I just purchased at 16 foot Jayco Freedom Caravan. I'll be towing it with my 2014 Hilux SR5 Dual Cab.
The Redarc Tow Pro and a Transmission Cooler is being fitted next week on the Hilux.
I'm looking for suggestions on Mirrors for the Hilux (will be doing 3-4 months of travel).
Is it worth getting stability control installed on the Caravan?
I would have liked to purchase an Outback version of the caravan but I'm very limited on weight as my Hilux is quite heavy (2700kg), the Freedom I purchased has quite low clearance, is it worth getting the caravan raised (moving the axles under the springs) ?
Thanks in advance!
Phil P
Dougwe said
05:08 PM Jun 14, 2020
Welcome to the gang Phil, enjoy here and out in the playground.
If your rig is weighted properly, van loaded properly and drive to conditions you should be fine with out Stability Control IMO.
As for mirrors. I can only recommend Clearview Mirrors but if only using them for 3-4 months travel maybe not worth the cost. I still would fit them as they are great even when not towing.
I never leave home without them. Um, the playground IS my home.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
Magnarc said
06:26 PM Jun 14, 2020
It would appear that Thanks in advance phrase is appearing more and more just lately. Is it too much to ask that members who reply to a post have the courtesy of a personal reply????
Whenarewethere said
06:52 PM Jun 14, 2020
Magnarc wrote:
It would appear that Thanks in advance phrase is appearing more and more just lately. Is it too much to ask that members who reply to a post have the courtesy of a personal reply????
I have noticed this on other forums. Some answers are provided, whether they are helpful or not is beside the point. Or you never get feedback whether something works or fails which would help others either way.
I don't tow so cannot really comment on mirrors or lifting a caravan.
yobarr said
06:53 PM Jun 14, 2020
Phil P wrote:
Hi all,
I just purchased at 16 foot Jayco Freedom Caravan. I'll be towing it with my 2014 Hilux SR5 Dual Cab.
The Redarc Tow Pro and a Transmission Cooler is being fitted next week on the Hilux.
I'm looking for suggestions on Mirrors for the Hilux (will be doing 3-4 months of travel).
Is it worth getting stability control installed on the Caravan?
I would have liked to purchase an Outback version of the caravan but I'm very limited on weight as my Hilux is quite heavy (2700kg), the Freedom I purchased has quite low clearance, is it worth getting the caravan raised (moving the axles under the springs) ?
Thanks in advance!
Phil P
Hi Phil...Clearview mirrors are unrivalled.Forget the stability control.Hilux looks overloaded at 2700kg before towball weight.Details timorrow.What is the ATM of your van? These detail will be on your compliance plate.Cheers
Phil P said
08:22 PM Jun 14, 2020
The Hilux weight includes my camping equipment (Roof Top Tent, Long Range Tank and both passengers). The Tare weight of the caravan is 1565kg with 400kg available for water, food etc, should be under 2000kg. The maximum GCW for the Hilux is 5030kg.
I'm planning on moving 120Kg of my camping stuff into the Caravan so the Hilux will be underweight even when I include the Tow Ball Weight. When it's all packed up I'll get it weighed and if the GVW is still overweight I can always change my batteries to Lithium.
Whenarewethere said
09:52 PM Jun 14, 2020
I did a spreadsheet for every item. Still missed a few. Frightening how weight gets out of hand even if one is careful.
I can't recommend mirrors. My old set kept falling off so I've only just bought a new set and not yet fitted them. ESC (Electronic Stability Control) might give you a reasonable discount on your insurance as it does for me. It is also reassuring that it is always there if needed to bring a swaying van back into line without having think think too hard. Sudden high winds and passing B-Doubles can be a worry at times.
yobarr said
01:03 PM Jun 15, 2020
Phil P wrote:
The Hilux weight includes my camping equipment (Roof Top Tent, Long Range Tank and both passengers). The Tare weight of the caravan is 1565kg with 400kg available for water, food etc, should be under 2000kg. The maximum GCW for the Hilux is 5030kg.
I'm planning on moving 120Kg of my camping stuff into the Caravan so the Hilux will be underweight even when I include the Tow Ball Weight. When it's all packed up I'll get it weighed and if the GVW is still overweight I can always change my batteries to Lithium.
