Tow ball weight

Tow ball weight ie the max weight applied to or on the tow ball by the trailer.

Now the book states 150 kg max, blogs in the USA state 250kg max
150kg is very light and therefore restrictive but I wonder dose the 150kg relate to the Rover type tow ball ie the one thats rather phallic in shape or is it due to the load on the suspension?

The tow bar on my P38 is a Hayman Reese which is far stonger and the load is shared right across the chassis it is the one that has 50mm RHS 4mm thick and has the same RHS tongue, so would the USA blogs refer to the H/Reese? or are they wrong?

Now having said phallic and tongue some are going to get excited but I do hope some one knows the answer.:baby:

The Americans are probly quoting the figure in Pounds...I would guess...

Remember the Tow Ball Weight (Tongue Weight) is only the maximum load to be transmitted to the car, not for a structural point of view, but a balance point of view.....

A correctly loaded trailer can be as heavy as you want (up the the vehicles maximum towing capacity obviously) but the balance point/CoG should be positioned so that there is no maore than 150kg being transmitted downwards on the tow ball, or else an unstable towing train will ensue, this will cause instability throught the front axle which could lead to lose of control.

This might be useful if you haven't seen it and it's U.S. based.

Towing with a Range Rover

pete38 said:

Tow ball weight ie the max weight applied to or on the tow ball by the trailer.

Now the book states 150 kg max, blogs in the USA state 250kg max
150kg is very light and therefore restrictive but I wonder dose the 150kg relate to the Rover type tow ball ie the one thats rather phallic in shape or is it due to the load on the suspension?

The tow bar on my P38 is a Hayman Reese which is far stonger and the load is shared right across the chassis it is the one that has 50mm RHS 4mm thick and has the same RHS tongue, so would the USA blogs refer to the H/Reese? or are they wrong?

Now having said phallic and tongue some are going to get excited but I do hope some one knows the answer.:baby:

Click to expand...

The OE 'phallic' one is hung off a very substantial full dedicated chassis crossmember too so I doubt any aftermarket one is stronger.

The max tow ball weight will be a function of vehicle stability, not structural strength. The P38 (and the RRC before it) has relatively short wheelbases (108 inch) with the towball a relatively long way (48 inch) behind the rear axle. The max weight in the american owners manual is 250kg downward pressure on the tow ball. This will result in a corresponding up lift on the front axle of approx 110kg.

You must also consider the max allowable weight on the rear axle of 1840kg. If you have a boot full of stuff + a heavy trailer you might exceed this weight. But if you have two people up front and an empty boot you could quite confidently exceed the 250kg limit.

There was another thread on this a while back which if i remember rightly claimed the limit was one imposed by regs and that the nose weight could be considerably more without damage and that 5000Kgs trailer weight was possible.

Datatek said:

There was another thread on this a while back which if i remember rightly claimed the limit was one imposed by regs and that the nose weight could be considerably more without damage and that 5000Kgs trailer weight was possible.

Click to expand...

I think that you still have to comply with the vehicles plated weights which will give a max towing weight of 3,500kg for the RR. Believe me, they are top class towing machines but thats enough for it.

Yes seen the american production which in fact raised the question. My current carravan is 147kg at the ball but its only 5.4mtrs in length and dose not have a shower toilet cubicle which wifey wants.
Now aussie vans are predominately stick and tin and not light weight as are the European vans because our roads and conditions are much harsher.
The american blog if you like at the site Bushwaker inc still requires an answer
and I need some 200kgs at the ball.