Tow Ball Weights
Submitted: Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 11:16
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Rubber chicken
G'day, I have recently bought a 20ft double axel van with a tare weight of 1450kg. My question is that after reading many articles on towing that the tow ball weight should ideally be 10% of the weight of the van. This would mean the tow ball would need to be rated 150kg plus. I have checked my owners manual ( I own a 1997 Toyota Prado petrol V6) and it says to contact Toyota for towing specs which I will do tomorrow as it is the weekend. I have a Hayman Reese tow hitch fitted which is rated to 2500kg but my problem is the ball weight is rated only at 120kg. What I would Like to know is, is this the limit on the Prado as
well or can I upgrade the hitch to give me more tow ball weight allowance.
Reply By: donk - Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 12:07
Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 12:07
The prado from memory is reated at 2500kg with a 250kg ball weight if a towbar is fitted that is designed to carry this weight
If your tow bar is only rated at 120 kg ball weight you will need to replace the towbar with one that is rated at 250 kg ball weight
Your van when loaded will be around 2000 kg & you should expect to see 200 kg to 250kg loaded ball weight depending on the design of the van so yiou need to be using a 250 kg weight distributing hitch
Regards Don
AnswerID:
259951
Reply By: Rubber chicken - Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 16:10
Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 16:10
Thanks for the reply Donk, I thought that would be the case
Cheers Greg
AnswerID:
259961
Reply By: Montereykeys - Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 18:09
Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 18:09
Looking on the Hayman Reese website their tow hitch for a 1997 Prado is rated at 2500kg with a ball weight of 250kg. Just wondered why yours would only be rated at 120kg? Might be worth asking Hayman Reese as a new one costs nearly $500..
AnswerID:
259972
Follow Up By: Member - Peter R (QLD) - Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 19:02
Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 19:02
I have a 2007 Prado and it is rated 2500kg with a ball weight of 250kg.
Tow a Jayco 16'10" single axle, and with all the bits and pieces was getting worried about the legality of van (weight wise).
vans towball rating is 120kg.
The towball weight came in at 190kg and to overcome this i needed to use a WDH and bought the same one as you.
Got the van weighed with all but say 100kg of what we carry and it came in at 1.6t, so fully laden van would weigh 1.7t
The weight according to plate exceeded that allowed for for axle and towball , and to overcome problem I had a straight axle replace the axle that came new with van.
The job wa done by Caboolture Caravan repairs and they had it certified by a Government approved Engineer with a new compliance plate attached(GTM now 1470kg from 1365Kg and ATM now 1660kg from 1492kg).
I can now tow 1780kg legally.
Pedro
FollowupID:
521428
Reply By: gottabjoaken - Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 18:50
Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 18:50
and imo a 20 ft double axle van at 1450kg is very light.
perhaps you should get the van weighed at least when loaded, so you know what you are really pulling.
And you can check the loaded actual ball weight then too.
ken
AnswerID:
259977
Reply By: Rubber chicken - Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 19:59
Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 19:59
Thanks Monterey, I had the tow hitch put on in 97 when I bought the car but haven't had to tow anything big until now. It didn't occur to me at the time(tow ball weight) and I wasn't informed either which jacks me off more than anything else as I would have upgraded then and there.
AnswerID:
259984
Reply By: MEMBER - Darian (SA) - Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 20:38
Sunday, Sep 02, 2007 at 20:38
Although Toyota make the vehicle, H Reese are of course experts on everything towing - my bet is you will get the response you need there - the car does of course have its limit and HR would have known that when they designed the bar - fingers crossed you might not need another bar, but for insurance purposes (we never know what its worth until we have a loss !!) you'd need anything re an "ok" from HR, in writing.
AnswerID:
259990
Follow Up By: Rubber chicken - Monday, Sep 03, 2007 at 19:30
Monday, Sep 03, 2007 at 19:30
I contacted Hayman Reese today and after verifying the product through their Engineering department they are sending me a new compliance plate. The part number on the hitch was correct but the compliance plate was stamped wrong . I also rang the
shop where I had it fitted and they confirmed it saying they had seen a few hitches like
mine and that Hayman Reese had supplied a new plate to be fixed to to the hitch.
FollowupID:
521555