Choice Magazine's Item on ADR's

Choice Magazine's Item on ADR's

The following extract is from the August 2001 edition of Choice Magazine on page 4. It bears out what has been raised by contributors to Around Oz and Caravan World. It's our opinion that the current unsatisfactory situation with van weights/towing capabilities will eventually be ironed out by more specific legislation.

'one of our subscribers recently found out the hard way that he was legally unable to tow a new caravan with an expensive 4WD vehicle he had bought especially for the purpose. He had already taken it on two trips, but during the third, saw the towbar starting to come away while towing the van. He was able to stop in time to avoid an accident, but not before the car suffered chassis damage.

The van he had bought weighed under 1500 kg and the vehicle was rated to tow a much higher load. "I thought it to be a good combination for my upcoming retirement, so my wife and I could enjoy travelling," he said.

Neither the car nor caravan dealer, nor the place where he had the towbar fitted had made him aware of the car's relatively low tow ball load rating of 125 kg. (This is the amount of weight transferred from the caravan/trailer onto the rear of the towing vehicle via the coupling and tow ball.) The caravan's tow ball download was 140 kg unloaded (or 190 kg fully laden) - too heavy for the vehicle in question.

While this particular case is coming up for a fair trading hearing, we thought this subscriber's experience warranted a general warning to people who intend to buy a heavy vehicle for towing, or who are already towing a caravan or other type of trailer.

Check the tow ball download and other relevant ratings to make sure they're compatible. If the owner's handbook fails to provide this information (a few manufacturers don't record it there), request it in writing from the car dealer or customer service centre. This way you'll get accurate information you can refer to, if queried at a later date.'