Any Towbar Guru's?

[Depron Donkey]

I fitted a Westfalia removable towbar to the van last night and tried using it today with my twin axle trailer.
The ball is so high the front wheels are off the ground. It measures 470mm to the center of the ball. I searched what the standard ball height is and found EU legistation states center of the ball should be 350mm-420mm from the ground so mines 2" higher than it should be. I rang Westfalia and spoke to a guy called Fabio, he said thats the height it is, it doesnt matter how high it is in real life, its ok on paper. The bars can only be designed using the information supplied by VW on the mounting points and the ball height is determined by where VW tell them how far from the ground they are. It seems type approval is then given because on paper the the ball is in the right place, but is not even in the right place on paper....
Westfalia also say the center of the ball should be 450mm from the ground on this model which is still higher than the 420mm the legislation says it should be!
Fabio gave me some great advice though, can the trailer be redesigned!!!
The stupid thing is they make various other swan necks for different vehicles with lower balls in relation to the mount, but they cant sell me one because its not type approved for my bar.
Anyone know how Westfalia and VW can get type approval for a bar that, in there admission is not at the right height?
Anyone else had towbar height problems?

 

[Phil_G]

Mines a Westie removeable, it's exactly 400mm to the centre. Sorry it's dark

 

[Depron Donkey]

Hi, Is your van lowered or standard suspension?

 

[Phil_G]

Bog standard And it does sit level.
Cheers
Phil

 

[Littleblackflash]

I'll measure mine tomorrow. I think mine is to high because this van doesn't tow well. I think my nose weight is far to high.

My old T5 has a fixed towbar and I could change the height of it. This made a massive different to the way the trailer handled.

 

[rod_vw]

Just measured my two...

T5 Trendline LWB 180ps T5 with factory high roof & camper conversion with original suspension - Witter Fixed tow bar ball centre is at 425mm (no gear on board)

T6 Highline LWB 140ps T6 with Reimo high roof & camper conversion with original suspension - Westfalia Fixed tow bar ball centre is a 415mm (some camping gear on board)

In both instances that puts the flat top of the tow ball about 40mm below the bottom of the rear lid / doors measured with an engineers set-square with measurements marked on it.

I've towed a twin axle car trailer behind the T5 without any problem either loaded or empty. It handled very well in both states.

I think the measurement from top of ball to the bottom of the rear lid / doors is the most relevant for any comparison of tow bar height as it negates any suspension variations.

 

[Littleblackflash]

Mine measures 420mm to the centre of the ball and 445mm to the top. Mine is a PV, lowered (no idea how much) and 20" wheels.

I find my tow bar is too high and when towing my twin axle race trailer the nose weight is too high. I either need to lower the van a little of adjust the trailer hitch height.

 

[rod_vw]

Mine measures 420mm to the centre of the ball and 445mm to the top. Mine is a PV, lowered (no idea how much) and 20" wheels.

I find my tow bar is too high and when towing my twin axle race trailer the nose weight is too high. I either need to lower the van a little of adjust the trailer hitch height.

Surely the nose weight depends on how you load the trailer not how high the ball is? Your tow ball height sounds much the same as all T5s & T6s.

 

[Depron Donkey]

Surely the nose weight depends on how you load the trailer not how high the ball is? Your tow ball height sounds much the same as all T5s & T6s.

Most other members are saying 400mm-425mm so 50mm lower than mine. A four wheel trailer needs them all on the floor.
Mines a swan neck so can't adjust the height. Been looking at other swan necks from Westfalia, not all swan necks are the same angle so could get the ball lower by fitting a different neck.

 

[Phil_G]

I think LBF is talking about the geometry Rod, if the towball is too high, the trailer sits on the rear axle and the weight that would normally be carried by the front axle becomes noseweight.

 

[rod_vw]

Legislation
EC Directive 94/20/EC
UN Regulation: R55

The above puts standard VW ball hitches within the rules, in fact normally just on the low tolerances from measurements quoted above except for the OP.

@Depron Donkey maybe you should be comparing your vehicle height with others as it being 50mm higher sounds very strange. Maybe if the vehicle height is normal you have been supplied with the wrong swan neck.

Rod

 

[Olly T6]

Mines been lowered and is a tad low for my caravan, wish you could buy different height balls

 

[Depron Donkey]

First member with a ball too low!!
What bar have you got and how high is your ball?

 

[Olly T6]

I do believe it’s at the right height, it’s just the style of my caravan doesn’t like being nose low oh it’s a westifila detachabl oh not to mention with my alko hitch there’s only about 25-30mm clearance to the bumper!

 

[Olly T6]

We are going away mid December so il take some measurements etc

 

[keith baker]

400 mm to the centre of the ball for mine. Van's lowered 30mm and has the weight of conversion in it. I also find the ball is too close to the bumper with the caravan attached. It has a friction stabilizer on the ball.

 

[Littleblackflash]

Sorry, I should of said my trailer is twin axle and I have very little load on the front axle based on how much the tyre is compressed. Hence why I need a lower tow ball or some spacers between the trailer chassis and hitch.

My T5 towed the trailer level.

 

[mmi]

460mm to the centre. Factory option. Fixed. No mods on the van.

 

[paulmillz]

I assume you could buy a different Westfalia swan neck that's meant to go on a different vehicle, but it would fit... thus getting the ball to the desired height? so if a BMW 5 Series swan neck was a lower and greater reach when you plugged it into the Camper it would give you greater distance and be a little lower... I assume all the connectors are the same?