Thread: Is it possible to tow 3000kg of weight on a trailer?

Hi Andrew,

I assume that you have given some thought as to what this will be like to drive? Land Rover may rate it to tow this but what's it going to be like in the real world? How far and how often will you need to tow the weights?

Is a current 130 rated to tow 3.5 or 4T?
I thought ABS models were 3.5T and non ABS were 4T and you can't get a 130 with ABS.

Tony

Ive towed a p38 back from Moe on a 1t car trailer in the old mans td5 and it went well at 110kph, so i think the 130 should be fine.

I'd be going from coffs to canberra, and out to orange, so it will be doing a few ks.

Max any normal 4wd in aus can legally tow (without a 5th wheel) is 3.5t, despite what is written on towbars.

Originally Posted by andrew e

Max any normal 4wd in aus can legally tow (without a 5th wheel) is 3.5t, despite what is written on towbars.

not entirely true pre 2001 some vehicles are rated to tow up to 4500KG and can do so legally in some circumstances a lot (the landrover defender is one) with the heavy duty kit out can legally tow 4000Kg.

generally most vehicles are only set up to goto 3500KG

Originally Posted by andrew e

I was hoping not to go with leaf springs/load sharing leaves/straight axles, due to their weight. Instead i want to go for the tordial axles, which have the suspension built into the axle - its an outer tube with a layer of rubber, then a solid axle inside with plates on the end. Are these drop center axles??? can you load share them?



Andy

I made my own axles using 70mm by 6mm wall tube for the car trailer, and 100x50x5 RHS for another 1.5 ton load trailer I built. Much lighter than solid 50mm square axles. Drop centre refers to the axle centre centre being lower than the stub axles, i.e offset. You cannot load share separate axles unless the springs are interconnected, usually by leaf springs and a central rocker pivot. Otherwise the axle load goes off scale as you drag the trailer through a gutter. If you insist on a manufactured trailer, maybe you should talk to someone who makes bobcat trailers. I have seen them on one heavy duty axle.

This link here contains info that states 320 kg for a trailer kit to do 4 tonne.

I suspect a 16 inch lr or cruiser wheel and tyre you would be up for approx 20kg each leaving you approx 100 kg to make a traler. Even if you just made a frame with no skin you would be pushing it. 100 x 50 x 3.5 mm is 7.53 kg/m, if you can make the trailer out of 10 linear metres of that material you will be just on the mark.

You would need to improve on the weight of the kit, perhaps tube axles instead of solid.

Had reason to look into this in the past. bought a disco with a 4.6 to carry my excavator and tools. Disco is rated for 3.5T so if you assune 500kg of tools what payload (ie what size excavator) are you left with once you take the weight of the trailer into account?

Anyway, enough rambling. In the earthmover and excavator mag there is a mob called auswide (email AUSRAMP - Manufacturers of Aluminium Loading Ramps, Suppliers of Earth Moving Attachments, Pit Formers & Aluminium Boat Trailers.) and they are advertising GTM of 4000kg tare 680kg and carrying capacity of 3350kg . they’ve got a 3.5 GTM trailer with 650 kg tare and 2850 kg payload as well. There is also another mob called lite tow trailers LITE industries the home of LITE aluminium products. which are similar. By looking at the photos you should scrape in for your purpose as these trailers have ramps for the loading/unloading which you won’t need and you could carry the spare wheel and jockey wheel on your ute till needed. best bet is speak to these manufacturers and they should let you know for sure if possible and probably customize it for your application.

hth.

brett.

Originally Posted by andrew e

i still want the trailer to be able to carry 3000kgs.

without making the load part of the load bearing capacity of the trailer, even an aluminium trailer will weigh more than 500kg, so you've blown that 3500kg limit straight away

Originally Posted by andrew e

Those axles in the link look good, and i will be calling them on tuesday. I'm a bit worried about their weight though, they look dam heavy, like 350kgs, which wont leave much for wheels and frame.

they arent the lightest of things, but neither is a beam axle rated to the same load with the same sized brakes...... and then you've gotta add the suspension.....

Originally Posted by andrew e

I dont want to go for 5th wheel setup -
1- i want a tray with toolboxes

unless you have a canopy or a full on mobile workshop body, a gooseneck setup can be built to accomodate whatever toolboxes you want

Originally Posted by andrew e

2 We have other utes which are rated to carry 1500kg braked, so it would be nice if they could transport 1000kg of weight on the trailer when needed.

virtually any trailer capable of carrying a 3T load is going to be pushing the limits of your other utes before you put any weight on it

In all honesty, you would be better off going for a light truck such as a Isuzu NPR400/NQR450, much more suited to the high loadings and industrial environment that you will be operating in, running a 4x4 at/very close to its GCM on a full time basis is going to be detrimental to its reliability and long life.....

These are the axles i would like to go for. No leaf springs required, and each axle can be rated to 3000kgs by itself. It should save a heck of alot of weight.

Knott-Avonride Limited: Axles & Suspension Units

I do approx 8000kms a year in the 11t truck ATM, and that is rarely fully loaded. I only want the ABILITY to carry 3000kgs when needed, which may only be for 2-3000kms a year.

Worst case is a little isuzu or such + plant trailer, and may end up that way, but for obvious reasons I would like the landrover/trailer option.

Andy