Mick_Marsh
Active Member
70mm Tow Ball - 4.5t - CRN45125 - 23.7kN
70mm Tow Ball suit 4.5 tonne Electric Couplings. No CRN means the tow ball is not legal. ASDR 62/2 - Clause 2.3.2.
www.couplemate.com.au
dreamer or innovative thinker
- Thread starter linuxfan66
- Start date
www.couplemate.com.au
Petunia
Well-Known Member
So lets work backwards, and upscale every component, by that percentage, in the tow rig, then buy new couplings for out recycle run trailer[6x4] our yacht trailer also 4.5 ton.It's not difficult getting towing components that are engineered for 4.5t.70mm Tow Ball - 4.5t - CRN45125 - 23.7kN
70mm Tow Ball suit 4.5 tonne Electric Couplings. No CRN means the tow ball is not legal. ASDR 62/2 - Clause 2.3.2.
or we could just use Pintle hooks and and lunette's.
Mick_Marsh
Active Member
That's what I use.or we could just use Pintle hooks and and lunette's.
linuxfan66
Active Member
i am not not wrong, arent gcm upgrades illegal to do now except in queensland? and even if you get it done in queensland, it wont be legally respected outside of queensland unless it was done before the cutoff date.
discomatt
Moderator
some here read to much into stuff, nowhere in the article does it mention getting it legal for road use or the engineering to tow 4.5 tonn, what it does say and imply is that he has designed his own battery and propulsion system that will be capable of it, very different things.
The fact that his system will be capable of towing 4.5 ton is the main point and the potentual application of that will be limitless.
Very impressive figures from the battery side of it which is also a leap forward
The fact that his system will be capable of towing 4.5 ton is the main point and the potentual application of that will be limitless.
Very impressive figures from the battery side of it which is also a leap forward
Mick_Marsh
Active Member
Yes, but,
"Once he has finished his prototype he is hoping to be able to supply kits for others to use. As an add on, a trailer could be attached which is also fitted with a battery – giving greater range and towing capacity."
Implies he is developing the system for others to use and, if others do buy this ststem, I'd be thinking they would be wanting it to be for on road use. Otherwise it would be a very small market. Not many people would be wanting a vehicle you could drive for 400km between charges on private roads.
Albynsw
Well-Known Member
I think it will be more about testing/ developing the technology and would be used in a completely different platform if he is successful. He just happens to have a Paj available to him as a test donkey.
Cant see it being used in kits, who is going to spend two or three times the value of an old Paj to electrify it and it would still be an orphan
SuperSteve
Member
Good on him having a go.
I remember having brain storming sessions at a previous workplace. The one rule was you couldn't poopoo any idea. At least not right away.
Pie in the sky stuff often doesn't work, but you can get things out of it that do.
There's companies doing electric conversions of classic cars, which is a cool idea, but electric vehicles built to be electric vehicles will always be the best solution.
There's still a lot of hurdles to overcome with electric (i suspect anyone on a 4wd forum is concerned about range... at least in Australia, and towing you can halve your range, few years old take 100k off) but we'll never get solutions without people actually building them and trying things.
I remember having brain storming sessions at a previous workplace. The one rule was you couldn't poopoo any idea. At least not right away.
Pie in the sky stuff often doesn't work, but you can get things out of it that do.
There's companies doing electric conversions of classic cars, which is a cool idea, but electric vehicles built to be electric vehicles will always be the best solution.
There's still a lot of hurdles to overcome with electric (i suspect anyone on a 4wd forum is concerned about range... at least in Australia, and towing you can halve your range, few years old take 100k off) but we'll never get solutions without people actually building them and trying things.
red hilux
Well-Known Member
dont make them a permanently driven wheel, just in the soft stuff
Mick_Marsh
Active Member
It's been tried many times.
Not yet entered into mainstream market, for good reason. There are safety issues. Have a read of the reports on trials.
Perhaps even build one yourself. I briefly thought about this. If you do, let us know how you go.
linuxfan66
Active Member
what was the usual issues with pto driven trailers?
Mick_Marsh
Active Member
The driven trailer would jack-knife and push over the towing vehicle being one of them. I would have to re-read the reports. Better still, you could do that.
Hoyks
Well-Known Member
Yeah, but your 4.5t ball is designed for a 5th wheeler type hitch.It's not difficult getting towing components that are engineered for 4.5t.70mm Tow Ball - 4.5t - CRN45125 - 23.7kN
70mm Tow Ball suit 4.5 tonne Electric Couplings. No CRN means the tow ball is not legal. ASDR 62/2 - Clause 2.3.2.
Using it on your standard style tow bar, even with a conservative ball down load would have close to 400kg on the ball. That's not going to affect handling much at all
.Mick_Marsh
Active Member
Yes and no.
I'm discussing the "no".
70mm Towbar Receiver 2 inch - 4 inch drop - Australian made
70mm Towbar Receiver 2-inch and 4-inch drop suit 70mm Tow Ball is rated and tested to Class V or a maximum of 4.5 tonnes.
www.couplemate.com.au
Well, on the vehicle in question, If I read your comment as sarcastic, we agree.Using it on your standard style tow bar, even with a conservative ball down load would have close to 400kg on the ball. That's not going to affect handling much at all
Chatty
Well-Known Member
Full marks for thinking out of the box.
Having been a one-eyed Paj owner for many years (and having sold the Paj to get something that can tow 4.5t) I seriously doubt the suitability of the Paj to tow 4.5t - the ball mass at around 270kg+ would be an issue on the rear suspension, but I can see lots of other issues as well.
I certainly wouldn't contemplate towing 4.5t with a Paj - I think he would be better off setting a 3.5t target.
Having been a one-eyed Paj owner for many years (and having sold the Paj to get something that can tow 4.5t) I seriously doubt the suitability of the Paj to tow 4.5t - the ball mass at around 270kg+ would be an issue on the rear suspension, but I can see lots of other issues as well.
I certainly wouldn't contemplate towing 4.5t with a Paj - I think he would be better off setting a 3.5t target.
Chatty
Well-Known Member
Depends on the vehicle. Our Sierra is rated to 6.5t on the towbar, and we tow a 4.5t van on the towbar.Yeah, but your 4.5t ball is designed for a 5th wheeler type hitch.
Using it on your standard style tow bar, even with a conservative ball down load would have close to 400kg on the ball. That's not going to affect handling much at all
No negative impact on stability at all.
Your estimate of tow ball mass at a "conservative" 400kg is way off the mark though. With a 4.5t van we are at about 270-300kg tow ball mass.
shanegtr
Well-Known Member
Surely a full electrically controlled drive system in a trailer could be setup to not push the vehicle. Could'nt be to hard with a load cell of some sort within the coupling so the trailer can sense if it started to "push" the tug and would then back the drive off.
Hoyks
Well-Known Member
Thats all good, but the base vehicle in this instance is a Pajero that came from the factory with a 3000kg tow limit and restricted to a ball weight of 180kgs.
Chatty
Well-Known Member
But your comment was a general one about using 70mm balls on tow bars and stating that 70mm balls are only for 5th wheeler use.
This is blatantly wrong.
You will also see that I have already posted about the ball weight issue on the Paj.
Mick_Marsh
Active Member
So, how do you propose to drive this trailer?