another question about towing a van with a commodore

Just trying to go through the physics of what you have been told. I can't see that a weight distribution hitch would make any difference to the actual weight on the ball, however, it would distribute the weight more evenly across the front and rear axles of the vehicle.

In any case, if it came to the crunch, the authorities would simply unhook the van to measure the downward force on the ball, so even it it did help, that's not how it's measured.

I would play it safe and reposition some of your cargo to the rear. However, take note that ideally, the ball weight should be around 10% of the total van weight. This means that you really need somewhere around 125kg on the ball. If the ball weight is too low, then you increase the chances of swaying and of having an unstable rig. I would definitely invest in a good Hayman Reece distribution hitch if you decide to go this way.

Is there an aftermarket or heavier duty towbar available that would increase the allowable ball weight? I would check with Holden and/or Hayman Reece as this would be a much safer option if there is something available.

Cheers
Gerry

Hi Robbg, if you are going to be doing lots of towing I would spend the extra on a heavy duty hitch and weight distibuting bars. I saw first hand the effect of not enough weight on the ball when I followed the brother in law with his tandem axle van. Moved weight to the back of the van so the back of the vehicle was higher, travelled nicely until he got to around 80km/h and then it was all over the place. Towing heavy trailers is much more fun if it feels like it's not there and you can only see it in the mirrors.

Cheers

Mark

hi, we too tow a van with a auto v6 VT commodore with a trans cooler. the first thing we did was to buy a heavy duty tow bar, got it quite a lot cheaper through a wrecker, it was a genuine holden towbar with the weights it can handle on a plate on it, so we could make sure and not just guess it was right (cost only $95) that's with the wiring etc... a few weeks ago we took our car into an transmission specialist for a bit of work and we spoke to him about towing, he said that it is very important that we should use the power button and always tow in 3rd gear. he said it will not only tow better, have more fuel economy and the gearbox will thank us for it. he told us that towing in 3rd is the same gearing that the older cars use to have in top gear.
we weren't to sure about towing everywhere in 3rd gear but tried it out recently and it realy was better. the car certainly wasn't reving out like we thought it would, and going by the taco and everything else it seemed to like it.
good luck