Towing Ball Height!

RAX1P said:

I have recently purchased a Defender 90 with an adjustable tow bar, the type that slides up and down, and is fixed by a single pin through the tow bar assembly.
I use an Ifor Williams trailer, and they recommend the ball height being 171/2" from ground to the centre of the ball... I am unable to achieve this, even if I set the adjustable LR tow bar to its lowest setting!
Does anyone have a tech drawing of the moving, U shaped part of the tow hitch? as I feel I need to get one fabricated..

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warrior said:

There are recommended heights BUT every trailer and load and tow car is different

It wants to be set to run level and with the correct nose weight, my ifor trailer sits level beside my 90

It would also depend on the rear Spring rate on the Landy.

Hitch it all up and have alook, if your not sure post a picture

I appreciate what you are saying, have you the time to measure the height of the centre of the ball hitch to the ground? If its horizontal, and your towing a twin axle Ifor Williams trailer, I would guess the ball hitch would be approximately 171/2 inches!

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Grebby said:

I've got the the tech drawings for the whole setup from dixon-bate. Drop me a PM with your email and I'll wing them over to you.

I just ended up buying a drop plate from ebay for mine.

Cheers

Grebby
Thank you for the offer, I had already contacted Bradley Double Lock, who kindly sent me two sets of Tech drawings..
They are exactly the same dimensions as the OE fitted!

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warrior said:

I've sold that Landy now but I will measure my van tow bar and my dads d4 as it sits well on both of them, .

Is it the same type of ifor you have? My dads d4 looks like the tow hitch is to high but if I stick my 90 on it sits well.

Another way you could check the hight you need is to let the trailer balance on the 2 axles and see where it rests,

I have noticed that if there's not enough nose weight it doesn't tow well with a load on, like wise a friend borrowed it and with to much nose weight apparently it towed like a dog.

Have you got bigger tyres on yours or a lift kit? When I had both I needed to buy a extra dropper plate

Thank you for the time taken to reply various suggestions!

My truck is bog standard, 285-85-16 tyres, and a OE adjustable tow bar set up.. Im finding it extraordinary that this ball hitch height, hasn't been sorted out may years ago!!! As an agricultural vehicle towing, mainly twin/tri axled livestock/horse boxes etc, trailers, and a very high percentage being Ifor Williams! As I have stated before IW, suggests that the optimal ball height is 171/2" from the ground to the centre of the ball.. and the trailers should be loaded correctly, given the correct/ish nose weight!
I believe when you load your trailer and it looks parallel to the truck and road, as you stated, the ball height will almost definitely be 171/2"..
Evans & Reid a company in Neath (West Wales) who will manufacture a longer fixed mounting plate, and supply a Ce BS certificate.

Thanks Again.

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