Towing a 3 tonne caravan - WDH

[bigleonski]

Question for the caravanners please.

I’ve only ever towed a 1.5T offroad camper, and will soon be tripping in a 21’ 3T semi offroad caravan. It’s my inlaws, and we will use it on and off over the next couple of years until we retire and buy something more suitable to us for the sort of trips we want to do in retirement.

My question is. Towing behind the grenny, do I need to use the weight distribution hitch that the inlaws have always used with the van, or does the grenny come with electrickery negating the need, or even making a wdh dangerous as I have read elsewhere.

I get that you don’t use them in an offroad situation, but I will only be using this van at worse on our standard corrugated “highways” like the Plenty, Birdsville track, Strezlecki etc and dirt outback roads.

Cheers for the advice.


Sorry - forgot to mention- standard suspension no airbags, standard tyres at this stage only.

 

[Tazzieman]

First , watch this video RP has just put up

View: https://youtu.be/M4PX08Twtbk?si=c_y3La7OnMjEIHLs

 

[bigleonski]

First , watch this video RP has just put up

View: https://youtu.be/M4PX08Twtbk?si=c_y3La7OnMjEIHLs

Timely thanks Tazzie - haven’t looked at youtube since the xmas break much. I know Cado has done a few vids on this as well. Just after first hand long timer grenny tower input now that there’s probably a few 2 years towing experiences now.

 

[Tom D]

I have never used a WDH, I do have several 3.5 ton, 6-8m long plant and car trailers which have similar characteristics to a big van. Be aware that WDH's transfer a lot of force to the caravan chassis. I have read that some manufacturers will deny warranty claims if a chassis cracks with a WDH. Personally I would not use one, I'd do a test run with the van and see what its like, then if its not great I'd fit some air helper springs to the rear axle of the G. As pointed out above loading the caravan correctly will help a lot.

 

[ecohen2]

@Tazzieman I do a similar demonstration with a broom and some weights to explain why 50/50 weight distribution on a front or rear engine car is different than a mid-engine car.... Good video...

 

[TheDocAUS]

Question for the caravanners please.

I’ve only ever towed a 1.5T offroad camper, and will soon be tripping in a 21’ 3T semi offroad caravan. It’s my inlaws, and we will use it on and off over the next couple of years until we retire and buy something more suitable to us for the sort of trips we want to do in retirement.

My question is. Towing behind the grenny, do I need to use the weight distribution hitch that the inlaws have always used with the van, or does the grenny come with electrickery negating the need, or even making a wdh dangerous as I have read elsewhere.

I get that you don’t use them in an offroad situation, but I will only be using this van at worse on our standard corrugated “highways” like the Plenty, Birdsville track, Strezlecki etc and dirt outback roads.

Cheers for the advice.


Sorry - forgot to mention- standard suspension no airbags, standard tyres at this stage only.

@Adam-Oz can probably help you, he tows a 3.5 tonne van.

 

[Adam-Oz]

At 3t I do think you will get some noticeable sag on the rear wheels and may even find that you are close to individual axle limits (something to consider when loading the car. I use a WDH (also on the same corrugated roads you mention) and find it makes a significant difference in axle loading so this might help you keep within limits as well as overall balance. It lifts the rear of the car at least an inch and a bit in height when applied. I think rear airbags are still the best option for towing to provide an even and balanced car setup.

Towing with the Grenny is better because it doesn’t have the towing systems employed by other cars (I had a RRS before the Grenny) which can rule out using WDH because you will be fighting the car towing and suspensions (especially air suspension) systems. My experience has been that the Grenny with a WDH is night and day better than these systems (based on the RRS) and I was stunned by the huge improvement in all aspects of towing, stability and overall safety. I also tend to load the car to close to its weight limit for towing as I feel that parity in weight between the car and van is better for towing heavier vans (in your case you have a 500kg lighter van which means the car is already close to parity).

Lastly I also upgraded my hitch to an Hitch EZY (there are multiple options here like DO35’s etc) and it works really well with the WDH setup. I have struggled since upgrading my suspension and a lift to get this dialled back in to what it was before but I am hoping to replace my airbags with ones to suit my new setup. Towing is complex and I find it takes a bit to really test out a setup because you can only change one thing at a time before you fully understand the impact of that one change. Having said that the Grenny is a very solid tow vehicle and I find that it punches well above its class for towing ability (I would love to compare it to a NB1 class big American truck, like the 2500 someday). I have spent the better part of 12 months researching options and then almost 12 months slowing refining the options to improve the towing ability (still a work in progress). As a test I towed the van with my mates stock Grenny and it still behaved well driving on the highway doing 100km/hr (same hitch and WDH combination). Refinements just provide added safety margins and resilience to encounter a greater variety of road conditions IMHO.

 

[TheDocAUS]

Question for the caravanners please.

I’ve only ever towed a 1.5T offroad camper, and will soon be tripping in a 21’ 3T semi offroad caravan. It’s my inlaws, and we will use it on and off over the next couple of years until we retire and buy something more suitable to us for the sort of trips we want to do in retirement.

My question is. Towing behind the grenny, do I need to use the weight distribution hitch that the inlaws have always used with the van, or does the grenny come with electrickery negating the need, or even making a wdh dangerous as I have read elsewhere.

I get that you don’t use them in an offroad situation, but I will only be using this van at worse on our standard corrugated “highways” like the Plenty, Birdsville track, Strezlecki etc and dirt outback roads.

Cheers for the advice.


Sorry - forgot to mention- standard suspension no airbags, standard tyres at this stage only.

My suggestion is to buy Robert Pepper's Towing Glovebox Guide. I did, very useful.

I upgraded from an offroad trailer (max 1400kg) to a Vista RV Crossover at 1980kgs. It is helping with things like packing, weight distribution and other things I never needed to deal with before. The book can be slipped into a door pocket or glove box.

PS Great feedback @Adam-Oz

 

[Adam-Oz]

My suggestion is to buy Robert Pepper's Towing Glovebox Guide. I did, very useful.

I upgraded from an offroad trailer (max 1400kg) to a Vista RV Crossover at 1980kgs. It is helping with things like packing, weight distribution and other things I never needed to deal with before. The book can be slipped into a door pocket or glove box.

PS Great feedback @Adam-Oz

Yes I think anyone towing should have Pepper’s towing guide. I am a Patreon supporter of his and find his insights into all things automotive, 4WD and towing incredibly valuable and always makes me pause for thought even when I think I know a subject well.