Towing weights for GQ - puzzled, what's the go?

[monty]

Hi all and happy new year.
Any towing experts out there who might know the real situation re towing weights for GQ? I have 1991 LWB wagon GQ 4.2 diesel. I understand that max towing weight is rated at 2500kg. According to RAA here they reckon max ball weight is 140kg which would suggest given the "normal" 10% rule that I could only tow a van at 1400kg. Seems all odd to me. Car has I believe standard suspension plus has air bag helpers within rear springs. Haven't got van yet but would expect van with full load (food, water etc etc) would be 4-500kg more than that for a 16-17 footer. Anybody got some real answers? Cheers

[MC97GQ]

Monty,

Towball weight shouldn't matter about how much you tow,

ie: if the vehicle to be towed is dual axle and sits level with minimal weight on the jockey wheel, you would have bugger all towball weight.

But if the vehicle is unevenly loaded(with all the weight at the front) there is more weight pushing down on your towball, so then there is potential for your steer wheels and front brakes to not work as effectively.

These are just my thoughts, there will be others here who do far more towing than I that will be able to help you out I'm sure.

I hope it's of some help

Mark

[threedogs]

I would have thought a 4.2 manual GQ would have a
tow rating of 3.2t. The
Auto would give you 2.5 t

[the evil twin]

I would have thought a 4.2 manual GQ would have a
tow rating of 3.2t. The
Auto would give you 2.5 t

... wot he said... ;)
and ball weight is a maximum rating because as MC97GQ said you don't want to loose your steering. So you can hypothetically tow 3200 KG as long as the towball weight is less than 140Kg.

The 10% "rule" is a bit misleading in a way because you divide the load not multiply the ball.
What they are getting at is if you have, say, a trailer loaded to 750 KG then 10% of that is a good number for the ball weight when you balance the loading... IE 75 Kg on the ball and 675 Kg on the trailer axle group. Now, if the trailer weighs 2000 KG 10 % is 200 Kg but the max ball weight is 140 so you cannot put 200 Kg on the ball and you would end up with 140 (or less but def not more) on the ball and 1860 on the axle group/s

As well as the vehicle manuf ratings you need to check the towbar and the towball ratings as well. Whatever component has the lowest rating is the limiting factor... EG if the Tow Bar is rated at 3000 KG then you can't 'legally' tow 3200 Kg even tho the vehicle is rated for it.

[gaddy]

the mighty towing debate , but dont foget the total GVM ,gross vehicle mass , weight of the car , van , and any other accessories , food water bull bars draws everything as though you are going away , get on to your states transport authoriety , as they will tell you whats the go , DO NOT go on the van sales pitch , these are dry weights and be realistic about the weights you will be carrying , the only way is to load as though you are going away and visit the local weighbridge , I have been pulled over and weighed at the boat ramp they dont just weigh the trailer , the whole rig is weighed car and all to see that you have not gone over the GVM ,

Gaddy

[the evil twin]

the mighty towing debate , but dont foget the total GVM ,gross vehicle mass , weight of the car , van , and any other accessories , food water bull bars draws everything as though you are going away , get on to your states transport authoriety , as they will tell you whats the go , DO NOT go on the van sales pitch , these are dry weights and be realistic about the weights you will be carrying , the only way is to load as though you are going away and visit the local weighbridge , I have been pulled over and weighed at the boat ramp they dont just weigh the trailer , the whole rig is weighed car and all to see that you have not gone over the GVM ,

Gaddy

You mean the GCM (Gross Combination Mass of vehicle and trailer) not GVM (which is vehicle and all in it as it sits on planet earth so to speak without a trailer)but thats cool and some very good points...

It can get very complicated in heavies but in cars they try and keep it as simple as they can and the manuf 99% of the time (but there are exceptions) will state his towing weight as the difference between his GVM and GCM so GCM is rarely encountered or exceeded. IE if you are under GVM and under max towable weight then you will be under GCM

That 'supposedly' makes it heaps easier for joe public... however I agree totally that if you are up there with weight it really does pay to nip down to the public weighbridge and get an accurate figure

[gaddy]

yep your right , sorry about that bit

Gaddy

[Maxhead]

In a GU you can also increase your towball weight by reducing your GVM. 200kg is standard down weight

Towing capacity is subject to towbar/towball capacity. The capacity may be reduced if a non genuine Nissan towbar is fitted. The permitted download is directly related to the laden mass of vehicle. At the maximum laden mass of the vehicle (Gross Vehicle Mass - GVM**) the maximum towball download is 200kgs.
Towball download Loaded vehicle mass
200kgs GVM** (all models)
250kgs Reduce loaded vehicle mass below GVM** by 150kgs
300kgs Reduce loaded vehicle mass below GVM** by 220kgs
350kgs Reduce loaded vehicle mass below GVM** by 290kgs

If the loaded vehicle mass is reduced as shown in the table, the towball download can be increased correspondingly. Accordingly, if the laden mass is 290kgs less than the GVM**, a towball download of 350kgs is approved.

[gaddy]

are all state the same now , ie if you comply in qld , do you comply across the country ?

Gaddy

[Maxhead]

Also if you are going to have more then 200kg on your ball I would install a weight distribution hitch for better steering and braking

[pearcey]

My GQ is fitted with a Hayman Reese bar and the compliance plate reads Max tow rating 2500 Kgs
Max ball weight 120 Kgs. Had my van weighted and it turned in at 1850 Kgs and the ball weight was 90 Kgs
which is about where it should be. 5% is the figure the yanks use and there trailers tow a lot better than ours

[89gqpatrol4x4]

GQ 4.2 diesel lwb can tow 2500kg braked.

[monty]

Hi and thanks so far for replies. So far we have manual towing capacity of 3.2T and another of 2.5T...oh well...In any case I need to get t/bar examined as I think it might be H/Reese but not certain - the plate attached is completely unreadable now. Anyway thanks for clarifying the ball weigh/GCM stuff; that helps to keep that in mind when I start looking at vans, especially the way they sit and single v dual axle. Cheers all

[BillsGU]

Last year we had a guest speaker from RTA (or whatever they are called this week) at our 4WD Club meeting. We asked him all these questions and many more and he could not answer most of them! This is still a grey area. He did say that (in NSW anyway), the braked towing weight for a vehicle was 1.5 times the unladen weight of the vehicle. When we asked what if the manufacturer has a higher figure, is this weight legal? again he had no answer.

When are we ever going to get uniform Australia wide road laws that are easy to understand and actually work?

[Robo]

are all state the same now , ie if you comply in qld , do you comply across the country ?

Gaddy

My brother inlaw just sold his 80 series yota and bought a 2013 ford ranger, as QLD have recently changed laws and he can't tow his c/van up there any more as a result.
mind you it's a bloody big dual axle c/van
"So things have changed".

[Robo]

The fitter a work was telling me we now have what's called east coast Rd rules for trucks to make them uniform.

humm, dont know ,something may of changed for the lighter trucks like patrols,?.
some one know the RTA's fellers number?.

[93patrol]

you have to remember your vehicle brakes as well the GQ's have smaller disks and calipers than the GU's so their braking isnt as good. My gq td42 ute had all the stickers down the side of the drivers door hope this helps
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b500/93patrol/5E5BF064-12F0-4906-88C2-D08C2B177D57_zpspqxcdm9q.jpg (http://s1288.photobucket.com/user/93patrol/media/5E5BF064-12F0-4906-88C2-D08C2B177D57_zpspqxcdm9q.jpg.html)

[Robo]

Humm Early GQ front single piston caliper is 2.5t.
so what about late model dual piston caliper models, has tow capacity increased also?.

[93patrol]

Probably would have but only to 3t at the most