Our little kia has a paltry 100kg tow ball weight our camper has 140kg tow hitch weight,whilst overall the camper is legal to tow the camper even when fully loaded the tow ball limit excludes towing it.I can shuffle a few things to the rear like the battery and tool box etc,but does anyone know if a weight distribution hitch will lower the weight on the towball even further and what would the inspectors actually weigh if inspected.cheers.
Darwin
03 disco 2a td5
93 tdi disco [gone to a better home]
2003 d2a v8 retired hurt
1988 k100rs bmw gone
85 county izuzu [gone to a better home]
69 series 2a [gone to a better home]
series 2a [gunnado]
series 3 [gunnado]
and the tinny
MY16 D4 TDV6 - with a little Cambo magic for towing "The Brick"
MY95 RRC LSE Vogue Softdash "Bessie" (turning circle comparable to QE II) with MY99 TD5 and 4HP24 transplants. Back home Nov 22 after a magic overhaul by Chivalry
SADLY SOLD MY04 D2a TD5 auto Classic and MY10 D4 2.7 both with lots of goodies
Go onto John Cadogen’s AutoExpert YouTube channel and search for his video on levelling hitches. I won’t link it owing to possible language issues. You may not like him but he does know what he’s talking about.
Ron B.
VK2OTC
2003 L322 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA
RIP Bucko - Riding on Forever
moving weight to rear is a recipe for disaster.
Have a look at Robert Peppers towing weight calculator to see if your legal.
Towing & Trailer Weights Calculator - L2SFBC
Cheers, Dale
PIC - It comes with the Territory
'The D3' - 2006 TDV6 HSE
2008 Kimberley Kamper Sports RV
Previously Enjoyed:
2002 Adventure Offroad Campers 'Cape York'
2000 D2 Td5 - plus!
1997 Defender 110 Wagon - fully carpeted
Darwin
03 disco 2a td5
93 tdi disco [gone to a better home]
2003 d2a v8 retired hurt
1988 k100rs bmw gone
85 county izuzu [gone to a better home]
69 series 2a [gone to a better home]
series 2a [gunnado]
series 3 [gunnado]
and the tinny
I am no engineer, but i expect that a weight distribution hitch is intended to apply a twisting force to move weight from the rear axle to the front axle. But the overall down force on the ball or the car won't be less, and the weight of the wdh would actually add weight onto the ball.
in part thats why they work.
the overall force is the same but the distribution is different, by turning the hitch into a "torque point" some of the weight is pulled from the rear axle of the tow vehicle and pushed to the front, following newtons rules theres an equal amount of transfer on the trailer, as its only got one axle (effectively unless its a dolly trailer) the axle acts as a pivot so theres an effective weight transfer from the front of the trailer to the rear...
Theres a couple of issues with this.
1. youre unweighting the rear axle and pushing weight to the front axle.
2. youre unweighting the front of the trailer and pushing weight rearwards.
like highlift jacks, done right its a good thing, but its easy to get it wrong.
getting it wrong usually changes the E adjective, you go from being effective to entertaining.
Dave
"In a Landrover the other vehicle is your crumple zone."
For spelling call Rogets, for mechanicing call me.
Fozzy, 2.25D SIII Ex DCA Ute
TdiautoManual d1 (gave it to the Mupion)
Archaeoptersix 1990 6x6 dual cab(This things staying)
If you've benefited from one or more of my posts please remember, your taxes paid for my skill sets, I'm just trying to make sure you get your monies worth.
If you think you're in front on the deal, pay it forwards.
Why are you towing with the bantam weight Kia when you have a perfectly good tow tug in your D2a V8?
You only get one shot at life, Aim well
2004 D2 "S" V8 auto, with a few Mods gone
2007 79 Series Landcruiser V8 Ute, With a few Mods.
4.6m Quintrex boat
20' Jayco Expanda caravan gone
My daughter has this exact problem. They have a camper trailer with over 100Kg on the towball of their Kia Sportage Their trailer weighs maybe 1200Kg GTM..
To know the answer we need to know the GTM of the trailer.
if it is a say 1000Kg then by all means move batteries to the back as 100Kg ball weight is still 10% so stability should not be such a problem.
You could change the batteries to LIFePo4 which would lose weight off the front without adding to the back.
If you trailer is near the 1750 GTM limit of a Sportage , there is no way you should get your towball weight down to 100Kg.
AFAIK from reading a lot, theuse of a equalising hitch will introduce a twisting force to the towbar. My guess is that the substructure of the Sportage is weak for Kia to have a 100Kg limit as they offer stiffer springs on a Sorento, to raise the towball limit to 150Kg.
Regards PhilipA
Search AULRO.com ONLY! |
Search All the Web! |
---|
|
|
Bookmarks