Yep. An excerpt from a Clayton's Towing article.
Swaybars
Weight distribution hitch, another touchy subject. Do any of us have them? No. Do lots of caravan crashes we see rolled have them? Yes. With a heavily loaded tow ball, they can help. If you have low tow ball weight, we personally consider they make things worse. With their tension, they really could provide the opposite result and have a dangerous lifting effect on the rear of your vehicle. If you are getting them, make sure you know what you are doing, know your weights or go to reputable companies who can give you the time to assist in having the right ones. These should not be used as a solution to a problem, only another tool that may help your towing experience. If they are used with limited tow ball weight, we really feel you are making things worse. If you are getting them, make sure you know what you are doing, know your weights or go to reputable companies who can give you the time to assist in having the right ones. These should not be used as a solution to a problem, only another tool that may help your towing experience. If they are used with limited tow ball weight, we really feel you are making things worse.
'sit bonum tempora volvunt'
"How long since you've visited The Good Oil?"
'93 V8 Rossi
'97 to '07. sold.
'01 V8 D2
'06 to 10. written off.
'03 4.6 V8 HSE D2a with Tornado ECM
'10 to '21
'16.5 RRS SDV8
'21 to Infinity and Beyond!
1988 Isuzu Bus. V10 15L NA Diesel
Home is where you park it..
[IMG][/IMG]
# For what it's worth:
The stable mate of the Kia....Hyundai santa fe has a 100kg towball weight as well. They share a common suspension setup. Hyundai sell uprated rear springs which raise the towball max to 150kg. DIY spring swap is a couple of hrs (including coffee time) on the driveway with a floor jack and jack stands... Probably less $ than a weight distribution setup...
MY99 RR P38 HSE 4.6 (Thor) gone (to Tasmania)
2020 Subaru Impreza S ('SWMBO's Express' )
2023 Ineos Grenadier Trialmaster (diesel)
Can anyone find any real science behind the '10% ball weight rule'? I can't.
I've towed all sorts of things over the years, from 300kg to 3500kg, maybe more, and never had an issue using a ball weight that never exceeded maybe 120kg, except once.
That was towing a tandem bobcat trailer that weighed over a tonne alone, with a full load of 4m redgum posts on it. Couldn't realistically adjust the load to get the ball weight down below an estimated 300kg.
All I can say is that the steering was dangerously light.
Here's a plate on a stock LR towbar.................why doesn't it give a static ball weight capacity of 400kg? with a towing capacity of 4,000?
RRC towbar crop.jpg
DL
We just bought 10 new trailers for work - to have 60 and 100kva gens put on. Custom made to suit the gens - manufacture states 4 to 7% recommended tow ball weight - no more than 8%.
The heaviest units tip the scales at 2950kg with a ball weight of 180kg and the lightest are 2290 with a ball weight of 150kg. They tow brilliantly. The owner has had and built trailers for gens for decades and he gave up trying to convince people the 10% ‘rule’ was a load of BS - even his old trailers come in around 5 to 6% and tow really well.
10% may be ok for a 6x4 but not much more than that IMO.
If you need to contact me please email homestarrunnerau@gmail.com - thanks - Gav.
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