Please post this info.
I discovered the towing limitations of the 4 holes in the Bumper (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter MPolley
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I see several references for 3500 kg max for braked trailers, but I can't find a foreign 80 Series owner's manual that actually shows it. I can't imagine towing that much. Yikes.
@WarDamnEagle and @flintknapper where did you guys source your hitches and the safety hook wings on the backside of them? any links to websites or links to forum vendors would be much appreciated! Electrical hook ups as well if you have any
WarDamnEagle
SILVER Star
My hitch is a Holland Ball Pintle. I'm not sure they make it anymore. The safety hook wings, as you call them, is a NATO Chain Plate. I don't recall where I bought mine but they seem to be readily available. Eg: Plate, Pintle Hook Safety Chain Hook Assembly - https://real4wd.com/product/plate-pintle-hook-safety-chain-hook-assembly/
I used a Hopkins trailer wiring kit specific to the 80 series. I had to drill a hole in the center with a hole saw and then the assembly mounts with 4 screws. I recall it being a very easy install.
I'll leave the illegalities of no lights or brakes aside.
You killed it because the of the excessive towball download probably because the trailer might be been incorrectly loaded (weight distribution not optimal). Remember the rule of thumb is if your vehicle is rated to tow an ATM of x (in this case lets take 1 tonne or 1000 kg for easy math), your towball download should not exceed 1/10th or 100 kg.
Also, remember all trailers hauled behind light vehicles are *pig* trailers - they have no inherent stability in pitch or yaw because they 'roll' over the centre axle(s). The *entire* control of that and the pitch and yaw forces comes from the towing vehicle. This is very different to a truck like a semi.
So what you've done is exceeded the towball force massively and you are very lucky the towing hitch structure did not totally break off. I will go out on a limb here and say the towball download has been 500 kg perhaps more and you only have to brake very lightly. Pulling the loaded trailer per-se wasn't the actual cause of the failure.
It is extremely dangerous to tow a pig trailer load heavier than that towing vehicle. Now with an 80 that has a GVM of 2.96 tonnes, that means towing a load up to 2.5 tonnes (the legal ATM for an 80 pre-1996) is generally going to be ok. Go up to 3.5 tonnes and you are exceeding the safe (but stupidly not the legal) envelope.
Getting back to legalities, the unstable behaviours of pig trailers is exactly the reason that laws specify they require some type of active braking (the type of braking depending on the max designed ATM) over a certain mass.
Also, those 'safety chains' would have done nothing (they should be proper 'rated' chain with a proper link to the vehicle), plus where is the jockey wheel and why isnt it folded up and secured? If the trailer broke off, any approaching traffic coming the other way would be directly in the line of fire of a moving uncontrolled load going it's own way! If the trailer doesn't brake off, your 80 becomes the uncontrolled arbiter of chaos as the trailer makes you jacknife and/or roll.
You killed it because the of the excessive towball download probably because the trailer might be been incorrectly loaded (weight distribution not optimal). Remember the rule of thumb is if your vehicle is rated to tow an ATM of x (in this case lets take 1 tonne or 1000 kg for easy math), your towball download should not exceed 1/10th or 100 kg.
Also, remember all trailers hauled behind light vehicles are *pig* trailers - they have no inherent stability in pitch or yaw because they 'roll' over the centre axle(s). The *entire* control of that and the pitch and yaw forces comes from the towing vehicle. This is very different to a truck like a semi.
So what you've done is exceeded the towball force massively and you are very lucky the towing hitch structure did not totally break off. I will go out on a limb here and say the towball download has been 500 kg perhaps more and you only have to brake very lightly. Pulling the loaded trailer per-se wasn't the actual cause of the failure.
It is extremely dangerous to tow a pig trailer load heavier than that towing vehicle. Now with an 80 that has a GVM of 2.96 tonnes, that means towing a load up to 2.5 tonnes (the legal ATM for an 80 pre-1996) is generally going to be ok. Go up to 3.5 tonnes and you are exceeding the safe (but stupidly not the legal) envelope.
Getting back to legalities, the unstable behaviours of pig trailers is exactly the reason that laws specify they require some type of active braking (the type of braking depending on the max designed ATM) over a certain mass.
Also, those 'safety chains' would have done nothing (they should be proper 'rated' chain with a proper link to the vehicle), plus where is the jockey wheel and why isnt it folded up and secured? If the trailer broke off, any approaching traffic coming the other way would be directly in the line of fire of a moving uncontrolled load going it's own way! If the trailer doesn't brake off, your 80 becomes the uncontrolled arbiter of chaos as the trailer makes you jacknife and/or roll.
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