Towing with Multivan

[Wardy]

Does any boy out there tow anything bigger than a box trailer with a Multivan? The reason I ask is that I find the tow ball weight limit of 100kg very restrictive in terms of what can be coupled to the vehicle.

[Transporter]

What do you intent to tow Wandy?

There should be some HD towbars for the T5s. Also the HD springs and shocks would be good if you tow a horse trailer and similar.

I'm using my towbar as a step and the protection for the rear bumper - not many will do a touch parking against the towbars.

[Wardy]

What do you intent to tow Wandy?

There should be some HD towbars for the T5s. Also the HD springs and shocks would be good if you tow a horse trailer and similar.

I'm using my towbar as a step and the protection for the rear bumper - not many will do a touch parking against the towbars.

I intend to tow a lightweight caravan something well under the 2 tonnes towing limit quoted for the Multivan The problems as I see them are that:

(a) Even with a van that is around 1500kg the ball weight exceeds 100kg. Recommended is 10% of the van weight.
(b) Reading other threads in the forum there seem to be problems with wiring in the electronic brake controller that would be necessary to tow something in excess of 750kg.

The ball limit would seem to be a function of the vehicle rather than the tow hitch and is presumably to do with structural issues in the van. Many European vehicles seem to have very light ball weights perhaps it is a reflection of the fact that European built vans are lighter than their Australian equivalent and also I don't believe there is a requirement to fit electronic brake controllers there. I'm prepared to be corrected on the last point.

[Transporter]

The weight limit that the T5 (2.5TDI) can tow is 2,500kg. The rests are variables you can work around.
Understanding the dynamics of towing | Caravan Chronicles

[Wardy]

The weight limit that the T5 (2.5TDI) can tow is 2,500kg. The rests are variables you can work around.
Understanding the dynamics of towing | Caravan Chronicles

My apologies I should have made it clear that my vehicle was a 2012 TD1340 hence the quote of 2,000kg towing capacity.

Many thanks for the link I will read and inwardly digest!

[IN2VWS]

Many people do not understand the 100kg ball weight.
This is not the weight of what you are towing. It is the weigh that is put o the tow ball. With careful weight shifting in your caravan or trailer, the 100kg ball weight is easily achievable. I regularly tow a tandem car trailer with cars on them.

This was the best $100 I have spent for my trailer. Well worth the investment.
Towing Load Indicator

[Guest001]

Having had a bit of experience with towing I would say that altering weight to the rear to lower ballweight can be fraught with danger.

Euro vans are designed different to Aussie vans and have the heavy things like kitchens etc centred to lighten the ball weight.

Aussie vans frequently have a lot of weight toward the ends and that ups the ball weight.

It is accepted that Aussie vans should have at least 10% of GVM as ball weight.

My van was 2850Kg loaded and had a ball weight of 300kg. I wouldn't like to have towed it with a 100 kg removed
Moving weight to the rear can bring on fishtailing with catastrophic results.
I have seen what happened to a nearly new van that was incorrectly loaded and jackknifed because of the tow vehicle suddenly having to brake and the van decided to swap ends. Poor brake settings also contributed to it as well... I would not tow an Aussie spec 2000kg van with a ball weight of 100kg as it would be prone to instability.

Also the manufacturers recommended weight should not be exceeded for obvious reasons Pulling towbar bolts out of car body for instance or twisting rear of vehicle.

Also despite some thinking it does, Fitting a weight distribution hitch does NOT LIGHTEN BALL WEIGHT.

The ball weight of a trailer is weighed disconnected from the tow vehicle and that weight is always that weight. The only way to lighten it is with a Jack under it or a skyhook above it.

[IN2VWS]

I have seen what happened to a nearly new van that was incorrectly loaded and jackknifed because of the tow vehicle suddenly having to brake and the van decided to swap ends. Poor brake settings also contributed to it as well...

Can you share what the incorrect loading was?

[Guest001]

Can you share what the incorrect loading was?

It was loaded rear heavy to the extent it had hardly any ball weight at all and when a B double went past the whole rig got the snakes and jacknifed and broke apart and rolled the Patrol and killed them all.

Caravan continued for about 100m without the A frame digging in due to weight in the rear.

