Towing

[Kappy]

Hi All
Back again, still playing with new acquisition.

Part of the plan is to tow a trailer loaded with a Jimny and my Hog.

I have a trailer in mind that happens to be almost a container on wheels, that'll fit all I need plus some.

My only concern is towing around 3 tonne with my OH1418 and the potential impact on fuel economy.

All this quite new to me but I would imagine a 180 hp rig with a tare of 9380 and GVM of 1420 could tow a large trailer.
Maybe there is peeps with the experience in this regard.

The other option is to flat tow a 316 sprinter with the hog and other stuff inside the back total weight around 2.5 tonne.

Has anyone flat towed this big a vehicle and what kind of hoops do I have to jump through.

Look forward to valued advise.

Cheers
Kappy

[Busman]

Our trailer is between 4 and 4.5 tonnes, 5 door Suzy, 2 bus spares in the floor, 1 Kw of solar on the roof, built on a very strong steel chassis which is extra weight but if you don't do this you will have drawbar problems because of the bus overhang being longer than say a car or 4 wd.
Box is of Monopan, lightweight composite material.
We have around 300 hp from a small spec 6V92 and it knows it is there on the hills. I can normally crest the Gateway bridge in top without trailer, struggles in 5th with it on, and that's hitting the bottom at 100 kph.
Having said that, we came back from Sydney on Monday with trailer on, sitting on 110 where the limits were that until we got to significant hills, then everything you have just passed, catches up.
There will definitely be an increased demand on the cooling system, so be aware of that as well.
We have removed the original fan as it was chewing up in excess of 10% of the horses but I would not recommend thermatics unless you are brave. Works extremely well for us, but that's after a fair amount of trail and error.

[T1 Terry]

What is the GCM of the vehicle Kappy? That is the first hurdle, then building the trailer so the ball weight does not push the rear axle weight above the legal limits and last of all, legal total vehicle combination length. By flat towing a second vehicle with a brake activating system connected most of these issues are covered, but you would still need to check the total combination length.

T1 Terry

[Kappy]

Hi

Crap I replied to Busmans response, seems its gone to cyber heaven.

Terry to GCM is 14201.

I'm not building a trailer, it already exists and it is rated up to 4.5 tonne the maximum I'm permitted.

Both options are less than 19 metres.

My main concern is adequate power to tow the large trailer as this is foreign territory to me and may just need to drive up to Hedland or go with the flat tow. I was just hunting for expertise from other with a similar rig.

Plus chasing guidance on the flat tow issue, I guess sorcing the A frame etc,the main down side with this is disconnecting the tail shaft on every move as its Automatic. well not every move as only re connect if really needed, BTW not the end of the world.

Cheers
Kappy

[Dot]

We flat tow our Suzuki Grand vit auto, seems the new ones do not allow this feature. NOT the end of the world!!! bugger I just spent all the money in the bank and upped the credit card to limitless CRAPPY huh

[Kelvin12]

Check with the vehicle manufacturer about flat towing. Be warned though most say no regardless to avoid claims and law suits. Check with an A frame manufacturer/dealer, most will give you the heads up BUT generally if the auto is the older manual auto, such as it has a selectable neutral in the transfer case then you are pretty right but experiment in a steep hill make sure it rolls away freely. If the transmission is electronic forget it they don't tow. Secondly check to see if the transfer case has its own oil supply separate to the oil from the auto box itself. If its red auto oil in the transfer then its dicky and needs further investigation and the may need starting the motor every couple of hundred kilometers to lubricate the internals but still needs watching in case of an overheat. I wouldn't take the chance myself though. My Prado is a 1982 model auto but the transfer case has its own oil supply and its own oil pump in the transfer case which is driven from the output shaft. Its also a 2 wheel drive on the road normally until you lock in the centre diff making it 4 wheel drive. Not sure about the constant 4 wheel drives so be careful and get some advice. More good luck than management picking this vehicle. I did enquire of Toyota but couldn't get any answer at all let alone if the thing could be flat towed or not. So much for customer service.

You do save a fair bit of weight flat towing but its costly buying the A frame then on top you need the braking unit to fit inside the toad. Mine is all Blue Ox stuff. Then on top of that the toad hitch needs to be certified by an engineer or a certifier, (depending on where you live). Probably needs to be custom made unless its a common hitch. The towing unit also needs the tow bar certified in the same manner but if you capable with a welder and steel work and run it past the engineer then he will OK it if you are doing a conversion. I got my conversion engineer certified from woe to go, (had to in NSW) and that alone was $1400 then on top of that the toad hitch certification was another $650. These are standard rates for the blokes and all seem to be the same here at least in NSW.

Dirk

[SteveW]

Things are not as they were regarding the towing of vehicles with automatic transmission. In fact, some modern electronic automatics can be flat towed because they have and electronic "Neutral". An example is the Ford Focus front wheel drive automatic (not all versions) currently on sale in Australia as well as many other countries. Also, certain Jeep Cherokee 4x4 automatics that have electronic Hi Lo range transmissions with an electronic Neutral. The best resource for information on flat towing modern cars are the importers of the A-frames and base plates - Roadmaster and Blue Ox, for example. Hitch'n'Go, of which I have one, are OK for some vehicles but, in my opinion, are less suited to heavy vehicles because of their inability to adjust to a vehicle not parked in an exact (to the centimeter) spot.

Of course this information has nothing to do with a MB Sprinter.

[Dot]

Ummm you mentioned a JEEP !! and then a FORD OMG what is the world coming to???

[Kappy]

Thanks guys,

In spite of any restriction with regards to the auto transmission of my sprinter, when looking at Hitch N Go they only do up to 1900kg and the sprinter is 1900kg.

Then I looked at the WA DOT I discovered
http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFil ... Towing.pdf

In part says legal in most states except NSW (WHY)

WA law leads me to believe my goal is acheivable Blah Blah Blah as long I don't go to NSW, maybe more research is required.

Cheers
Kappy

[Dot]

NSW is something unto itself, never been pulled up but if your set up is "legal" in the state where it was OK'd then that's it, so the fuzzies say
We got our Roadmaster hitch from USA and some of the other bits needed from Jaynar in Melb. All up we saved around $1k. Our GV is 1700kg and hitch is rated at 2000k easy to use (even by females) Don't need the extra braking system either.