Hylife wrote:

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snip,

With such a light van you shouldn't need load distribution devices at all.

The Avalon (same as Camry) has a 1200kg limit with a 120kg towball limit.

snip

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 It's only the 2.4/2.5 l Camry  that has a 1200/120 kg limit. The3.0 l model has a limit of 1600/160 kg. The Avalon is a 3/0 l engine.

Whether WDH is need o not is not just on the weight of the van alone. It has a lot to do with the ratio of the vans weight to the tugs capacity. It also depends upon whether the tug is FWD or RWD. It also depends upon whether the manufacturer specifies WDH be used or not. In the case of this van, the potential of an ATM of 1140kg the loaded weight of the van is more than 50% of the towing capacity, the vehicle is FWD and Toyota state "load level hitch required." So we have 3 strikes that suggest that WDH is required.

Also I suggest the shepherds crook bars are not sufficient for they ball weight of this van. I go along with Tom Olthoff's recommendation that these bars are only good for ball weights up to 90 kg. I feel that the heavier HR or Eaz-Lift bars would be a bit too heavy. You can possibly get away with the Camec Weight Distribution Kit - 4 Bar kit. I too think the tow bar should be replaced as well.

I hope this lady is not going out to buy another car on this advice that is on this page.

Maybe the only thing is she need to do carefully move a bit of weight about and check her tow ball weight again.

As for replacing the shepherd hooks to expensive other brand bars, come on forget about your shares in the company.

Please lady recheck your towball weight first and then move some weight back if you need to carefully off the towball.

Try centrally placing heavier weighted items over or close to above the axle or 1 metre the caravan axle.

Try not to put to much in your boot of the car to be sure.

Hylife wrote:

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1..  Toyota list the 2002 3 L V6 Avalon as having only a 900kg max trailer weight until the 2006 model when it went up to 1600kg braked.

 

2..  Perhaps I mis-read the OPs statement "My towbar reads 120kg ...".

Is the OP saying that the towbar has a maximum rating on its label of 120kg (the standard OEM genuine Toyota tow bar is only 1200kg & 120kg) or is the OP saying that he/she estimates that the load levelling devices have reduced the towball load to 120kg.

3..  Regardless of how heavy the van is or what weight the car is towing/can tow, the real problem here is there is just way too much weight on the tow bar because of the tow bar rating and because of the van weight.

Re-distribute/lessen the load.

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 1..  My 2004 copy of the industry towing mass guide shows the then current Avalon as having a 1600/160 towing capacity. The Camrys up to 2002 have an 1100 kg capacity. The 2002 2.4 l has a 1200/120 kg capacity and the 3.0l has a 1600/160 kg limit.

2..  The full quote is "My towbar reads 120kg on tow ball with load levelling devise." That last bit is important. The Avalon is FWD (front wheel drive.) When you hitch a van you lift the front end of the vehicle, or in other words reduce the weight on the front wheels. FWD vehicles rely on the front wheels for traction as well as braking. That makes it doubly important to use WDH (also called load levelling device) to restore that tractive ability of the front wheels. This is extremely important when you are climbing a hill in the wet weather. What that compliance plate that the OP is reading says is that you are allowed up to 120 kg of ball weight with WDH. Toyota recommended WDH be used on most of their vehicles back in those days. Some specifications also give a ball weight minimum which when exceeded WDH must be used. In the case of the Avalon it simply states "load levelling hitch req"

3..  Agreed, the vehicle is quite capable of towing the van. The problem is the interface between the tug and van is not up to scratch. The tow bar requires replacing. Beverley, if you replace the tow bar with a properly rated one you will enjoy many years of travelling with your current rig. Changing it and your WDH will be cheaper than changing either vehicle or even the loss you take if you simply just sell the van.

Regarding the shepherds crook bars - Way back there was a bloke called Tom Olthoff who was the technical editor of Caravan World magazine. Many believe he got the flick because the advertisers did not like him publishing the truth about several things. He was very experienced in setting up rigs. He established that the shepherds crook bars were only sufficient on ball weights up to about 90 kg and not the 125 kg that the manufacturers claimed. I don't know why people still get sucked into using these. The Hayman Reese intermediate bars that Camec market as the Camec Weight Distribution Kit - 4 Bar kit retail for $148 where as the others retail at $171. In addition the HR bars are easier to put on each time by virtue of the snap up brackets. Beverly, I would prefer to see you swap the crap bars for the better ones, you will be caught on an uphill gradient in the wet sometime during your travels.

Hylife wrote:

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I wonder how the law might view the use of a weight distribution device versus the actual ball weight. I can't seem to find anything on that. I think you might still get booked inmany circumstances.

If your average Plod pulls you over for weighing, the normal process of getting you to drive over the platform scales and then to disconnect from your tow ball and have the platform scale under the draw bar jockey wheel.

Without the distribution device the draw bar weight will perhaps exceed the tow bars permitted maximum weight or the cars permitted maximum.

How do you argue that when the Plod can't determine how much leveling is being provided by the distribution device and can only work with the static weights being shown on his scales?

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 I was not going to get involved in this discussion any more but read Hylife thoughts which I would disagree with.

The Officials I believe can not ask you to separate your vehicle to weigh it.

He will look at the gross of the 2 vehicles first.

Now if he thinks the rear axle of the tow vehicle could be over weight he will then weigh it only with it all connected as they found it.

My thinking is this I am driving my large articulated truck and trailer they only weigh independent axle grouping, eg steer, drive axle, trailer axle group.

Never in 43 years been ask to separate the prime mover from the trailer when being weighed.

But I would agree if they found a combination over weight they would ground it real fast including the tow vehicle until you could prove part or both were safe to move.

In the ladys case 3 out of 4 areas appear reasonable but with a small amount the 4th will be rectified. The towball issue.

Radar wrote:

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Never in 43 years been ask to separate the prime mover from the trailer when being weighed.

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 There is no point in separating a semi-trailer. As you say they are only interested in axle weights. There is no ball weight specification involved like there is with caravans. There is no history of regulator weighing of caravans. There are no reliable reports of large campaigns targeting vans. These are are possibly a thing of the future.

Hang around and see what happens when and if the campaigns commence.