Weight distribution hitch

Didn't anybody on this thread do a google???

I recall just a couple of months ago a European University studied caravan stability factors individually.
eg the placing of weight , towbal weight, speed etc

I am not sure this is the study but it says the same things

Bailey of Bristol - Caravan Stability Studies

Europeans have always stated that towball weight should be about 7 % , and the study confirmed this. Funny the 10 % bit is a US and subsequently Aussie thing as Hayman Reese is a US comapny.

The study indicated that the placing of weight at the ends of the

Caravan, towball weight and speed were main causal factors.

I have a mate with a 14 foot Windsor Rapid , about 1400KG and it has 210Kg on the drawbar. Crazy to me, but then a lot of the weight is at the ends I guess.

Regards Philip A

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Originally Posted by PhilipA

I have a mate with a 14 foot Windsor Rapid , about 1400KG and it has 210Kg on the drawbar. Crazy to me, but then a lot of the weight is at the ends I guess.

Regards Philip A

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yeah, this is what i am starting to think, the vans are badly designed with loads of weight behind the rear axle, so they compensate that by a high ball weight to try and make them stable. actually brings to mind a recent happening, well about 3 years back now, with a friend of mine, they had just bought a brand new cruiser and tandem axle van, $140k odd, and on the way home from the van supplier, flipped the whole rig. lost loads on insurance as they were underinsured. van supliers excuse ended up that because the thing didnt have anything in it, it was load biased toward the rear of the van. to me thats plain crazy having an empty van rearend heavy.

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Originally Posted by Rosscoe68

and yet the D2 is handbooked at 3500kg tow weight and the tow bar max ball weight is 150kg as stated on the factory fitted landrover towbar. go figure ...

heh, although i just realised that is landrover and whoever said they knew what they were doing in the first place :)

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Yes the LR does have a 3500kg tow weight but you have to have a tow bar to match. Your bar says 150 kg ball weight. Does this bar say 3500kg pull weight?

SWMBO's fairlane has a max tow weight of 2400 kg but the factory fitted tow bar is only rated to 1600. If I wish to tow 2400kg I have to get a tow bar to suit.

As for the post suggesting studies in Europe saying 7% ball weight I would not argue this as the 10% is only a guide. 10% plus or minus a bit works ok so minus a bit takes you close to 7%.

As for the suggestion that the 10% rule is because some of the old vans are too rear heavy, it does not matter how much weight is at the rear because if you have weight on the ball you have more at the front.

Dave.

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Originally Posted by Mr Whippy

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Yes the LR does have a 3500kg tow weight but you have to have a tow bar to match. Your bar says 150 kg ball weight. Does this bar say 3500kg pull weight?

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SWMBO's fairlane has a max tow weight of 2400 kg but the factory fitted tow bar is only rated to 1600. If I wish to tow 2400kg I have to get a tow bar to suit.

As for the post suggesting studies in Europe saying 7% ball weight I would not argue this as the 10% is only a guide. 10% plus or minus a bit works ok so minus a bit takes you close to 7%.

As for the suggestion that the 10% rule is because some of the old vans are too rear heavy, it does not matter how much weight is at the rear because if you have weight on the ball you have more at the front.

Dave.

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As far as I'm aware land rover dont make things that under rate the rating on the vehicle...

so they wont say your car can tow 3 ton and then only give you the factory option of a tow bar that can pull 2

At least that was what I was lead to believe.

yeah i wasnt going to go there, but i agree, i was under the impression you only need a upgraded aftermarket towbar if you wanted to fit weight dist bars, which LR recommends against.

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Originally Posted by Rosscoe68

yeah i wasnt going to go there, but i agree, i was under the impression you only need a upgraded aftermarket towbar if you wanted to fit weight dist bars, which LR recommends against.

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Are weight dist bars the same as what is often known as "level rides"?
I have a device bolted under the tow ball which has four holes in it. I then insert a spring steel rod about a metre long which is pulled up to the caravan draw bar. This transfers some of the ball weight to the front wheels of vehicle.
If this is weight dist bars the only reason I can think of that LR don't recommend them is they don't sell them.

I can see no other reason why. I have been using them for four years with no adverse effects to my Disco.

Dave.

yeah same thing. actually i should clarify what i said, LR don't recommend them if you have SLS air suspension.

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Originally Posted by dullbird

can I ask dumb question.....I dont own a trailer yet! what is loading a trailer correctly?

is it just distributing it evenly across the whole frame?

have a certain weight on the ball and a certain weight over the axles?

is it just literally avoiding heavy things at one end regardless of which end?

sorry for all the questions to curious....as this is something we will need to learn and know

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It means you have either too much forward or backwards of the axle/axles of the trailer.

You'll find camper trailers are pretty good as they are designed well and generally tow well, caravans on the other hand are crap to tow and generally need WDH and anti sway devices to be able to tow them well.

The main problem with vans is where all the load carrying space is and where most of the weight is distributed in the van when manufactured, as well as the piddley little wheels and crap suspension they have to carry that weight:twisted:

Baz.

I have a D1 4000kg tow rating with LRs 180 odd ball weight way less
than 10%.

I do a fair bit of towing one trailer i have been using lately
is evenly ballanced with a bit over 2t of wood loaded evenly
it will bounce on the ball it tows just fine at 100/105km
but the bounce is annoying so i load slightly heavy to the
frount not much just a bit..

Now dose any body know why LR do not recomend L/D hitches
with air susp.
If you think about how they work they have ride hight valves
to keep the ride level, simple....
Now if you use a LD hitch to lift the rear and move the weight some where else the susp will will think it is unloaded have less air pressure than required for that weight and WILL be unstable.

I hope this makes sense, i would love a D3 on air but would never use a weight distrabution hitch NEVER.
Anyone disagree as i have been tempted to send this to the 4wd mags
when the question comes up.

Andrew

93'tdi200disco
65'88"s2a

Andrew,
I am not an expert on on air springs but I can't see why weight distribution can't be used. If you transfer some weight from the rear to the front I'm sure the air bags would adjust accordingly.

This is just a theory here, but I see LR say no more than 150 kg on the ball. If you had 2000 kg and therefore was wanting 200 kg on the ball, by using weight distribution hitch, are you not transferring some of the 200kg weight from the ball to the front wheels so effectively you wouldn't have 200kg on the ball?

SWMBO's 98 fairlane has rear self leveling suspension and the book just warns to have the ignition turned off when attaching trailers and when fitting weight dist. hitches.

Dave.