Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 21:04:10 -0500
Reply-To: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Subject: Re: Not exactly...was: towing with a vanagon
Robert--(and folks)
You are absolutely right. A *braked* trailer makes a big difference in our
discussion. In fact, a buddy of mine pulls a house trailer that is roughly
the length of Florida with his Chevy Slob-Bourbon. It has a special
proportioning valve and hydraulics to equalize the brake application. Works
great.
Up until your post, I hadn't seen any mention of braked trailers in the
discussion, just boats and cars and such. So I assumed that we were talking
about un-braked loads. My misunderstanding.
What I wrote still holds true for un-braked loads. A vehicle's handling and
braking can be unpredictable, uncontrollable, and dangerous when you tow
more than the manufacturer recommends. A heavy object, only vaguely
tethered with a single hemi-joint at the midpoint to the rear of another
object has a nearly infinite range of unpleasant motions and paths it can
take when the object in front slows suddenly. As we all know, there is no
way to predict the proximity of other cars, incline, speed, weather
conditions, curvature of the road, etc. when you will have to brake
suddenly. Why take a chance at disaster?
As far as the internal vs. external load, I can't run out and look at the
van to check the actuals on ours, but I would wager that the internal load
allowed is significantly higher than the un-braked towing capacity, for the
reason I have mentioned above. If you need to pull stuff, I saw a neat ad
for the 1981 Dodge Ram van last night...
G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
Cary, NC USA
www.bulley-hewlett.com
(888) 468-4880 toll free
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert A. Alexander [SMTP:satcong@vol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 1999 7:05 PM
To: G. Matthew Bulley
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Not exactly...was: towing with a vanagon
Matthew - I don't follow your "internal load capacity" vs "trailed
capacity" comparison. I checked Helmut Zeidler's hypertext link he
posted today and, best as I can figure, my '85GL is rated to handle a
tongue weight of 50kg and to tow 2000kg (w/brakes) or 600kg (w/o
brakes)! And THIS on a 12% grade!!! (according to the TN DOT, all
Interstates are built with a max of 6% grade) His chart also notes
tongue loads of 75kg for Vanagons man. after June '85 and 100kg for
those man. after '88. Have NO idea what changes were made in the rear
of those later Vanagons, though, to increase their capacity.
Also, since the proportioning valve's function is to keep the rear
brakes from locking up, the downward force on the rear of the van
induced by an un-braked trailer creates even LESS chance of the rear
brakes locking up! With a properly adjusted braked trailer, I fail to
see any problem which could develop.
I mastered most of the physics involved in "one object pulling another
through a pivoting tether", shifting loads, sudden
acceleration/deceleration and "emergency braking" from my years of
pulling calves from *issed-off cows! It's just as breathtaking, I
think, as emergency stop in a Vanagon whilst trailing a load.
BOB - WA4RRN
'85GL - "Bourgeois"
http://dogmandoesAtlanta.com
