Grand Vitarra 2.4l V6 towing

Hi Dion,
The book doesn't state a particular weight for the ball weight just states that it cant go over vehicles GVW and axle group weight restrictions. The tow bar on the car states 1850 towing and 75 ball. the new one i found states it fits from 98 to 05 and is rated 1850 towing and 140kg ball.

So I'm guessing it would be permitted to with no clear ruling in the manufactures handbook. If not and something were to happen i would be going after the manufacture for engineering it wrong. The newer model tow system is different.

On a side note, as I'm still very puzzled on what car to buy to tow a camper around Aus for 12 months, not doing much offroad work except GRR. Are your Rodeos diesel? hows your fuel economy? do you tow much, does that change your fuel economy much? had any problems with them? how many km on them now?

Cheers Sean

hi Sean,
both diesels. When driving at 110km/h, both return about the 10L/100km. Add my boat which is fairly well close to 2t when loaded up to go away for a week and fuel usage is about the 14L/100km when towing at about 95-100km/h. In the '03, at 130000km the gearbox catastrophicaly failed, didn't bother with salvaging anything for a rebuild, outer case was stuffed anyway so had to put a new box in, GMH wanted to know nothing about it apart from supply and fit, that was about $7.5k.
Now the '03 has 215k and the '05 has 143k on them.
Cheers,
Dion.

I had 2005 Gran Vitara with towcap. at 1700 kg ATM and towball ONLY 85 kg
I was towing a 1700 kg van which it did and very well. My towball download was 150 kg, and as such i was illegal.
I contacted Suzuki but they would not change anything so the only choice i had was to reluctantly get an other car not to risk getting into trouble with the police or my insurance co. Bloody shame because we loved the Suzi.

tow bars Australia sell them:

a heavy duty tow bar kit
http://www.towbarsaustralia.com.au/base/cms/shop/product-details.aspx?pid=3996

and a standard tow bar kit
http://www.towbarsaustralia.com.au/base/cms/shop/product-details.aspx?pid=3995

cheers Sean

It doesn't matter what the tow bar rating is if higher than the OEM ballweight. If the tow bar says ball weight is 150kg and the car spec is 75 or 80kg then the car specs apply.

Garry

Hi Garry
As i have previously said. The book doesn't state a particular weight for the ball weight just states that it cant go over vehicles GVM and axle group weight restrictions.

And i believe if it has a plate and you read it and do it and then something happens, the manufacture who put the plate on will be held liable.

The only time i have been checked for towing weight is while driving my dads furniture truck and trailer. The RTA inspectors didn't go to the cab and get the book out, they read the plate on the tow bar that the manufacture put on.

Cheers Sean

The weight plate on the tow bar is the max weight the bar can carry not the load the car can carry and is a legislated requirement - overload the car and you will have no chance of suing the bar manufacturer.

It would seem that the max tow ball weight allowed for your car is 85kg - the numbers may not be listed in your handbook but 85kg does seem to be floating around in cyber space.

Garry

Hi Garry
That's because 85kg is the stamped weight on the non gen and possibly Gen
(never seen a genuine bar system) tow bar. So if its not listed and you read the book, as long as the car doesn't exceed the GVM and axle group load and i have 135kg on the tow bar and the bar is stamped 140kg then I'm still legal to do so.
because the car would not be over weight in the rear axle group.

cheers Sean

Sean,
I'm not sure I agree with your 'legal' reasoning, you probably need to get something in writing from Suzuki on the maximum ballweight for your vehicle.
Although both my Kaymar Bars have 3t/300kg capacity, (as stated they are also made for a later model increased capacity Rodeo) I can still only go 2t/200kg.
If something were to happen and I was found to have exceeded 2t/200kg, I have absolutely no recourse on Kaymar as the manufacturer of the aftermarket part.
You can't blame a manufacturer for making a part to the highest capacity that it could possibly be used on, when it will also bolt onto something that the OEM has specified a lower capacity.
regards,
Dion.

Sorry Sean - but I am with Dion on this. You need to get a definitive answer from Suzuki.

Garry

So manufacture plates are useless information then..... Id like to know how many people out there read them and obey them right to their limit. If i bought a vitara without a tow bar and ordered a tow bar from this company i would not know any better like most people.

Not going to bother ringing them, decided against the Vitara because of this problem and towed my camper the other day and it was extremely close to the ground when reversing up my driveway and speed humps etc.

So i can rule it out. only another 10 cars to rule out!

Thanx Garry and Dion for wiping this 1 of the list.

Cheers Sean