I have my Camper up and ready to go, I have a box fitted at the front of the camper into which will be incidentals and there is a trough behind that , that I will be filling with 4 x20 litre Jerry cans, I have weighed the tow coupling down force and that is 85kgs. I can balance the load out somewhat with heavier items located over the axle, and the plate on the camper says its Tare is 710ksg and load capacity of 1000kg's. Tow vehicle is a Pajero and rated 2.5T towing.
Any suggestion's or comments will be gratefully accepted.
-- Edited by ABNER on Wednesday 28th of June 2017 04:44:19 PM
-- Edited by ABNER on Wednesday 28th of June 2017 05:30:03 PM
blaze said
06:32 PM Jun 28, 2017
A lot will depend on the sizeof your drawbar, if its made of 50 x 50 a2.5mm shs it will not have the same capacity as one made of 50 x 75 deep x 3.2 rhs. hAS IT GOT A MAKER PLATE, with that info on it
cheers
blaze
Hi Abner.
Ball weight should be around 10/15% max of GTM.
The above link shows the importance of getting the balance correct.
Before we had a van we had an off road camper trailer with a tare ball weight at 110 kg. With the 120 litre water tank full which was behind the axle the ball weight came down to 116kg.
Not alot in the scheme of things realy.
Hope some of this helps.
Kezngaz.
macka17 said
11:11 PM Jun 28, 2017
Basically,
with the small rigs. Keep over 100kg.
My current 3 ton tug with 2 ton Tandem van on.
Drawbar sits on 230kg (I like them heavy.)
Prev 6.5 mtr offroader at 3ish ton. D'Bar was wrong side of 350kg.
and I liked it fine. Patrol for tug.
It keeps them more stable I reckon.
As long as you balance up with H.R Rig.
Earlier 1.2ton single axle van had 175kg on there.
with single round bar hitch.
Even my boat trlrs. If I can pick them up.
I reckon they too light.
That's what jockey wheels are for hey.
ABNER said
01:07 AM Jun 29, 2017
Yes it has a draw bar of 50x75 I will check the down force when I put water in the tank, which is just in front of the axle.
Thanks for the replies.
Bob
kezngaz said
09:59 AM Jun 29, 2017
Ive just re-read my post.
My maths aint what it ised to be......
It went from 110 kg down to 106kg.
Only 4kg difference.
Kezngaz.
Jaahn said
10:05 AM Jul 2, 2017
ABNER wrote:
I have my Camper up and ready to go, I have a box fitted at the front of the camper into which will be incidentals and there is a trough behind that , that I will be filling with 4 x20 litre Jerry cans, I have weighed the tow coupling down force and that is 85kgs. I can balance the load out somewhat with heavier items located over the axle, and the plate on the camper says its Tare is 710ksg and load capacity of 1000kg's. Tow vehicle is a Pajero and rated 2.5T towing.
Any suggestion's or comments will be gratefully accepted. Thanks Abner AKA,
Bob.
-- Edited by ABNER on Wednesday 28th of June 2017 05:30:03 PM
HI Bob
I towed a camper some years ago and some car trailers too, mostly with a normal sedan which did not have a big ball weight capacity. All I ever did was set them up front heavy and judge it by trying to lift the hitch end. The rule of thumb is 10% on the ball as has been pointed out, so that is about 100KG. You should not have any problem with a Pajero even with less or more. I never worried if the towing went well and no sway evident. With the car trailer I occasionally shifted the car foward a bit for more weight, if it felt a bit nervous on the down hill at the start of the run.
Jaahn
PeterD said
12:03 PM Jul 2, 2017
kezngaz wrote:
Ball weight should be around 10/15% max of GTM. The above link shows the importance of getting the balance correct.
Yes it is necessary to get a reasonable ball weight on any trailer. However that 10 - 15% applies to the larger caravans. We are only dealing with a small trailer here. They are a different kettle of fish.
Bob the current ball weight is around 5% of the 1710 kg max weight. That is plenty for a camper trailer
ABNER said
07:49 PM Jul 13, 2017
Thanks for the replies, I was a bit concerned because of the extra fuel i would be carrying in the trailer, as it sits with the water tank filled( just front of the axle) and 120 litre fuel in jerries up front there is 100kgs on the hitch, so I'm hppy with that, see how it goes, cheers.
