Tow ball weight

**Lotz-A-Landies** · 14th October 2009, 07:06 PM

There used to be a towing package for the Disco 1 which reinforced the rear chassis and suspension. can't find any references to it just now suffice to say, that all the fittings and modifications have to be certified and if an engineer is happy they may re-certify the permissable tow-ball weight.

Onto caravan loading (or any trailer for that matter) it is important to balance the load correctly.

Too much (uncompensated) weight in the front of the caravan/rear of the vehicle will lift the tow vehicle's front wheels and reduce the front wheel's contact with the road.
Too much weight in the rear of the caravan, the caravan will fishtail and may become uncontrollable.

I always load trailers watching the balance of the load, this is easy with a car float as you can watch the weight coming forward. You first see it lifting the front of the trailer/rear of the tow car, then you see the trailer/car combination come into balance and as the load comes further forward you see more weight come onto the towball. At this point I usually back the load up a few inches till I see the weight come off the towball a little.

In a caravan you can do the same with a tape measure. On level ground with the caravan empty, measure the front and rear from a convenient point to the ground (4 corners is better). Work out the difference, then as you load the caravan, the height will go down but the difference should stay about the same.

If the front goes down more than the rear, then there is too much stowed in the front of the van.
If the rear goes down more than the front then there is too much stowed in the back of the van.
Always load heavy items low and close to the axle/axle group as possible. This way the centre of gravity won't shift around too much when travelling making for a more stable ride.
You can measure the towball weight with a spring balance or even bathroom scales if you build up a stack of blocks under the towball lifting slightly as you slide in the scales.

Addit: I should have specified that you don't want the trailer/caravan in balance, you want it proportionally front heavy but not so as to exceed the tow-ball weight.

Late RRc, P38a L322 and Disco2 will balance their own load by increasing the pressure in the air-bags. In a D1 early RRc you can achieve the same by the addition of poly-air bags in the coils, which you adjust with external air pressure. Or you can replace the springs with heavy duty ones, by rights this should also increase the allowable towball weight, but Mr Plod may want to see the engineers certification.

The rule of thumb, if your combination looks correct, in-balance, secured properly, not obviously overloaded and the trailer has everything working, then you are not likely to attract the attention of the boyz-in-blue. If it doesn't or the trailer looks shabby and unmaintained WATCH OUT!

**INter674** · 14th October 2009, 07:27 PM

geez you guys have got me worried now...I bought a D1 cause of the 3500kg tow capacity (and the SC 3.9

and tow a triple horse float that weighs all up with 3 horses around 2800kg. The TB is rated 3500kg, and the Hayman Reece tow bar is rated at over 5000kg (I think that's what the compliance plate says).

The HF has 4 wheel in cab controlled e brakes and as you know the wheels on HFs are set well back from center. I can't imagine the weight over the TB but it has to be considerable if one considers the horse in the front is located well ahead of the axle centers and can weighs easily 300kg for example. But having said that even fully loaded it does not lift the front wheels nor bottom out the rear suspension, and of course e brakes are brilliant, so stopping is no problems either. It drops the TBar about 50mm from empty to fully laden

I find it hard to believe that 150kg is an issue for a D1, but recognise that this may well be what the law/insurance Co's will determine, should it become an issue. My solution is to drive very carefully, even though the D1 will easily do more speed, I would never exceed 80kph on the hwy with horses on board (0r even empty), and mostly travel at 60-70 which is safe and comfortable for the 'orses. Interestingly, since it is 2500 wide, approaching vehicles seem to always get out of the way real quick thereby avoiding the chances of collision

but I am worried now

**INter674** · 14th October 2009, 08:00 PM

OK took the bathroom scales out and measured the TB dead weight, and it came in at 105kg on the draw bar with the HF unladen...phew

Flipping the tow hitch over to increase the height of the TBall and place more emphasis on the rear of the float only reduced the weight on the TB by 5kg or so, which might be worthwhile but means the Disco rear door clobbers the top of the hitch handle and won't open fully, and place the centre of the TB at over 500mm - maybe a bit high.

So I think we are OK!!

