Wazrus Australia

   / Wazrus Australia #1  

Wazrus

Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2012
Messages
33
Location
Sydney, NSW., Australia
Tractor
Iseki TF 317; Honda harmony, Toyota SDK7 skid steer
I have a heavy (about 2/3 ton empty) tipping trailer which I use fairly regularly behind my tractor and that's OK. Recently, however, I changed my usual vehicle from a pickup to a sedan-type and I plan to tow the trailer behind the sedan, on the road. Being a tipper, the trailer has a pretty heavy load on the towball - as it's a tipper, the axle centre is more towards the rear of the trailer than the ball - that's OK., too. With all that in mind, I've had fitted 'pump-up shockers' to the rear of the tow car and these do indeed raise the back of the car and allow good clearance over steep ramps and gutters.
When I bought the car, I had the maker's heavy-duty (2400kg) towbar package fitted and this looks OK., too. The HD tow package came with a load distribution hitch. My question of the readership is that one of the systems seems to be a bit unecessary: the pump-up shockers do pretty much the same job as the LDH, or am I not understanding the ideas behind both or either???
Note that the shockers seem to do a good job - better than when the trailer was used on the pickup - of levelling the rig. When on the pickup, the trailer had a 'nose down' attitude; I had often thought to raise the towball height, but the sedan came along before I got around to it!
Thanks
Wazrus
 
   / Wazrus Australia #2  
I reckon the pump up shockers are prob'ly all you need.

Having said that I'll admit I'm not sure what a load distribution hitch is.

Maybe it's as I've seen on caravans - a couple torsion bar type springs attached to the A frame and then hooking up to the towbar?
 
   / Wazrus Australia
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Allenr
That's pretty much what I'd come to understand, too. Yes, the LDH is a couple of torsion bar-type springs attached to the trailer A-frame, by a chain lashup and the other end to the lower 'deck' of a sort of 'double-deck' towball isert which fits, as per normal, into the square-section towbar on the car. The 'double deck thingo' is a massive casting and its exact purpose had me tricked, too! Seems to be an awful lot of hardware and it all seems a bit crude, in a way. It is, however, a genuine Commodore part, ridgey-didge, as are the high-lift shockers.
What I've got is the original belt-and-braces setup, or so it seems....
Wazrus
 

Tractor & Equipment Auctions

2003 International 4200 Box Truck (A51692)
2003 International...
2015 FREIGHTLINER CASCADIA TANDEM AXLE SLEEPER TRUCK (A52577)
2015 FREIGHTLINER...
2015 PETERBILT 389 TRI-AXLE MID-ROOF SLEEPER (A52472)
2015 PETERBILT 389...
2013 UTILITY VS2RA 53FT REEFER TRAILER (A52577)
2013 UTILITY VS2RA...
Tiger Mowers 80in Super Duty Twin Flail Mower Tractor Attachment (A51691)
Tiger Mowers 80in...
2017 Club Car Carryall 550 Electric Utility Cart (A51691)
2017 Club Car...
 
Top