ABNER
Tony Bev said
09:25 PM Jul 13, 2017
I am unsure if there is a rule/law concerning minimum tow ball weight
Obviously we have to have some weight on the tow ball
If it is a normal factory fitted tow bar, then you have to follow the car manufactures guideline
If it is an after market tow bar such as a Hayman Reese, then it will have a sticker somewhere, giving the maximum towing, and tow ball weight
I believe that it may have more to do with the chassis, than the strength of the actual tow bar
My old Ford Falcon car had a Hayman Reese tow bar
2,200 Kg towing, and 150 Kg ball weight
Ford tow bar was (from Memory) 1,600 Kg towing, and about 100 Kg tow ball weight, and I believe that some of them were known to crack
The Hayman Reese was bolted over a larger area of the chassis
I have my Camper up and ready to go, I have a box fitted at the front of the camper into which will be incidentals and there is a trough behind that , that I will be filling with 4 x20 litre Jerry cans, I have weighed the tow coupling down force and that is 85kgs. I can balance the load out somewhat with heavier items located over the axle, and the plate on the camper says its Tare is 710ksg and load capacity of 1000kg's. Tow vehicle is a Pajero and rated 2.5T towing.
Any suggestion's or comments will be gratefully accepted.
Thanks
Abner AKA,
Bob.
Further investigations turned this up,
https://www.goseeaustralia.com.au/news/603-mitsubishi-applies-180kg-numbers-game-to-towing-ballweight-at-3000kg
-- Edited by ABNER on Wednesday 28th of June 2017 04:44:19 PM
-- Edited by ABNER on Wednesday 28th of June 2017 05:30:03 PM
cheers
blaze
Hi Abner.
Ball weight should be around 10/15% max of GTM.
The above link shows the importance of getting the balance correct.
Before we had a van we had an off road camper trailer with a tare ball weight at 110 kg. With the 120 litre water tank full which was behind the axle the ball weight came down to 116kg.
Not alot in the scheme of things realy.
Hope some of this helps.
Kezngaz.
with the small rigs. Keep over 100kg.
My current 3 ton tug with 2 ton Tandem van on.
Drawbar sits on 230kg (I like them heavy.)
Prev 6.5 mtr offroader at 3ish ton. D'Bar was wrong side of 350kg.
and I liked it fine. Patrol for tug.
It keeps them more stable I reckon.
As long as you balance up with H.R Rig.
Earlier 1.2ton single axle van had 175kg on there.
with single round bar hitch.
Even my boat trlrs. If I can pick them up.
I reckon they too light.
That's what jockey wheels are for hey.
Yes it has a draw bar of 50x75 I will check the down force when I put water in the tank, which is just in front of the axle.
Thanks for the replies.
Bob
My maths aint what it ised to be......
It went from 110 kg down to 106kg.
Only 4kg difference.
Kezngaz.
HI Bob
I towed a camper some years ago and some car trailers too, mostly with a normal sedan which did not have a big ball weight capacity. All I ever did was set them up front heavy and judge it by trying to lift the hitch end. The rule of thumb is 10% on the ball as has been pointed out, so that is about 100KG. You should not have any problem with a Pajero even with less or more. I never worried if the towing went well and no sway evident. With the car trailer I occasionally shifted the car foward a bit for more weight, if it felt a bit nervous on the down hill at the start of the run.
Jaahn
Yes it is necessary to get a reasonable ball weight on any trailer. However that 10 - 15% applies to the larger caravans. We are only dealing with a small trailer here. They are a different kettle of fish.
Bob the current ball weight is around 5% of the 1710 kg max weight. That is plenty for a camper trailer
Obviously we have to have some weight on the tow ball
If it is a normal factory fitted tow bar, then you have to follow the car manufactures guideline
If it is an after market tow bar such as a Hayman Reese, then it will have a sticker somewhere, giving the maximum towing, and tow ball weight
I believe that it may have more to do with the chassis, than the strength of the actual tow bar
My old Ford Falcon car had a Hayman Reese tow bar
2,200 Kg towing, and 150 Kg ball weight
Ford tow bar was (from Memory) 1,600 Kg towing, and about 100 Kg tow ball weight, and I believe that some of them were known to crack
The Hayman Reese was bolted over a larger area of the chassis