Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Smith
I agree about towing limits..as one who has experienced a jack-knife after the towing trailer blew a tyre and the towing vehicle didn't have the power or weight to keep it under control, I'll never tow anything greater than the weight of the towing vehicle....for example I regularly tow with my Vito having about 800kg in the van and about 2400kg of trailer including the load within. Vans official towing limit is 2500kg so I've maxed out van's internal payload and towing limit but it's totally stable and apart from the initial take-off...hardly noticed on the move...the van and its load is still greater than the trailer and its load.
I don't think I'd want to be towing something 1000Kg heavier than the tow car...can any of these Thailand utes carry a tonne and tow 3500kg and remain legal, or am I wrong?
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I know we all dislike Giovanni Cadogani here, but go to about 10:55 on this clip below:
There's a gap between what the end user/customer does, what the legislation/authorities say/enforce and what the car companies marketing departments advertise.
If police (QLD) are saying 90% of the vehicles they encounter on the roads are in breach of the regulation then common sense says:
A) We need to do more education on towing for road users
B) There needs to be more transparency on the rules/regulations
C) The OEMs need a kick in the *** for selling half truths about the capabilities of their vehicles
D) Caravan manufacturers need to be involved in the discussions
Even the Nissan Patrol has some shifty crap going on with its creative accounting towing figures - it has a payload problem at its maximum towing capacity. 9:05 onwards to skip all his usual schtick below:
I'm pretty sure the RAM 1500 has an issue with rear axle capacity as well at its 4500kg towing capacity - the thing about the American utes is the numbers in their names refer to its capabilities, the 1500 models (RAM 1500/Silverado 1500/F150) is their equivalent of our Thailand Specials.
Its once you start going to 2500/3500/F250/F350 is that things start getting serious, and if you get under one on a hoist or even just pop your head under and look through the wheel arches you'll see where the changes are.
Look at their websites and you'll see the stats they quote for their 1500 models:
Thats for the 4WD model single cab, you gain 200lbs in payload and towing if you ditch the 4WD and go back to 2WD, but you can see how they're the American version of the Thailand Special when you're talking payload and towing numbers.
My line of thinking is that once we start getting to weights like 2500kg, should we enforce on caravan/trailer manufacturers that they have to go to a 5th wheel design (based on towing vehicle weight)? Given the Thailand Special is the most popular vehicle on our roads now, I don't see the problem with this given its easy to retrofit a 5th wheel hitch to a dual cab ute.