Tow Vehicle and Caravan Weight - Caravan Buyers Guide

[gaddy]

http://caravanbuyersguide.com.au/tow-vehicle-caravan-weight/

Just thought it was a interesting read , as a few on here tow ,

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[Playmoney08]

What a great list. Has given me food for thought about the van we are currently towing (not with the Patrol :( )

[Old.Tony]

This adds to discussions that have been held in many other places. Of particular note is the current trend for the "mid-sized" utes (Colorado/Ranga/Navara etc) to be rated to tow 3.5T in spite of their GCM of 6T not being increased. This means that to legally (not using the word "sensibly" here, because in this case "legal" has nothing to do with "sensible") tow the allowed limit of 3.5T, the vehicle itself can only weigh 2.5T. With (for example, in the Ford Ranga) the dry weight of 2200Kg, this means you can't have more than 300Kg in the car. Two adults, two kids (say 80kg, 60kg + 2x35kg = 210Kg) plus a dog (60Kg) you're within 30Kg of your GCM limit.

NSW regs don't allow for an increase in the GCM either. You can increase the GVM, the maximum allowable weight of the tow vehicle - you MUST include the ball weight of the trailer in the GVM. The GCM (Gross Combination Mass - the total weight of the entire rig with fuel, water and all that bird sh!t on the roof) is fixed by the manufacturer.

I've been wondering about adding a lazy axle and getting it engineered and applying to have the GCM raised - but that's stopped at "wondering", because I really have no need to do it. My own caravan (2.55T ATM, ball 200Kg) sits firmly and stably behind my car (3T max tow, 6T GCM, 2.9TGVM with ball weight added). I should add the pic of it to my sig, but then it'd be super-obvious that I'm not driving a Patrol. I'm really only visiting here, and thought I'd poke my head in to a few places.

[Bigcol]

http://caravanbuyersguide.com.au/tow-vehicle-caravan-weight/

Just thought it was a interesting read , as a few on here tow ,

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sounds to me like either
1) they are trying to flog European Caravans in the Australian Market - otherwise, why the comparison between UK & Germany & Australia

2) they're trying to give food to the tossers that want to regulate All Towing - Trailer, Camper, Caravan

what these people SHOULD be doing is make the Manufactures Specify the REAL towing capacity of their product

Patrol Utes have their Tare & Agg specified on them, and their rego
Patrol wagons dont....................


tis more bullshit for the Tree Huggers

[Old.Tony]

Not only the real capacity, but a satisfactory total gross combination weight as well. Conspiracy theory? Wouldn't be the first time someone heavily promoted something based on their own agenda.

What some of these people ('treehuggers' if you want to call them that) forget is that a properly set up caravan can be felt during acceleration, but should hardly be noticeable under braking. Caravans of significant weight not only have electric brakes on all axles, but often electronic stability control as well. Paired with a decent (proportional) brake controller and heavy enough electrical cabling to carry the power safely, these vans can stop themselves without impacting severely on the tug.

Now 'properly set up' does mean numerous things. Among these, brakes regularly checked and adjusted - I will often 'touch-test' the hubs during a driving break just to make sure they're all around the same temp = even braking and good wheel bearings. I opted for heavier cable than the standard 4mm recommended, because of the distances involved - and I added thermal breakers. Using a WDH for larger vans just makes good sense. Making sure the van sits either level or very marginally nose-down when hitched is also important, so that any braking pressure applied against the van doesn't cause the van to pop off the towball.

It's true that the smaller cars can tow larger weights, but they really need to be set up properly first.