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Twin axle trailer not level

Does anyone tow a twin axle trailer and have experience of levelling it out? When attached to the ball the nose is too low thus the rear axle is too high and most weight goes on the front axle. This also means there is not sufficient weight on the hitch.I was advised by a young lad at the compost facility that the van's rear suspension needs raised. Is this correct?It's a GD105.ThanksDan

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  • No, the most it will carry will probably be a tonne. If I raise the towbar it will interfere with the rear doors. It's a SWB Transit.

    5 new wheels will cost a penny or two!
  • I'm buying in for the future of the business hence the trailer choice. I will expect to tow the odd heavier load. Most lighter trailers aren't braked and only good for 600kg or so and generally 8x5 is the biggest I can find which isn't really enough for a ride-on plus some bits.

    I'll try a local garage re: suspension.

    I don't think 10" wheels would level it out enough, but it would be hard to know for sure without actually buying and fitting them. Hrm!
  • Cheers for the ideas anyway!
  • How about taking the hitch of the trailer, I guess its bolted to the top of the A frame, Then bolt it back to the underside. A Mate of mine had to this when he changed vehicles.
  • PRO
    Not totally sure about this, but remember when we had a Witter towbar fiited to a Renault Traffic some years ago, the towbar had multiple sets of mounting holes for bolting on the tow ball. The guy who fitted it bolted the ball to the middle set of holes.

    When we later started to use a twin axle IW trailer, he had to come back and changed the postion of the ball mount to sit higher on the towbar as the trailer was not riding right.

    However, with it mounted in this position opening the rear double doors could be a problem as the bottom of the doors only just cleared the top of the trailer hitch. In certain postions you could not open the second door unless you jiggled the hitch to one side.

    Now, we don't even think about it which is why I am struggling to be more specific...
  • Dan I have the same trailer and a swb transit and mine does the same.
    Mine has caged sides so I load it with bulk cuttings ie high volume but low weight.
    I do agree with Colin though about it being 'dead money' often it's size is overkill.
    Watch out as well as I got stopped the other day by a VOSA roadside check and I could see the examiner getting all excited
    He asked me if I had passed my test before January 1st !997 to which I replied yes. He then asked if I knew that this did NOT mean I could tow this type of trailer and van because the gross weight (trailer and van) must not exceed 3500kg.
    When I told him I had my class one licence he did look dissapointed.
  • Not relevant to the thread, but cheers! I'm sorted don't worry about that side of things.

    I think I'll see what the garage has to say on the matter. I don't fancy trying 10 inch wheels as it will surely affect other things such as handling, load, braking etc.
  • It may be possible to modify ypur tow hitch by putting a sandwich bracket on the tow bar to both lft your hitch height and move your tow ball away from the back of the van by a few inches to allow your rear doors to clear when opening.
    You could make it detachable so that it could be removed when not using the trailer.
    If this is a concept you would like to explore, level your trailer up tp determine your ball height, then positon your ball at the correct height behind your van centrally to your rear doors on blocks of wood, then move it back away from the rear of the van so that the rear doors can open (allow a bit more for the hitch itself). Once you have the correct position measure the distance between the ball hitch and the tow bar, then measure the centre height of the mounting holes on the towbar from the ground. Then do the same on the ball hitch in it's new position. the difference between the two is the lift you need and the distance is the spacing. if you would like a design sketch feel free to e-mail me.
  • i dont understand it ... i have had a gd105 and now a gd85 both had cages and used with and without weight.

    also an lm166 the same and all have been fine on 3 different jeeps....

    are vans not made for towing like sports cars?
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