Hi Phil....as is usual with towing,the weight on your car's rear axle will be your Achilles Heel.As far as I can determine,your car has a front axle carrying capacity of 1340kg,while the rear axle is rated at only 1600kg.Assuming you have managed to load your car exactly right,with your weight now at 2700kg you will presently have 1340kg on the front axle and 1360kg on the rear.All is good,but when you hook up your 2000kg (+/-) van,with the generally accepted 10% towball weight,this 200kg towball weight translates to around 300kg added weight on the car's rear axle,with the extra 100kg coming OFF the front axle.You will now be running overloaded on your car's rear axle as well as being over your GVM which is between 2710kg and 2835kg depending on exact model.(Happy to be corrected here,but these are the figures I have).Moving 120kg of gear to the van certainly will help,but the only way to be sure is to attend a weighbridge.What is the axle rating of your van?.....a photo of the compliance plate will help us give you good advice as you may be able to easily increase the carrying capacity of the van by a couple of hundred KG. Because your car is way heavier than your van,you have plenty of wriggle room.As Jonathan(whenarewethere) says,your vans weight can easily get out of hand.When loaded,I carry over a ton of "stuff" in/on my van! Cheers
Craig1 said
03:17 PM Jun 15, 2020
Phil, Have a look at M S A towing mirrors, they are far less wide in closed position than Clearview. Not knocking Clearview at all, but they are a big bit of gear.
Greg 1 said
03:41 PM Jun 15, 2020
The Clearview type mirrors (there are a couple of brands now) are certainly the best but expensive and add to the width of the vehicle, so if you are like me and have a tight garage then they are not an option. I have some removable Millenco Grand Aero mirrors which I have found quite good. The best of the rest outside of the Clearview.
Stability control I do not have but if I bought another van I would have it fitted as I think that it is a good idea.
Raising your van height, well that depends on where you want to go. I have a standard van and travel pretty much everywhere with that. There are some exceptions where I probably wouldn't take it such as the Gibb River Rd, but if your van is well constructed then you shouldn't have too much of an issue going most places. It is mainly the creek and river crossings that are an issue with the ground clearance, and you only really get those on roads like the GRR.
The other disadvantage with a high van is getting up and down out of the thing. As you get older, this starts to become an issue and is something to be considered.
Warren-Pat_01 said
10:21 PM Jun 16, 2020
G'day Phil,
You can probably do an Advanced Search on under/over slinging of the axle. Some say that having the axle on top of the springs gives you some added safety if you snapped one or two U-bolts - either way it would be a mess!
I have thought about it both on our previous Eagle Outback & on our current Discovery. I decided with the Eagle to get the springs reset & added a leaf but then regretted the latter decision (made them too stiff) as resetting gave me increased clearance between the bump stops & the springs (new Eagles with leaf springs had less than 25mm clearance). As Greg said, you may need a step of some sort (more weight, more stuff to carry).
As an on-road van, your Freedom might have smaller wheels than the Outbacks - take one off & check the load limit of it - if it is an alloy wheel.
You may also need a new hitch (they cost up to $80) with an adjustable drop to level the van (drop the front, lift the rear).
Check what your ATM is - normally single axle Jayco vans have a load limit of 300kg, those with shower & toilet have an extra 75kg.
Gundog said
11:06 AM Jun 17, 2020
Hi Phil
The first job I would be doing if I was in your shoes, from experiance I was carrying a lot of I might need this stuff, it became apparant that a lot of it was never used. I would unload everything out of the Hilux that is not bolted down and then review each item put them into 3 piles, 1. absoutly neccessary, 2. maybe neccessary and 3. feel good look good stuff. Is the roof top tent going to be used daily? or is it for a might be excursion without the caravan.
Before piling all the gear back into the Hilux go and get it weighed, ensure its full of fuel, all passengers who would be travelling with you, when you weigh the hilux write down the Front and Rear Axle weights along with the total weight, that becomes your Kerb Weight the difference between it and GVM, is how much you can put back into the Hilux, if you can weigh each item as you return it to the vehicle until you reach you target weight leaving enough weight for you towball weight.
As for mirrors Grand Aeros are great, Clearviews and the like are fantastic but the have an inherrent problem the shear size of the them create a big blind spot in the right front quarter, I have mirrors installed but rarely look into them, as I have left and right side and rear cameras mounted on the van to give me a better view than any mirror can.
As for ESC if you think it worth the investment to give you peace of mind while towing then go for it.
And when you load you van the same applies including visiting the weighbridge.
