Height to top of Westfalia detachable towball

[900000]

It's still bugging me how my caravan sits so pronouncedly nose up when attached to my dealer fit Westfalia towbar. Can someone with a new Yeti please measure the height from the ground to the top of the towbar? Thanks.

Mine is 485mm.

I'm just wondering if Westfalia might have changed the design in the last three years.

Looking at towing videos of other Yetis I can't make my mind up if they are the same or not.

[Cornishman53]

That does seem a bit high even allowing for suspension drop.

Just for comparison my ball height to top of ball is 430 mm which is on top of the jaw on a Witter detachable.

EEC directive states it should be between 350 & 420 mm.

[Llanigraham]

That does look at bit high, Johann!!

I'm trying to work out a possible reason why, but other than something being bolted together incorrectly behind the bumper I'm stumped.

At work, so can't measure mine, sorry.

[RickT]

Mine is a fixed Witter height to top of ball is 430mm un-laden and that is higher than my last car. My bike trailer looks more like a surf board so I will be fitting a hitch raiser block to it.   

[Frenchtone]

Mine is a fixed Westfalia, difficult to say as my drive is pebbled but to top of ball 460, will look again tomorrow when on a flat surface. looking at it from the rear, the ball top seems to line up with the crease line on the silver part just down from the junc with the grey bumper! hope that helps  -  have fitted a substantial 50mm square tube to raise the hitch on my car transporter to achieve a nose down stance - photos if reqd!

[RickT]

'a substantial 50mm square tube to raise the hitch'

 

That is the part I am looking for to fit on mine. 

[Frenchtone]

Local steel stockholder/welding shop, I bought a piece 1m long 4mm wall thickness and a piece of 25mm diam tube to make 4 x internally fitted spacers, wall thickness of tube 3mm - total cost here a la frog 10€ used a an angle grinder to cut the sq stuff and the round tube however i also have a lathe which was used to level up the spacer surfaces!

Conversely the towing aspect of my IWT P6 trailer is perfect, suspect the wheels of the transporter have been replaced at sometime as i have 2 MATCHING PAIRS - johann maybe the wheels are smaller than should be fitted, or could be the aspect ratio if its an older van bwhen 100% aspects were available!!

[dcl5ad]

I'm sure I read a post from a guy in Scandinavia who said the westfalia was about 50mm too high. Still not had mine replaced. Want me to measure the witter in its lowest setting while it's still fitted?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Splooter]

Just measured my factory fit Westfalia - I'm actually getting around 495mm to the flat top of the ball, though the road is a bit uneven so it might just be the same as Johann.

 

What's this EEC directive that says it should be 350-420mm ?  Should we go back to Skoda about ours ?

[900000]

Just measured my factory fit Westfalia - I'm actually getting around 495mm to the flat top of the ball, though the road is a bit uneven so it might just be the same as Johann.

What's this EEC directive that says it should be 350-420mm ? Should we go back to Skoda about ours ?

That's the whole can of worms that was opened three years ago. People talking of an EU directive and Škoda make a factory fit towbar that not remotely follows it.

[900000]

Conversely the towing aspect of my IWT P6 trailer is perfect, suspect the wheels of the transporter have been replaced at sometime as i have 2 MATCHING PAIRS - johann maybe the wheels are smaller than should be fitted, or could be the aspect ratio if its an older van bwhen 100% aspects were available!!

Perhaps that exacerbated the problem but I don't know what the van's tyre size were originally. The service place just replaced all three tyres like for like with what was on there before, so I'm certainly not changing them again any time soon.

[Llanigraham]

Can't seem to cut-n-paste this so:

http://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/towbars/faq8.php

 

Note that the height is measured to the CENTRE of the ball, not the top!

 

Not the last 3 words of the second clic point!!

[Cornishman53]

Prior to the EEC trailer and hitch manufacturers worked to a centre tow ball height of 14" (355mm)

Any discrepancy was taken out by simple drilled drop plate, or if serious towing fully adjustable hitch.

Unfortunately with the European Swan neck this is lost. I tried get a Westfalia detachable flange fit for the Yeti.

I was advised by Westfalia it is not an requirement in the European market, and was well catered for by the likes of Witter, which is what I ordered for delivery.(despite the dealer fitting Westfalia and later changing it)

There seems to be a reluctance by Skoda and their dealerships to really get a grip with their towbar, fitting, electrics, and supply of anything other than approved Westfalia which is not always providing what the customer wants or needs.

[@Lee]

wouldn't the height depend on the settings of the air ride suspension :think:

 

 

 

*scarpers quickly

[900000]

Can't seem to cut-n-paste this so:

http://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/towbars/faq8.php

Note that the height is measured to the CENTRE of the ball, not the top!

Not the last 3 words of the second clic point!!

