Towing caravan with 3” IRO lift.

[drover]

The vehicle and trailer should be level, if the arse of vehicle sags then you will have probs, a WDH will help but the best thing is to have the load spread evenly first up. Too much load at the van rear will throw it around, air bags do help a lot but the thing has got to sit level first up, otherwise it will go when & where you don't want it to.
I've towed big vans and followed enough of the damn things on the highways, they actually explode when they roll over.

[glend]

I disagree slightly with the need to tow a level vehicle trailer combo. Having towed big boats for decades and looked at many more, I have concluded that it is important to actually have a slight downslope on the trailer. The reason for this is to insure that there is no opportunity for the trailer to jack up the vehicle under braking and to apply adequate downward pressure on the towbar in braking situations. With a level combination a slight bump during braking can force a jacking affect on the rear of the vehicle, negative alignment doesn't stop it completely in all situations but it does reduce the risk considerably.

[hemijeepy]

When i use to tow the boat with mine my ass would drop about 25mm to 30mm and it never caused a problem..

MRGC airbag option is a good one as well...

The main thing to take out of all this is MAKE SURE THE TOW BAR HAS BEEN FITTED CORRECTLY AND THAT YOU DO NOT OVER LOAD ON THE TOW BAR BALL..... Some WG have been knowen to tear the towbar from the mounts and damage the unibody... Just a word of caution, if its fitted properly and the trailer is loaded you will NOT have problem's...

Hemi

[carvesdodo]

Originally Posted by drover

The vehicle and trailer should be level, if the arse of vehicle sags then you will have probs, a WDH will help but the best thing is to have the load spread evenly first up. Too much load at the van rear will throw it around, air bags do help a lot but the thing has got to sit level first up, otherwise it will go when & where you don't want it to.
I've towed big vans and followed enough of the damn things on the highways, they actually explode when they roll over.

Originally Posted by glend

I disagree slightly with the need to tow a level vehicle trailer combo. Having towed big boats for decades and looked at many more, I have concluded that it is important to actually have a slight downslope on the trailer. The reason for this is to insure that there is no opportunity for the trailer to jack up the vehicle under braking and to apply adequate downward pressure on the towbar in braking situations. With a level combination a slight bump during braking can force a jacking affect on the rear of the vehicle, negative alignment doesn't stop it completely in all situations but it does reduce the risk considerably.

From experience with a variety of loads ... a combination of the above has worked well for me ......

Enough weight forward of the trailer axle to drop the vehicle rear a bit ... then stabiliser bars and maybe adj supension to bring it all back up to almost level.

Towball weights .... what all that about .... If your 8yo can liftup the towhitch from ground level ... you have too much stuff rear of the tlr axle ... What you feel when YOU lift the hitch is what your dumping on the towball .... and just how well is it bolted on ??? .... its not there to carry a lot of weight vertically ... its there to provide a secure, horizontal connection between veh and load .... and people hang extra wheels and jerry cans off them without additional underbody support

Dual axle, towed items .... hated them ... they can develope a mind of their own on the road at highway speeds .... no matter how they are loaded .... Now that they are more common ... I would go for the yank gooseneck style I think, if doing it again. Get the tow point over the axle where it should be ... for the bigger stuff

As for speed concerns ... not an issue with the correct, well setup towing vehicle, item being towed and road conditions.

[itsstock]

Ill go out on the limb here Pmac (Boys load your guns ready to shoot)
Sounds like a alginment or steering problem could be the underlying reason.
Yes the load distribution or angle or the hitch will be playing a major part in making the problem worse.

Twitchy steering??
When going straight(with no trailer connected) is there much play between getting the car too steer left to right? If yes check ur draglink TRE's or steering box adjustment.


I thought longer LCA's gave you more caster(positive), dosn't this give you better straight line tracking.
What did they set your caster at?

[hemijeepy]

I think what your saying could be on the money itsstock

[drover]

To the last four posts......yep, yep and yep, couldn't agree more...........towing can be a bloody pain.

WG has a 350Kg ball weight, just found some tiny cracks where the cross member joins the rails which the hitch bolts onto, bugger here we go again. Previous owner towed a boat but no cracks when I bought it, my camper has about 100Kg ball weight. Just have to pull it all apart and have a look and drag out the Mig, will post piccies when I do the job in a couple of weeks time.