Lastly I suggest you review your Hilux's owners manual and Toyota's towing guide to get the correct information.
yobarr said
03:47 PM Jun 17, 2020
Gundog wrote:
Hi Phil
The first job I would be doing if I was in your shoes, from experiance I was carrying a lot of I might need this stuff, it became apparant that a lot of it was never used. I would unload everything out of the Hilux that is not bolted down and then review each item put them into 3 piles, 1. absoutly neccessary, 2. maybe neccessary and 3. feel good look good stuff. Is the roof top tent going to be used daily? or is it for a might be excursion without the caravan.
Before piling all the gear back into the Hilux go and get it weighed, ensure its full of fuel, all passengers who would be travelling with you, when you weigh the hilux write down the Front and Rear Axle weights along with the total weight, that becomes your Kerb Weight the difference between it and GVM, is how much you can put back into the Hilux, if you can weigh each item as you return it to the vehicle until you reach you target weight leaving enough weight for you towball weight.
As for mirrors Grand Aeros are great, Clearviews and the like are fantastic but the have an inherrent problem the shear size of the them create a big blind spot in the right front quarter, I have mirrors installed but rarely look into them, as I have left and right side and rear cameras mounted on the van to give me a better view than any mirror can.
As for ESC if you think it worth the investment to give you peace of mind while towing then go for it.
And when you load you van the same applies including visiting the weighbridge.
Lastly I suggest you review your Hilux's owners manual and Toyota's towing guide to get the correct information.
All good advice from Graham,but you MUST allow for around 100kg coming OFF the front axle,and transferring to the rear axle of the car.Thus,you can never actually reach your GVM.However,unlike Graham,I wouldnt bother with the ESC because your GTM (weight on van wheels) will be only 1800kg,behind a car that weighs around 2600kg (2700kg minus the 100kg that has been taken off the front axle of the car).The car is thus nearly 50% heavier than the van,and super-safe. Your car's rear axle will be the stumbling point,but good luck with your efforts.If you still have problems,increasing your van's ATM may be an option,dependent on things such as your axle rating.Cheers.
Phil P said
07:10 PM Jun 17, 2020
Hi,
Thanks for your replies. I ended up ordering the Milenco Grand Aero 3 clip on mirrors. Had the Hilux over the weigh bridge Today and Ive managed to get the weight to 2580. My RTT weighs 60kg so vehicle weight will be 2640. The GVW rating is 2780 so Ill end up being slightly over on GVW when adding the caravan ball weight. The GCW is 5030kg. If the caravan is fully loaded (1950 kg) Ill be well under the GCW.
Ill hold off on the Stability Control and the Caravan lifting for the time being.
Hi all,
I just purchased at 16 foot Jayco Freedom Caravan. I'll be towing it with my 2014 Hilux SR5 Dual Cab.
The Redarc Tow Pro and a Transmission Cooler is being fitted next week on the Hilux.
I'm looking for suggestions on Mirrors for the Hilux (will be doing 3-4 months of travel).
Is it worth getting stability control installed on the Caravan?
I would have liked to purchase an Outback version of the caravan but I'm very limited on weight as my Hilux is quite heavy (2700kg), the Freedom I purchased has quite low clearance, is it worth getting the caravan raised (moving the axles under the springs) ?
Thanks in advance!
Phil P
If your rig is weighted properly, van loaded properly and drive to conditions you should be fine with out Stability Control IMO.
As for mirrors. I can only recommend Clearview Mirrors but if only using them for 3-4 months travel maybe not worth the cost. I still would fit them as they are great even when not towing.
I never leave home without them. Um, the playground IS my home.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
It would appear that Thanks in advance phrase is appearing more and more just lately. Is it too much to ask that members who reply to a post have the courtesy of a personal reply????
I have noticed this on other forums. Some answers are provided, whether they are helpful or not is beside the point. Or you never get feedback whether something works or fails which would help others either way.
I don't tow so cannot really comment on mirrors or lifting a caravan.
Hi Phil...Clearview mirrors are unrivalled.Forget the stability control.Hilux looks overloaded at 2700kg before towball weight.Details timorrow.What is the ATM of your van? These detail will be on your compliance plate.Cheers
I'm planning on moving 120Kg of my camping stuff into the Caravan so the Hilux will be underweight even when I include the Tow Ball Weight. When it's all packed up I'll get it weighed and if the GVW is still overweight I can always change my batteries to Lithium.