**INter674** · 14th October 2009, 08:06 PM

ps sorry to hijack the thread, but I do agree with the earlier comment that max TB weight surely should be engineerable with appropriate suspensions mods and weight distribution.

**THE BOOGER** · 14th October 2009, 08:53 PM

Dont confuse the Tow Ball Weight with the trailer weight or towed weight 160 kg on the tow ball is like haveing 8 bags of concrete in the back of your car, but you tow 1600kg easly. the 2500kg rating on the tow ball is for towed weight not TBW

**locorr** · 15th October 2009, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by INter674

geez you guys have got me worried now...I bought a D1 cause of the 3500kg tow capacity (and the SC 3.9

and tow a triple horse float that weighs all up with 3 horses around 2800kg. The TB is rated 3500kg, and the Hayman Reece tow bar is rated at over 5000kg (I think that's what the compliance plate says).

The HF has 4 wheel in cab controlled e brakes and as you know the wheels on HFs are set well back from center. I can't imagine the weight over the TB but it has to be considerable if one considers the horse in the front is located well ahead of the axle centers and can weighs easily 300kg for example. But having said that even fully loaded it does not lift the front wheels nor bottom out the rear suspension, and of course e brakes are brilliant, so stopping is no problems either. It drops the TBar about 50mm from empty to fully laden

I find it hard to believe that 150kg is an issue for a D1, but recognise that this may well be what the law/insurance Co's will determine, should it become an issue. My solution is to drive very carefully, even though the D1 will easily do more speed, I would never exceed 80kph on the hwy with horses on board (0r even empty), and mostly travel at 60-70 which is safe and comfortable for the 'orses. Interestingly, since it is 2500 wide, approaching vehicles seem to always get out of the way real quick thereby avoiding the chances of collision

but I am worried now

60-70kph is anything but safe on a highway. Might even be illegal or should be. Travelling at up to 50kmh slower than traffic is incredibly dangerous. Could you put in your location for the benefit of others.

**dullbird** · 15th October 2009, 10:36 PM

Originally Posted by locorr

60-70kph is anything but safe on a highway. Might even be illegal or should be. Travelling at up to 50kmh slower than traffic is incredibly dangerous. Could you put in your location for the benefit of others.

I'm sorry but on a three lane highway if people cant avoid a float doing 70 in the inside lane then they shouldn't be driving on the road either IMHO,,,,(perhaps if speeds were limited in this lane there would be far less fatality's on the hard sholder)

a fast travelling float with a couple of 16hh+ horses weighing over 500kg start to panic fall down what ever...I can tell you that float very much becomes much more dangerous to other drivers on the road when doing faster speeds...

its common sense to know the faster you go the longer it takes to slow down with a large moving weight behind you......moving being the horses who do and will shift there weight.

**THE BOOGER** · 16th October 2009, 12:17 AM

unfortunatly not all hwy,s are three lanes coming around one of the bends in the pacific hwy at 110 to find a truck or horse float doing 60kph could be scary with no where to go

but them my s111 is a rolling road block only does 110 on a car trailer

the falcon is a different matter

**Dougal** · 16th October 2009, 04:52 AM

Originally Posted by THE BOOGER

unfortunatly not all hwy,s are three lanes coming around one of the bends in the pacific hwy at 110 to find a truck or horse float doing 60kph could be scary with no where to go

but them my s111 is a rolling road block only does 110 on a car trailer

the falcon is a different matter

If you run up the rear of a vehicle in front, it's clearly your fault. In the situation above you'd be gaining on a vehicle at 14 m/second (50km/h). If the vehicle was 100m in front, you'd have a full six seconds to shed that 50km/h.
If you can't do that, then you're probably not in control of your vehicle and a danger to other road users.

Over here driving slowly isn't a problem and we have far more corners than anywhere in Aus. You can legally drive as slow as you want. Provided you don't obstruct other traffic (i.e. let them pass when it's safe to do so).

Disco Jim · 16th October 2009, 08:57 AM

Thankyou Lotz-A-Landies, You mentioned a towing pack for the Disco 1. I will try find moreto info on this item. Thanks again

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