Towing with the Caravelle - anyone done/doing it?

[thebuchans]

Hi all,

we have a Caravalle we adore. Puchased a few months back. Its an 2008. 96kw - 2500kg towing.

However after we purchased it we found that the car says we can only tow 100kg towball down weight?! oops - We want to tow a caravan around Australia and thinking we possibly made the wrong choice of car! (we picked it as we have 7 children and also a wheelchair which wouldnt fit nicely into any 4WD's).

There are 7 of us so Im pretty sure getting a caravan with less than 100kg down ball weight is going to be near impossible! lol

Sooooo I ahve read through the various posts here (mostly from a way back) and there is some suggestion that you can fit a different towbar on it that can take a higher weight, however, that would void any warranty wouldnt it? It would be greater than the manufacturers recommendations yes?

Thoughts, opinions, suggestions pretty please

[BrianJ]

Can't you balance the weight distribution in the caravan so there is <=100kg at the toeball?

Brian

[thebuchans]

I had read about that on other forums, but they implied it would involve having the caravan internals moved around at great expense, sadly something we couldnt afford - someone suggested getting a caravan custom made (when we win lotto that is! lol).

I shall look into it further though and see if there is a way to redistribute the weight....I may also look more into the European caravans as they seem to be lighter on the ball weight, although there arent many in Australia, more seem to be appearing every day.

[BrianJ]

100kgm seems a very light weight, is it a limitation of the van chassis or the towbar, what is the towbar manufacturers spec for a heavy duty bar for that model?

Brian

[thebuchans]

Im sorry I dont know, I just read that the manufacturers fitted towbar only allows 100kg and that is apparently the recommended max tow ball weight. There has been some discussion in other threads about fitting a Hayman Reece tow bar that takes heaps more but then in other threads there was some discussion about this being against manufacturers advice and potential warranty voiding etc......I cant seem to find anyone who can verify this though...obviously Volkswagon tell me that 100kg is the max ball weight, but then speaking to some people who fit the bigger tow bars so no they are right and that with a Hayman Reece you can take 250kg ball weight *it is so so confusing!* lol

[thevwbug]

Im sorry I dont know, I just read that the manufacturers fitted towbar only allows 100kg and that is apparently the recommended max tow ball weight. There has been some discussion in other threads about fitting a Hayman Reece tow bar that takes heaps more but then in other threads there was some discussion about this being against manufacturers advice and potential warranty voiding etc......I cant seem to find anyone who can verify this though...obviously Volkswagon tell me that 100kg is the max ball weight, but then speaking to some people who fit the bigger tow bars so no they are right and that with a Hayman Reece you can take 250kg ball weight *it is so so confusing!* lol

The auto companies set towing limits and maximum ball loads.

Loading of the Van and adjustments in wheel position on van can influence the ball down loads.

[Cousin]

buchans, I had a Hayman Reece tow bar fitted a little while ago on my 2006 Multivan
It has a towing capacity of 2,500 kgs, and a ball weight max of 100 kgs
I remember having a discussion with the distributor at the time, and although I can't remember what he said, I'm sure it was something along the lines of it being a fairly across the board max towball weight now?
In any case, you might be surprised at how low a weight is on your tow bar
Remember this is at the further most point of the rear of your car, do you really want 150 or more kgs hanging off the end of the rear
It'll make handling a nightmare
Maybe ring some caravan manufacturers and ask them what is typical of a ball weight for a caravan now
Maybe even try weighing your drawbar, see what it comes out at

And I think from memory 100 kgs is a European max weight, and I believe Aus has had 120 kgs traditionally, but we may be going to 100 kg as well

In any case, you really want to keep the ball weight down



M

[thebuchans]

I was looking at the Jayco models, and even an expander has a 125+++ towball weight (tare 1450 upwards) but most of the towball weights for the sz we need are 180kg + towball down weight. We actually wanted the Toyhauler but at 240kg towball and 2200 plus tare they are way to heavy.

I think we may have to re think our towing with this van. We may have to put it into storage and purchase a 4wd for travel and keep this for our around metro van. Pity as they Caravelle is so so nice for travelling in for the children.....keeps the fighting down as we can split them up a bit lol

[IN2VWS]

As Cousins pointed out, you will be surprised at how little weight there can be on your towbal. Also, it is a matter of distributing the weight on the trailer (or in the caravan).

Here is an example. I have a Kombi on a tandem trailer at the moment. WHere the Kombi is standing on the trailer in the pic, there is 100kg load on the ball. If I move the Kombi 6-7 inched closer to the towball, the load is nearly 200kg.

Click in the pics to enlarge them.

[jfoldbar]

i often towed 2 axle trailer loaded with more than 2 tones. ive never cared about 100kg ball weight and never known what my trailer was. never had any kinda pulling problems though im a pretty slow careful driver. never in a hurry. if trailer is 6 meters long it makes car feel like a boat. caravan may do the same depending on the length. weight needs to be over the axles

[Ivo]

I LOVE my Multivan and think they are a great vehicle but I think you need a different tow vehicle.

96kw is the small motor.........and you want to have all seven seats filled with kids and tow a caravan that may weigh 1450kg but by the time you load it up with all you need for 7 kids it will be closer to 1750kg. Good luck getting up a big hill with that load. If you have an Auto it just going to get expensive. Try getting that fixed when you in the middle of no where.

My parents are grey nomads and do several trips a year all over Oz, they have had 8+ caravans and towed with everything from a Subaru Forester, BA falcon sedan and wagon, diesel Jackeroo and a diesel Pajero.

You can rearrange your load all you like to get 0kg ball weight but that does not matter to the insurance company when things go wrong. Its the compliance plates that count. If you go over those limits you run the risk of not only wiping your cover but who knows if someone dies as a result of you overloading. My parents have heard to many horror stories on their travels to justify the risk.

Buy a 7 seat Landcruiser.
or
Buy a 128kw manual VW van and get a lighter caravan and a few tents.

[Sunny43.5]

I agree weight distribution is critical I remember towing a car trailer years ago with my Ford Ute mongrel started to fish tail was just lucky I had some spare power to pull it out of trouble. Howard

[Tornado T5]

Just looked up a brochure for the MY2008 T5's and all models had a 2500kg braked/750kg unbraked towing limit. Why would today's T5's "lose" 100kg of tow ball capacity?

[twincab]

The 100kg ball weight probably relates to the light hook style tow bars they use in europe. Our square tube bars are far more substanial.

Pete

[Ivo]

Plenty of UK guys seem to be towing with the small motors:
anyone tow large caravan with remapped 84? - VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum