Towing tips

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mike1303

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So I'm going to need to tow a dual axle builders trailer everyday for work now.
I've never towed anything more then a box trailer,

My d40 is manual, has anyone got any tips or ticks?
Or any suggestions on keeping it secured to the car?

Thanks in advance
 
Is it going to be your trailer or a work supplied one? I'd have a look at the mchitch website and see what you reckon. They use a different coupling to a standard tow ball and from memory you can get a locking pin for them.

The other option may be to put a padlock through the pin for your hitch receiver or get one of those locking pins and a padlock through the clip on the trailer coupling if it has the ability to have one fitted... You can't really do a lot with the shackles now as they have to be rated ones, so you can't really use padlocks on there...

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It depends how serious you are about the security. popping a padlock through the hitch catch is easy, but won't stop someone undoing the towball or taking the hitch out. you can buy a locking hitch pin to prevent the hitch being removed, then you also might need some way of locking the trailer to the hitch. Using a padlock on the safety chain would work, but a padlock won't have the same load rating as a shackle so shouldn't be used in transit so an extra cable could help. There are also hitch locks you can use, but not sure of any that suit while driving so could be a pain taking it on and off.

I've heard the standard clutch is a bit soft, so you'll need to go a bit easy on it.
 
G'day Mike, what sort of weight will it be?. Electric brakes will give you much better control than the old over-ride brakes so you'll need a good controller wired correctly too. As for theft many builders trailers are locked to the tug with a hitch lock. It's useless, the theives just unbolt your coupling and fit their own and off they go. I lock mine with 12mm Maganese Alloy square link chain and a shrouded Boren padlock to the towbar. They cannot cut it with boltcutters, and a grinder takes alot of time and plenty of noise.

Your not legally permitted to weld the coupling nuts to prevent theft anymore as it weakens the high tensile bolts. The only way around it is to use Devcon (plastic steel) on the nuts to prevent the mongrels removing removing the coupling and fitting theirs.

Cheers
 
As above - it's not easy to secure the thing, although I've found a way to do it.

If your safety chains are short, this won't work unless you find a (legal) means of lengthening them. Mine are plenty long, but then my caravan was built knowing that a weight distribution hitch would be highly possible and the chains were made long enough to reach the car even with the extra length of the WDH in place.

So, you have say 15 links in the chain and in order to properly hold your towball off the ground let's say you have to connect the chain to the car at link 10. Awesome, you have 5 links dangling ... well, dangle no more! Padlock the last link to the chassis. It's not doing anything it's not rated for so it's MOSTLY legit. There's only one problem.

Towing law in NSW (and probably elsewhere) requires that a trailer be disconnected without the use of tools. That's so that in an accident or a fire, the trailer can be separated, removing it from where occupants may be trapped. It's especially important with a caravan that might have two lovely explosive devices (usually with about 9Kg of liquefied gas/propane in them) mounted right up front aimed at the car.

So the spirit of the law is broken, but not the technicality - a key is not technically a tool.

Thieves might unbolt your coupling, but the safety chains are welded to the trailer chassis and padlocking the bugger to your chassis with a decent padlock will thwart them.

Be careful about the type of padlock used. A favourite trick for most normal padlocks is to super-cool them (liquid Nitrogen) which causes the metal to become extremely brittle, allowing it to shatter when subjected to even a small impact - say, from a hammer.

If your trailer is really valuable, perhaps an alarm system?

As for towing it - a double axle trailer is easier to tow than a single, but it offers more resistance when turning, so parking it requires more push.

Oh and as pointed out ... them clutches ... go gentle on her, don't rev the car too much on take off, let the clutch cool again before feathering it some more. That will extend its life - which is shortened by the heat that the dual mass flywheel just physically can't dissipate for you.

Hope A is doing well!
 
i used to tow an 8x5 tandem tool trailer with my manual 2013 st, most of the time it would have weighed in between 1.5 - 2 ton....
The biggest pain was backing it into work sites... any slight incline and she really struggled.... used to try to swing it into position as quick as possible the put it in 4low when i didn't have to turn the steering wheel.
Would be great if it had 2low....
It will tow it easy, i have 110k on mine now with original clutch, but parking becomes very painful.....
I think an auto p300 could be the answer.....
 

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