I did a spreadsheet for every item. Still missed a few. Frightening how weight gets out of hand even if one is careful.
https://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t65110614/towing-weights-again/
Hi Phil....as is usual with towing,the weight on your car's rear axle will be your Achilles Heel.As far as I can determine,your car has a front axle carrying capacity of 1340kg,while the rear axle is rated at only 1600kg.Assuming you have managed to load your car exactly right,with your weight now at 2700kg you will presently have 1340kg on the front axle and 1360kg on the rear.All is good,but when you hook up your 2000kg (+/-) van,with the generally accepted 10% towball weight,this 200kg towball weight translates to around 300kg added weight on the car's rear axle,with the extra 100kg coming OFF the front axle.You will now be running overloaded on your car's rear axle as well as being over your GVM which is between 2710kg and 2835kg depending on exact model.(Happy to be corrected here,but these are the figures I have).Moving 120kg of gear to the van certainly will help,but the only way to be sure is to attend a weighbridge.What is the axle rating of your van?.....a photo of the compliance plate will help us give you good advice as you may be able to easily increase the carrying capacity of the van by a couple of hundred KG. Because your car is way heavier than your van,you have plenty of wriggle room.As Jonathan(whenarewethere) says,your vans weight can easily get out of hand.When loaded,I carry over a ton of "stuff" in/on my van! Cheers
You can probably do an Advanced Search on under/over slinging of the axle. Some say that having the axle on top of the springs gives you some added safety if you snapped one or two U-bolts - either way it would be a mess!
I have thought about it both on our previous Eagle Outback & on our current Discovery. I decided with the Eagle to get the springs reset & added a leaf but then regretted the latter decision (made them too stiff) as resetting gave me increased clearance between the bump stops & the springs (new Eagles with leaf springs had less than 25mm clearance). As Greg said, you may need a step of some sort (more weight, more stuff to carry).
As an on-road van, your Freedom might have smaller wheels than the Outbacks - take one off & check the load limit of it - if it is an alloy wheel.
You may also need a new hitch (they cost up to $80) with an adjustable drop to level the van (drop the front, lift the rear).
Check what your ATM is - normally single axle Jayco vans have a load limit of 300kg, those with shower & toilet have an extra 75kg.
Hi Phil
The first job I would be doing if I was in your shoes, from experiance I was carrying a lot of I might need this stuff, it became apparant that a lot of it was never used. I would unload everything out of the Hilux that is not bolted down and then review each item put them into 3 piles, 1. absoutly neccessary, 2. maybe neccessary and 3. feel good look good stuff. Is the roof top tent going to be used daily? or is it for a might be excursion without the caravan.
Before piling all the gear back into the Hilux go and get it weighed, ensure its full of fuel, all passengers who would be travelling with you, when you weigh the hilux write down the Front and Rear Axle weights along with the total weight, that becomes your Kerb Weight the difference between it and GVM, is how much you can put back into the Hilux, if you can weigh each item as you return it to the vehicle until you reach you target weight leaving enough weight for you towball weight.
As for mirrors Grand Aeros are great, Clearviews and the like are fantastic but the have an inherrent problem the shear size of the them create a big blind spot in the right front quarter, I have mirrors installed but rarely look into them, as I have left and right side and rear cameras mounted on the van to give me a better view than any mirror can.
As for ESC if you think it worth the investment to give you peace of mind while towing then go for it.
And when you load you van the same applies including visiting the weighbridge.
Lastly I suggest you review your Hilux's owners manual and Toyota's towing guide to get the correct information.
All good advice from Graham,but you MUST allow for around 100kg coming OFF the front axle,and transferring to the rear axle of the car.Thus,you can never actually reach your GVM.However,unlike Graham,I wouldnt bother with the ESC because your GTM (weight on van wheels) will be only 1800kg,behind a car that weighs around 2600kg (2700kg minus the 100kg that has been taken off the front axle of the car).The car is thus nearly 50% heavier than the van,and super-safe. Your car's rear axle will be the stumbling point,but good luck with your efforts.If you still have problems,increasing your van's ATM may be an option,dependent on things such as your axle rating.Cheers.
Thanks for your replies. I ended up ordering the Milenco Grand Aero 3 clip on mirrors. Had the Hilux over the weigh bridge Today and Ive managed to get the weight to 2580. My RTT weighs 60kg so vehicle weight will be 2640. The GVW rating is 2780 so Ill end up being slightly over on GVW when adding the caravan ball weight. The GCW is 5030kg. If the caravan is fully loaded (1950 kg) Ill be well under the GCW.
Ill hold off on the Stability Control and the Caravan lifting for the time being.
Hoping to start our travels mid July.
Regards
Phil P