Towing Difficulties
Submitted: Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 at 16:12
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Wolly
Thanks to those who have responded thus far
I forgot to add that:
The rated towing capacity of the Forester is 1400kgs and the van is 1300kgs. On the limit I know but when my friend towed it with a big Cruiser before I made the adjustments, he also said "it towed like a pig".
Single level riders were fitted and the van and vehicle looked level on the road.
The towing improved considerably by moving all the weight forward and putting more weight in the rear of the vehicle but it still fishtails a bit.
The axel is quite central in older vans and a fair way back on the newer styles, I wonder if this is the reason why?
cheers
Wolly
Reply By: Notso - Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 at 16:47
Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 at 16:47
Most of the fishtailing problems are caused by not enough weight on the tow ball.
Or, in extreme cases if there is too much.
So the first thing to do is to weigh the van accurately when it is loaded for a trip. Then
check your Tow Ball weight without any load distribution hitches present.
Then redistribute your load till you hit around 10% of the Total weight of the van.
So you should have around 90% sitting on the Van axle and 10% sitting on the tow ball. Then fit your load distribution hitch.
These hitches aren't a remedy for an overloaded or underloaded tow ball.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: vv4yno - Thursday, Apr 12, 2007 at 12:11
Thursday, Apr 12, 2007 at 12:11
I have to agree with the previous posters, you really need solid data before you change anything. Bathroom scales may be enough to weigh the towball weight - just put a solid surface on the scales (like a sheet steel plate) and support the van on the front jacks while you wind up the jockey and slip the scales under - wind down slowly to make sure you dont overload your scales - they usually manage 150Kg which is enough to weigh 10% of your vans weight.
Also, dont confuse the weights listed on the papers - 1300Kg seems a lot for a 15 footer - the tare is the unladen weight, the aggregate or GVM is the maximum loaded weight although there are many examples of grossly incorrect GVM's and aggregate weights - there is one on ebay that says the papers list the aggregate as 1Kg more than the tare - obviously way out of spec. The tare is usually correct as it's the weight supplied by the manufacturer.
for reference, my 13 footer has a tare of 778Kg and a aggregate weight of 1000Kg - this allows for 222Kg of gear which is probably a little slim in reality (this includes water, gas plus any racks on the outside and everything inside that isn't bolted down.
Dont rule out the possibility that your
suspension could be worn or have a broken leaf spring - a big difference in
suspension performance from one side will induce some serious swaying too. some vans have everything mounted down one side internally so when the cupboards are packed they end up a little lop-sided - this will certainly affect towing unless the
suspension is adjusted to compensate.
hope this helps,
Wayne
AnswerID:
232924