Tuesday, Mar 22, 2011 at 00:12
"There is no weight limit set my the bars and they are about 40 years old."
Bruce, what exactly do you mean by that? The manufacturers put a weight rating on their equipment. The limit set is gauged by the maximum capacity of the equipment to effectively transfer the ball weight effectively. The majority of the equipment on the market is supported by manufacturers web sites where you can
check up on the specified figure.
However the manufacturer of the shepherds crook WDH has no web site. A few retailers are stating that the bars will work effectively with ball weights of up to 125 kg. I take a more realistic view of them and take Tom Olthoff's recommendation that they will only handle ball weights of up to 90 - 95 kg. Your claim of them being completely effective with a ball weight of around 200 kg is the most outrageous claim I have heard.
Have you done measurements to
check how effective the weight transfer is on your rig? There are two methods that can be used. One is to put scales under each wheel and see if both axles are carrying the same extra weight. The most practical for you would be to use the Hayman Reese recommended method. Measure the height of each wheel arch on your vehicle from the ground without the trailer hitched. Hitch up the van. Remeasure the wheel arch heights. If the front and rear wheel arches have dropped by the same amount then the bars are set correctly.
If you are a member of Caravaners
Forum, you can go to the Document Storage section and see the results that HR produced at caravan shows by using a scale under each wheel and measuring the wheel arch heights.
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