FridgeFreezer Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I need to make some sort of drop-plate for the 109 but have no idea what's a normal sort of height for a trailer hitch on a landy. My towball is currently 80cm off the floor which seems a little excessive, even for a Sankey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discojmz Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 without goin out in the cold sankeys tow at 26 inches, i think the top of my tow plate on the disco, standard height everything gives a 22inch tow height so my sankey is slightly nose down just for the moment, ball hitch is on the bottom of that normal tow height for most things seems to be about 14-16 inches i dont like it. it's too low Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I could be completely wrong but a car tow bar is around 17" and lorry is 23" that's from memory so I could be completely wrong... Trailer websites shout tell you. My Ifor was the 22-23 mark as their regarded as plant trailers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 1, 2008 Author Share Posted February 1, 2008 Cheers guys, I think I'll whack the 6" drop plate on for now and call it good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Er John - " is inches.........i think you meant 6' Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munkymush Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 hi i set mine at 19 inches to the top of the ball . i tow a 2 ton ski boat...+have towed a few caravans as well ..i read somewhere that caravans need a very slight nose down attitude, although ive towed with most things level +no probs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munkymush Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 hi i set mine at 19 inches to the top of the ball . i tow a 2 ton ski boat...which rides dead level +have towed a few caravans as well ..i read somewhere that caravans need a very slight nose down attitude, although ive towed with most level +no probs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlo Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Floor to centre of towball (the ball part at the top) 385mm +/- 35mm so 350-420mm http://www.al-ko.co.uk/edit/files/support/Towballguide.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bull Bar Cowboy Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Yes, about 16 inches ............. More important is the trailer loading and ensuring you have an adequate nose weight to ensure natural stability. The trailer should tow very slightly nose down for best stability ................. if it is nose up and heavily loaded you will end up with a very unstable combination ...............stability requires more weight forward of the axle than behind the axle............. An unstable combination is truly frightening to drive ....................... ask Moglite............ Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discojmz Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 strange. i read in a few places recently that it should ride level or slightly nose up and never down (down causes snaking especially in twin axle trailers and excessive amounts of up or low nose weighting does it to all), a lot of trailer brakes work best level-slightly nose up too according to the same sources. definitely should be nose heavy, but not nose down is the consensus from these trailer websites but then anyone can write advice on the net... so i dno when i pick up my sankey it'll be slightly nose down, but unladen... a bit concerned about how it'll tow but theyre nose heavy anyway i get the impression that weight distribution is more important than 'angle' to a large extent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Floor to centre of towball (the ball part at the top) 385mm +/- 35mm so 350-420mm http://www.al-ko.co.uk/edit/files/support/Towballguide.pdf Just to comment on that slighty.... it might be an EC regulation, but it only applies to vehicles manufactured after 1996, earlier vehicles can have them at any height, but of course they still need to be a safe height! If you have one fitted on a post 1996 vehicle outside those distances... technically they can do you for it, even if you aren't using it -I checked all this out cos the one on my Rangie is about 200mm too high Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Train Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 The one on the back of my Skoda Octavia is 18" to the top of the ball if it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landrover598 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 I made my drop plate to give 17.5" to the top of the ball, and my loaded flatbed trailer sits perfectly on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_d Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Seemingly any vehicle, 'S' reg onwards, has to comply with EC94/20 which for this discussion says 350 - 420mm to top of ball when vehicle is fully laden but without the trailer attached. So your hitch may well be higher than that for most of the time as you will not be fully laden. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Trailers should definately not be towed tail down , should be nose down to level with definate nose weight, that is dependant on the towing vehicle. The reason for a bias to noe weight esp with tandem axle trailers is if the trailer has a rear axle puncute the centre of mass will move rearward , this will then increase the likely hood of a snake setting up as the trailer could go tail heavy relative to the first axle. The more axles the greater the safe envelope for centre of mass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discojmz Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 3) RECOMMENDED TRAILER TOWING HEIGHT: This is a good time to address this issue, it seems to be a point that folks are not aware of and it is very important. All trailer manufacturers have a recommended towing height for their trailers. Usually the rule of thumb is level to slightly up in the nose, but NEVER NEVER down. An exaggerated nose up attitude or nose down can cause stability problems, and think about your poor horses. To find out weather your trailer is sitting properly, you can attach it to your vehicle, leave it empty and find a level piece of ground, then stand back and judge for yourself. The reason we bring this up now is because the drop height of your receiver is what can fix or create this problem. All vehicles set a varying heights off the ground, we have found that most pickup trucks will use either a 2"(straight) receiver to a 4" or even a 6" for some taller 4wds. One the other hand, we have found that most SUVs will use either a 2" (straight) or a 2" or 4" flipped over to be used as a rise instead of a drop. The point we want to stress here is that it is important for your trailer to be setting properly when being towed, if not stability can be adversely affected. We urge folks to check with their trailer manufacturer's for their recommended tow heights and follow their suggestions. And don't forget to ask how to take the measurement, i.e. with trailer empty and connected and setting level &/or measure to the base of the ball as opposed to the top etc... taken from: http://www.traveledlanetrailers.com/traile...railering1b.htm but taken from a sankey post on here As for initial trailer set-up when connected to the towing vehicle, a single axel trailer should on level ground be in a slight nose down position from horizontal >2deg to <5deg, this is so under sever braking it dose not unload the rear axel of the towing vehicle, with twin axel centre line trailers they should be set on level ground between horizontal (0deg) and 1deg nose down, no trailer should ever be nose up!You should always make full use of the maximum nose weight on the hitch, witch is normally between 50kg and 120kg dependent on both the trailer hitch and towing vehicle hitch always deferring to the lowest value for the combination Loads on trailers should be place as low as possible and as far forward as permitted by the static nose weight, if you were e.g. carrying sand bags rather than stack then just forward of the axel to get the correct static nose weight thus creating a high CoG you would utilise as much of the load bed as possible both fore and aft of the axel thus keeping the CoG low and the correct static nose weight as well as stopping the load from moving around as much. i hate the internet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roverdrive Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Have a look at the National Trailer and Towing site http://www.ntta.co.uk/law/preparing/checks.htm They reccommend to have the trailer level. I have always towed single axle trailers slightly nose down, and tandam axle trailers level. I know it isn't exactly scientific, but try pulling a suitcase with the little wheels more "nose up" than normal, it gets really unstable!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 i hate the internet! Yep, but I found this on some government website somewhere, and belive me it took some doing.... nothing like freedom of information..... maybe it has turned into overload.............? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 I know it isn't exactly scientific, but try pulling a suitcase with the little wheels more "nose up" than normal, it gets really unstable!!! Yeah, but have you tried pulling "a suitcase with the little wheels" in a nose down attitude? Now THAT's unstable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Train Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 My trailer is a little nose down when unladen and level when loaded with the correct nose weight. It is only a single axle trailer though. I did once move it a short distance with slightly negative nose weight once and it was really, really scary. Fortunately it was only a few hundred yards on a private road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsr341 Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 i towed a twin axel car trailer with a suz sj on nose up (no choice with 2" lift 34" jt's )last weekend with my 90 100mile round trip no problems at all , only time it got a slight weave on was when it got trapped in the ''tram lines'' on the M56 but my 90 dances around on them with no trailer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 our disco II is 52cm to the top of the ball. around 20.5" if it helps! The caravan does end up slightly nose up, but not excessivly. Only due to the towball being on its lowest setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.