It got the wobbles and the guy hit the picks and away it went. If it had been properly balanced it wouldn't have wobbled when the truck went past.

There is a big report from the SA Coroner available on the net. This happened about 4 years ago now.

Further to my previous post a Van or trailer of 751kg --2000kg must have override brakes as a minimum 2001kg up must have electric brakes ON ALL WHEELS. (In all states)

So a car trailer with a car on it if over 2001 kg must have electric brakes to be legal. Same with a boat trailer.

[IN2VWS]

A similar thing happened recently to VW guy........He was towing a Kombi on a trailer behind a Commodore. The kombi was driven on the trailer with the nose to the front. As you know, most of the weight on the old Kombi's, is in the rear.
It was on the news, as he blocked a major highway.

As for my car trailer, it is only rated to 2000kg, so no electric brakes on it. The trailer itself weighs 440kg.

Now, if you are towing a heavy caravan etc, the standard towbar is not correct for your van. You should have a class 4 or heavy duty towbar fitted.

[Guest001]

A similar thing happened recently to VW guy........He was towing a Kombi on a trailer behind a Commodore. The kombi was driven on the trailer with the nose to the front. As you know, most of the weight on the old Kombi's, is in the rear.
It was on the news, as he blocked a major highway.

As for my car trailer, it is only rated to 2000kg, so no electric brakes on it. The trailer itself weighs 440kg.

Now, if you are towing a heavy caravan etc, the standard towbar is not correct for your van. You should have a class 4 or heavy duty towbar fitted.

Remembering of course that a heavier towbar does not increase the towing capacity of the vehicle.

As per the regs The towing capacity of a vehicle is either the capacity of the Towbar or the manufacturers recommended towing capacity WHICHEVER IS THE LESSER.

EG in the early 90's a Landcruiser was rated at 2500kg However HR were making 3500kg towbars for them.
It was not legal to tow over 2500kg on that vehicle with that towbar.
Lots got caught through ignorance more than anything.
Also your car trailer hopefully has overrides on it.

Its a minefield, been there done that learnt a lot along the way about bars and people using 500kg D shackles to hold a 3 tonne van. Connecting breakaway cables to removable tongues etc.

[Mk1@4Motion]

Hey bud,

I don't have a VW Multivan but I do have a Iload, and I towed a Mk1 Golf with that from Sydney to Canberra and I had no issues what so ever with her.


Only The Good Die Young 45

[Guest001]

Hey bud,

I don't have a VW Multivan but I do have a Iload, and I towed a Mk1 Golf with that from Sydney to Canberra and I had no issues what so ever with her.


Only The Good Die Young 45

And your point is ????

[petenkaz]

Hi Wardy, the towball weight is a real issue. Our van is a jayco flamingo, towball weight of 82, and around 1,400 kgs I guess. We've now been travelling for 2 months and whilst it can do it reasonably comfortably I can't help but feel I'm caning the poor VW, it is ok for towing to one spot and setting up for a week or so, but through the hills I feel it, fine on the highways though...sat on 130 k's to get into Yulara the other day to avoid animals. We had a week down south before this trip and I had bikes hanging off the back door and various other crap and it scared me in the rain. So choose carefully your caravan, with the benefit of hindsight I would have bought a 4wd for towing and saved my VW! I also bought some weight distribution bars which make a difference too, just makes handling a bit more confident

[pjondeck]

In Europe the down mass on the ball is specified as 5% of the towed mass. Hence my VW T5 MY11 has a rating of 2000Kg towed and 100Kg on the ball. (actually VW updated that to 2500Kg but didn't change the ball mass spec). This would imply a legal 4% on the ball, bit low for my liking. This is why European caravans eg. Adria tend to be light on the ball. I have a genuine VW bar and Hayman-Reese advise me that they can't do anything that would rate it higher. They are limited by the vehicle manufacturer rating. Seems that the only avenue is to have an automotive engineer examine and possibly re-rate the hitch. I am in the throes of getting an automotive engineer look at my T5 with that objective. Has anyone had experience in this area or tried to have their hitch rerated? There are two main issues, the ability of the actual towbar to carry the weight and the ability of the vehicle structure including suspension to take the weight.
I will post the result of my efforts for interest.
cheers