How do I reduce towball weight??

kettle · Member

How do I reduce towball weight??

deverall11 · Guru

How long is a piece of string.
How did you get to that much weight? If you know the answer, then you should be able to fix it. Just remember, tow ball weight are calculated as an industry standard of 10% of the van weight. Unless your van has issues with that much weight on the ball, I think it's a good thing. More ball weight=better towing. Less likely to sway (within reasons). Unfortunately, because you have the ball weight stamped on your compliance plate, this now makes it illegal.
Larry

Dougwe · Chief one feather

My VCV compliance plate reads 180kg "Ball At Tare". Check and see if yours is "tare". I have 250kg on the ball. Tow bar can have 350kg on ball.

-- Edited by Dougwe on Sunday 12th of April 2015 01:29:59 PM

iana · Guru

2009 CONCEPT FRANKLIN G2 PLUS
Tare - kg 2,115
GTM - kg 2,255
ATM - kg 2,500

Got these figures off the net.
If you need to reduce ball weight you move weight back of from the front.

PeterInSa · Guru

I would ring up Concept.

To me I think that is the towball weight of the empty van after manufacture taken at the same time the Tare is weighed. You could well find that up to 250Kg on the towball is OK ( based on iana figures above) provided your Tug can legally take the weight.

Confirm with Concept or a certified Engineer.

Peter

-- Edited by PeterInSa on Sunday 12th of April 2015 05:48:34 PM

Plendo · Guru

The ball weight indicated on the van compliance plate is just an indication, the weight you need to respect is of course the maximum towball weight for your tow vehicle.

Stl · Senior Member

Hi Plendo, what your saying is if the tow ball weight stamped on your van compliance plate is only an indication and not the weight than can be legally put on the vans tow ball, and I want to toe it behind a light truck that can have 3 tonne on the tow ball then I can load up to say 3 tonne on the vans tow ball even if it says 220kg ? I know that's a bit extreme But ?

I own a concept (270kg tow ball weight) in the front boot there is a sign saying only 30 kg in front boot. when van fully loaded water- beer - everything. Only hoses a bit of fishing stuff and a deep cycle battery in boot (about 30kg total) and two full 9 kg gas bottles tow ball came in 300 kg. Tugs Tow ball 350kg. Spoke to a van repairer and a insurance rep said if you have an accident you could be in trouble... Moved gas bottles back about 150 ml and put a tool box on back of van. Tow ball now 260 kg which is about 9% of van. 270 kg is 10 %. tows like a dream :)

I'm under the impression you have to be within both van and tugs compliance....

Cheers Len

rockylizard · Guru

Plendo wrote:
The ball weight indicated on the van compliance plate is just an indication, the weight you need to respect is of course the maximum towball weight for your tow vehicle.

Gday...

Plendo's advice is correct. The ball weight stamped on the compliance plate is arrived at by a simple calculation by the manufacturer - simply the difference between the manufacturer's stated ATM and GTM - and has no actual relation to the tow ball weight of a fully loaded van.

Unfortunately, many (most?) van manufacturers rarely actually weigh EACH of their vans at TARE to arrive at these figures. They weigh the first one off the line and then apply those weights to all vans of the 'model' they build thereafter.

The actual ball weight (determined by weight/s of loaded van over a weighbridge - or tow ball weight scale) should not exceed the vehicle manufacturer's maximum tow ball weight for that vehicle AND/OR the maximum weight allowed for the towbar/hitch attached to that vehicle.

Rule of thumb is that tow ball weight be 10-15% of ATM.

Tow Ball Weight 01.JPG

Tow Ball Weight.JPG

This site may help - http://www.caravandealer.com.au/things-to-know/weights-masses-and-payload-weights

Cheers - John

-- Edited by rockylizard on Tuesday 14th of April 2015 11:05:12 AM

aussie_paul · Guru

Ours says empty towball weight.

Aussie Paul. smile

Van specs edit.jpg

Plendo · Guru

Sorry folks, not getting on very often at the moment, so may be missing comments.

My understanding is as John has stated, and as indicated buy Paul, the tow ball weight stamped on the compliance plate is what the builder expects the tow ball weight of the empty van to be, the key word here being expects.

Now you indicated that your loaded situation puts your ball weight at around 300kg, with a tow vehicle max to 350kg, I would have left it at that.

I would definitely not have moved any weight to the back bumper, when it comes to vehicle stability, that is the worst place to have it.

We run a high ball weight, typically around 330kg, and the van tows really well, however being so close to the vehicles tow ball max means we need to concious of how we load the van, put too much weight forward, and we start to notice the impact on the handling of the tow vehicle.

When you are running close to the limit, it is a fine balancing act, but well worth the effort of moving things around to get it right.