2WD towing Off road van - is it feasible?

Thanks for the reply. Do you know how high the standard tow hitch on an off road van be? (i just noticed i had a dyslexic keyboard when i submittted the initial post - oh well - it is Sunday)

Depends on the van... and the choice of wheels.

It can be definitively too high, but it depends a lot of the design.

Could we put standard car wheels on the van,then change the wheels when we upgrade to a 4wd? Would that be enough to overcome a problem? And if not, what else would we need to look out for? We're looking at a Goldtream Storm off road version and i'd prefer to know before we purchase as we need to keep it all in mind when buying. We won't be purchasing the camper new.

Should be no problem, but measure the van height before you buy it and go to a Hayman Reece (or whatever brand hitch manufacturer you have) dealer and tell them what height you need it and what the cost of the appropriate hitch would be.

The Storm is a pretty standard pop up...

One thing to watch changing wheels is that the annex, if it has one, may no longer touch the ground appropriately so changing wheels may not be an option.

Cheers
Andrew.

Hi Newbiesb,
If you are contemplating changing wheels, be aware of the necessary rim clearances and offsets for brake drums.
Changing the axle from under to over the springs sounds relatively simple but it's not necessarily so.
There are things like axle to chassis clearance, wheel to body clearance and rearranging brakelines etc to consider.
In my opinion, not worth the effort for a short time period.

The most effective option is to lift the towball height to match the van. Most WDH's have some adjustments but if these do not give sufficient adjustment, there are aftermarket hitch tongues with much more adjustment available that will fit the square receiver on your hitch to suit your van.

Sorry it's a bit longwinded but hope it helps you to get set up

Disco.

The centre of a 50 mm ball should be between 350 & 420 mm from the ground when fully loaded. Many of the off road van and camper trailer manufacturers actually build their drawbars to conform with this regulation. The ball mount shank can be turned over if the drawbar is above the standard.

PeterD

Thanks for the reply. Do you know if your parents had to modify the towing hitch on either the car or the van? I just aren't sure how the two heights would join up.

No they didn't do anything, the back of the trailer used to point to the sky. There camper trailer is a long way under the commodore's limits. They have a treg hitch on the camper.
Dave

Don't want to point out the bleedin obvious, but if the tail is pointing to the sky doesn't that concern you about weight distribution, braking, lack of control and not to mention the effect on a dometic fridge inside.
tessa

TerryG, Soory, but if it was 'bleedin' obvious, i wouldn't be asking. I'm sure that not everyoone know 'the obvious'. Isn't that what forums are helpful with - helping those new to this?

newbiesb
sorry if I upset you - the followup that I posted was meant for Tassiedave not for you. I was simply trying to get the same message across as all the other posters.

tessa

which WDH have you got?

of course that was supposed to be a reply not a followup

Talk to this guy on
http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/View.aspx?fq=49179&P=%2fForum%2fDefault.aspx
he obviously has great ideas on how to improvise when there's a
towing mismatch to be sorted out

Hi HG MOnaro. I don't know what 'model' of WDH L have. It was fitted by the Holden dealer that sold me the car.. Wigger, i'll look up the info. Thanks.

I meant if the Axel is under the spring to get extra height.

Thanx heaps, this is very helpful. It gives me sonething to work on when purchasing the van and then converting back to the 4WD i dream about. Unfortunately, we can't afford both straight away, hence having to improvise for a short while.

Thanks Andrew, i didn't even think of looking at the Haymen Reece website. Must be having one of my 'blonde' moments. I have looked at their site and emailed them for more info.

Thanks again