Tow hitch on caravan will not meet towball on car

bluechurch · Newbie

Tow hitch on caravan will not meet towball on car

woolman · Guru

Drop hitches are common requirement for attaching vans/ trailers to either raise or lower the tow ball hight to get trailer level. A van or trailer must be leval before driving off. Drivers responsibility, although the sales man should have not let you go until it was level.

Good luck buying a car that will correctly a van height without a drop down hitch.

Neil

bluechurch · Newbie

Thank you. We have an older Colorado and it tows beautifully without a drop hitch. If you have not owned a caravan before how would you know it needed to be level.

Corndoggy · Senior Member

My thoughts.
A caravan cannot be made to suit every tow vehicle on the market, just way too many around.. Some need a higher hitch point, some need a lower hitch point, some a "standard" hitch point. Is cheaper and easier to manufacture a range of different height tow tongues to achieve the ideal height. Have had to do it twice for things I have towed and with 2 tow vehicles. Haven't seen a problem with it.
Now as for the dealer saying it looked high when you drove out, I would have thought if your hitch was too high the van would look high at the front. How does the van look now it has been dropped at the hitch and how has it towed?
Provided the van, tow tongue and vehicle are all compatible weigh wise and you pack them correctly why should there be a problem?
Thing is it isn't a manufacturing fault and was there ever a request to have the van manufactured to the height of your Everest tow point. More than likely they would have advised a dropped height tongue was needed. A guy I worked with had to do the same but was told that when he ordered his van. He never had any problems.

Peter_n_Margaret · Senior Member

When in use, a 50mm ball must be between 350mm and 460mm above the ground. It is not legal outside these heights.
www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/licensing/DVS_P_Safe_Towing_Guide.pdf
Cheers,
Peter

watsea · Guru

As well as the tow ball height issue, it may also be useful to consider what the tow ball weight was for the new van, presumably empty, as it was towed home. If you do a search, there is plenty of information (and various opinions) about what is the safe proportion of total van weight for stability should be on the tow ball.

-- Edited by watsea on Wednesday 17th of July 2024 07:20:59 PM

bluechurch · Newbie

Have now had it professionally weighed and all is within range. They said that the van is still high with the drop hitch and needs to be dropped more. They suggested having an engineer look at the van as it still sways and they said there could be an engineering problem. They own vans themselves and said the van should not feel like it is pushing the car on the road. It feels unsafe so not sure if we need a different hitch. To be honest - after only taking it away once and only 90 klms away our nerves were shattered when we reached our destination. Seriously thinking of selling the van. We have owned 2 double axle pop tops and they just hooked up beautifully to our previous car and you wouldn't even know the vans were on the back of the car.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Do you have toolbox, gas cylinders, bikes, spare wheels, water, fuel container at the extremities of the caravan.

As much of your payload needs to be over the axle & as low as possible, otherwise the tail will wag the dog.

Are We Lost · Guru

Just to confirm, when you say the van is too high, does this just mean the front of the van? That is it is not level?

Is it a dual axle van? If so do the specs or brochure say what sort of suspension it has? This can make a big difference to the importance of getting it level.

Can you post the details from the professional weighing report? What van is it and the actual weight on the towball?

-- Edited by Are We Lost on Wednesday 17th of July 2024 11:12:29 PM

WindyHill · Member

Hi Peter

I read that as the towball on the towing vehicle must be between those heights, unladen.

Can you elaborate on the requirement for it to be in that range, in use?

Peter_n_Margaret · Senior Member

If using a 50 mm tow ball, with the tow vehicle in its as-used
state, the towbar on the towing vehicle must be capable of
being mounted (adjusted) to any one height within the range of
350 mm to 460 mm (from the ground to the centre of the tow
ball).

Also... Robinson Michael submission to the Australian Consumer Law Review Interim Report

Cheers,

Peter

Gundog · Guru

It's all about the basic's.

With the van and tow vwhicle laden as if leaving on your journey, these are the steps you need to consider.

1. Establish the towcoupling height, with the van unattached on a level surface, level the van using the jockey wheel and spirit level. with the van level measure height of the towball coupling.

2. Ensure you measure the front and rear axle heights at the wheel arch of the tow vehicle on a level surface. Now set the towball height to match the coupling height equal to, or plus 25mm.

3. Now connect tow vehicle and van together, if both units appear to reasonabally level after taking all the weight off the jockey wheel, now is the time to test drive the combination.

Notes if the tow vehicles front axle has risen greater than 50mm and rear of the tow vehicle and front of the van is low, then you may have to check your towball weight is right, or you may need to redistribute the load within both the caravan and tow vehicle, to get the front axle height back approximatly to the origional measurement or plus 25mm.

Another thing to consider is your tyre pressures, check the tow vehicles tyre presure chart, it generally has asticker on the drivers side door, eg. my tyre pressures are F 32, R 50 psi and the van is 50 psi.

As last resort you may require a weight distribution hitch ( awaiting naysayer comments)

TheHeaths · Guru

I am wondering what model van it is? Is it an on road version, or a raised off road version? Also has the Everest been raised at all?

I am not an expert, but it sounds as though the van is a lower height on road version, which would cause a disparity re height to the Everest.

The other issue maybe that with the van assuming a nose up attitude, this is causing a weight balance more to the rear and off of the ball, which is causing the sway.

I would be tempted to contact the dealer, tell him your issues, and advise him you are coming back, want him to provide a loan hitch that gets the van level, or even a tad nose down, get the tyre pressure right, and then take him for a drive to see if that helps the problem. Maybe even give him a ride as is so he can experience your sway issue.

It may be that a little more information may help others with more knowledge to assist you more.

Good luck getting this right, as it sounds as though you have previous van experience and know what you are doing.

DUSTYRHODES · Veteran Member

You've had it weighed and all is good, so.... It really does sound as though the Axle is not square to the Van .