points, and rating of tow ball, eg, if i rember corectly, my tow ball is rated at 2000 kg, ( just a guess off the top of my head) its a haman rease, now ever there is a diffrent type of haymen rease that is very long, meaning it ataches with the usal 4 bolts, but then has extention arms that reach long into the frame, aprox 400 or 500 mm into the chassis. that will give the ball a higher pull rating. but as for down force, if you think of the dynamics the major thing to think about is springs. if you have 150 kg dead weight, then when your bouncing down the road its alot more, so lr has said there may be stuff in the boot as well so best to say only 150 kg. i have a d1 and i moved 20 cubic meters of furniture in a 12x8 foot trailer canberra to melborn and i would put my clock on the block there was more than 150 kg touching that ball . a spring upgrade is the best option, when going to the road authority, a suspention upgrade is the magor consern to upgrade the gvm rating. we just put in ome springs and shocks the heavest they have and its among the best value for money, because you feel it all the time when you drive. it stops the typical land rover roll feeling. i find most lr have sad springs, even mine with only 140K

ome springs from arb can be bought in pairs i beleave so you can just buy the rear if you have to .

have you done much towing ? it was diffrent pulling a long trailer, when you get up to 100 it sways from the middle a centril articulation feeling, its sickening best to slow down. that was before the suspention upgrade.

other options could be to balance the load diffrently, eg, place deep cycle batterys in back of trailer insted of up front, or storage water down back ? depending on how keen you are, maby moving axel posisions, ? no always the best choice , let us know how you go, ill check out my haymon rease and what is rated at, from what i rember the chassis was drilled to fit it.


cheers, jeff.

this is a very old question, which has it's followers on both sides. why do you want to increase the TBW limit as 150kg is a fair bit. The trailer you are towing should be carrying the load, not the tow ball. The "sickening" feeling referred to by DS1 is known as "the tail wagging the dog" and usually means your load is incorrectly balanced over the trailer. Some TBW (I try to limit it to less 100kg) is required to stop the trailer moving around. Tyres as well as suspention condition and design (trailer and tow vehicle) have a lot to do with it. It seems quite common to put the reject tyres from a car onto a trailer and expect them to hang on, they don't. There should be no reason other than a legal one you cannot sit on the open highway limit towing a trailer without the "sickening" feeling. Weather, driving to the conditions and common sense considered.

my 0.02c Paul

Originally Posted by discoveryseries1

interesting, a few things to consider, how the tow ball is mounted. eg nomber of ancor points, and rating of tow ball, eg, if i rember corectly, my tow ball is rated at 2000 kg, ( just a guess off the top of my head) its a haman rease, now ever there is a diffrent type of haymen rease that is very long, meaning it ataches with the usal 4 bolts, but then has extention arms that reach long into the frame, aprox 400 or 500 mm into the chassis. that will give the ball a higher pull rating. but as for down force, if you think of the dynamics the major thing to think about is springs. if you have 150 kg dead weight, then when your bouncing down the road its alot more, so lr has said there may be stuff in the boot as well so best to say only 150 kg. i have a d1 and i moved 20 cubic meters of furniture in a 12x8 foot trailer canberra to melborn and i would put my clock on the block there was more than 150 kg touching that ball . a spring upgrade is the best option, when going to the road authority, a suspention upgrade is the magor consern to upgrade the gvm rating. we just put in ome springs and shocks the heavest they have and its among the best value for money, because you feel it all the time when you drive. it stops the typical land rover roll feeling. i find most lr have sad springs, even mine with only 140K

ome springs from arb can be bought in pairs i beleave so you can just buy the rear if you have to .

have you done much towing ? it was diffrent pulling a long trailer, when you get up to 100 it sways from the middle a centril articulation feeling, its sickening best to slow down. that was before the suspention upgrade.

other options could be to balance the load diffrently, eg, place deep cycle batterys in back of trailer insted of up front, or storage water down back ? depending on how keen you are, maby moving axel posisions, ? no always the best choice , let us know how you go, ill check out my haymon rease and what is rated at, from what i rember the chassis was drilled to fit it.


cheers, jeff.

Hi Jeff,
In answer to your question,I have done a fair of towing,both trailers and caravans.
My query was to do with caravans,I am looking at a van at around 1700KG which will have a TBW of around 170KG, does anyone have an answer to this problem?

Jim, legally you will have to tow within he limits of the vehicle specification. Insurance-wise if you breach this you may not be covered, if in an accident causing death you will see bars.

Either a smaller van or larger capacity vehicle is the simple answer.

Originally Posted by jmkoffice

Jim, legally you will have to tow within he limits of the vehicle specification. Insurance-wise if you breach this you may not be covered, if in an accident causing death you will see bars.

Either a smaller van or larger capacity vehicle is the simple answer.

I'm pretty sure that is why he is asking if it is possible to increase it....i see it as no different to some asking how to upgrade there GMV..that is still outside the car specifications but is doable and engineer-able

Hi Guys,

A suggestion form left field...for my own interest.

Is it possible to "adjust" the caravan to alter the TBW to below 150kgs? Moving weight aft, or reducing the draw length? Is this something you have to have engineered?

Would this upset the behavior of the caravan greatly?

I think the cheepest legal way is to distrubute the weight in the van to make the TBW 150kg anything else will require lots of suspension upgrades and with the new rules coming in someday may not be legal in the end any way. I believe the 10% TBW is a maximin away 5% is average.Lots of threads about this look in search lots of opinions too

L/R have admitted they stuffed up before the D1 came to oz
it could/can handle more weight...But it is too late now
to change it.


Andrew

'93 tdi 200 D1
'65 88" s2a