'Van attitude under tow - towbar query

[upv5]

You did not say what make of towbar you have but the Volvo detachable came in 3 different heights.
One for standard suspension, a taller one for the lowered R models and a shorter one for the raised suspension XC.
Whether you can change the height of your towbar depends on what make it is and if they do variations.
The vans attitude in the photo does not look too bad and as long as you don't have to negotiate steep inclines, where the rear of the van might hit the ground, you will probably be OK.
Have you got Nivomats ? in this case putting more weight on the rear of the car has little effect as suspension self levels when you start moving.

John

[CPH]

The towbar is a Witter VL32 fixed flange type.

The sandwich plates that secure the centre tube in place do have an extra hole lower down for the rearmost fixing only. This would technically allow the centre tube to pivot downwards but I've tried this and the result is that it puts the towball at a ridiculous backward angle. It begs the question why it's there really?

I phoned my local Witter fitter today and asked their advice. They don't seem to think its a problem that the towball is as high as it is or that the van sits nose up but have said they can fit a 2" lowering plate for £10.00 if I so wish.

I've done quite a bit internet research on the subject and most, if not all, sources agree that a nose up angle on the van is not good for stability and may cause issues under braking as it could potentially cause the rear of the car to lose traction.

I will re-measure the towball height and coupling height of the van to see what the actual discrepancy is and report back soonish.

[DarkendViper]

Don't forget the towball measurements are between 350mm and 420mm laden, mine sites are 435mm when i'm laden for going away, the wife and kids don't weigh much and neither does the dog, but mine does look more level. Here's a passage I found which might help,

The EC Directive 94/20/EC states that the towball height should be between 350 and 420mm with the vehicle in the ‘laden’ condition. Laden condition may have been defined (by the manufacturer) as either fully laden (the maximum technically permitted mass of the vehicle as shown in the vehicle handbook), or, conventionally laden (defined as 68.5kg per specified passenger seat and 6.5kg of luggage per specified passenger and located in the centre of the luggage storage area). Alternatively, the towball may be at the height or height range specified by the vehicle manufacturer in the homologation documents and possibly the vehicle handbook. Not so straightforward!

So that could be 300kg in the car for passengers and luggage plus a 90% full fuel tank. So that is quite a lot of weight. When i'm laden for a trip, i;m about 220kg in passengers and luggage, so stick the awning in the boot.

Hope this can shed some light and help

[volvo145]

I personally would fit a down plate to allow the caravan to be rear up.
To me your outfit will be unstable in some conditions.

[Father Ted]

Originally Posted by volvo145

I personally would fit a down plate to allow the caravan to be rear up.
To me your outfit will be unstable in some conditions.

For what it's worth...I agree.

[moncman]

The car in the pic looks pretty level so I would say the tow ball needs lowering by and inch or so. New shocks will add extra damping but should not really change ride height. That's what your springs are for.

Nose up attitude will not be good for stability and adding more weight will not help but could actually make things worse in an emergency braking situation as the momentum of the van will want to take the shortest route (up) to wash off the speed.

[cumbrianmale]

What nose weight did you have on the hitch? And out of interest what size are the tyres on the van? Do they correspond to what it should have?

[CPH]

Slight update:

In the end this turned out to be a non-issue.

As some of you will know from an older posting on here, the van was a bit of a lemon when I bought it and it's had a lot of work over the last year or so to make it useable.

It's now finished so today I decided to take it out for a road test to make sure my brake adjustments were ok and to make sure there were no other problems before we take it away in a couple of weeks time.

After hitching it up to the car I looked to see what the attitude was and I was relieved to see the van ever so slightly nose down! The car was pretty much level front to back too.

I have since put new wheels and tyres on the van, although they're the same size so what difference it can make is negligible, and it's had a new stabiliser hitch fitted. Again, I can't see what difference that can make but as the only two contact points the van has perhaps the effect of cumulative changes has made a difference?

I'm also pleased that the van tows really well too. Brakes work perfectly after my fettling and it was very stable behind the V70.

[moncman]

Pleased this has worked out for you but I must say I'm also struggling to figure out how the problem has just gone away.

I can only imagine a cumulative effect of 2 factors namely:

The ride height of the van is higher at the axle, caused by better tyres, higher pressures?, or perhaps the suspension has extended whilst conducting the work.

And the distance from the axle to the tow bar has increased by a slightly longer hitch or/and the old one was compressed (as if reversing) and the internal spring did not allow it to extend.

[DC850]

Glad it has all worked out for the better, Enjoy your van