In that case my 485mm to the top sounds dead right and at the top of the allowable range. Hence all Westfalia fitted Yetis should be the same. I appreciate that a Witter or fixed will be different hence asking the question specifically related to the Westfalia.

My caravan must thus be the culprit.

Maybe I should fit some proper huge Wrangler type tyres to it!

[fedup]

Just measured mine and it is nearer 500mm - ground to top of ball. This was fitted by dealer at the beginning of November on new purchase. It does seem high but as I'm only towing small trailer didn't dwell on it.

[Frenchtone]

if you get the wranglers and they dont work gimme a call they might fit my other car! Joking apart my transporter was fitted with 100 aspect tyres on 13" rims, it dates from the early '80's, 100 aspect tyres were the norm back then, but are now like rocking horse droppings and the nearest I could get were 70's, which on a width of 165 x .7 for the wall gives just under 50mm less on thr radius, which is the almost exact height i have had to raise the hitch!

[Frenchtone]

don't know how a detachable works but could the bar be fitted upside down? excuse my ignorance if the suggestion is silly!

[IainM1970]

Johann as I have said before my Witter detachable rides perfectly level with my Sterling attached ... but a friend who writes for various caravanning publications tested an early Yeti (which would have had a Skoda bracket on it) and found a test caravan and his own  2009 (ish) Bailey rode nose high with it.

 

Keeping in mind more mature vans tend to sit lower it is probably not surprising your van rides nose up.

[900000]

Johann as I have said before my Witter detachable rides perfectly level with my Sterling attached ... but a friend who writes for various caravanning publications tested an early Yeti (which would have had a Skoda bracket on it) and found a test caravan and his own  2009 (ish) Bailey rode nose high with it.

 

Keeping in mind more mature vans tend to sit lower it is probably not surprising your van rides nose up.

 

Thanks Iain. I think I'm happy now that my towbar is at the correct height and that it is my "mature" caravan that sits too low!  Must say the wheels seems to fill the arches and there is NO way that a spare wheel with a much bigger circumference will fit through the front hatch and into the special spare wheel cut out next to the gas bottles. So I don't think the wheels are much different now to what they originally were. As you say it is just the nature of a "mature" caravan being on the lower end of the scale and the Westfalia being on the higher end of the scale leading to the rig being nose up.

 

I don't think it affects anything? Or does it? So apart from the rear corner steadies perhaps sometimes touching the ground when you go over some severe bumps (as mentioned before) I can't see this being a problem when towing?

[Billcbf1000]

I don't think it affects anything? Or does it? So apart from the rear corner steadies perhaps sometimes touching the ground when you go over some severe bumps (as mentioned before) I can't see this being a problem when towing?

Hopefully this explains it.......http://caravanchronicles.com/guides/understanding-the-dynamics-of-towing/

[900000]

Hopefully this explains it.......http://caravanchronicles.com/guides/understanding-the-dynamics-of-towing/

 

LOL thanks..  it was I that posted that article on here in the first place!  So I have read that thanks.  

 

From that then:

 

Under heavy or emergency braking, there could be enough force acting on the rear of the towing vehicle to reduce the weight on the rear wheels sufficiently to cause the rear wheels to lock and lose nearly all braking effect, if the caravan is also slightly out of alignment with the towing vehicle the combined effect of the lateral pushing of the vehicles rear will reduce further the efficiency of the caravan braking (over run) action increasing the force acting on the vehicle and this will quickly escalate pushing the vehicle further sideways resulting in a “jack-knife”

It is essential therefore we tow with the caravan slightly “nose down” and here’s why.

 

Under braking, the direction of force acting on the towing vehicle from the caravan will be in a slightly downward direction, increasing the load on the rear wheels of the towing vehicle. We know from above, under heavy or emergency braking that the center of gravity of the towing vehicle moves forward and pitches the nose down increasing the load on the front wheels and reducing the load on the rear wheels.

 

 

By towing “nose down” when braking, the caravan’s acting line of force, resists this and imparts a further downward acting force onto the rear wheels and effectively increasing the grip on the road surface. This has two advantages: firstly, it will resist any tendency for the rear wheels to lock up as the increased grip will resist the force of the brakes and keep the wheels turning, improving overall brake efficiency of the vehicle. Secondly, if the caravan is out of alignment with the towing vehicle, the increased grip will help resist the lateral force imparted on the rear of the vehicle that wants to push it sideways, therefore reducing the chances of “jack-knifing”.

 

 

 

So in my case I guess a slightly heavier nose weight should then be advised? I.e. I should pack the caravan a tiny bit heavier in the nose?

[Llanigraham]

What nose weight are you running at, Johann?

[900000]

What nose weight are you running at, Johann?

I kept it between 75 and 80kg up to now.

[IainM1970]

Keep it to 80Kg ... and obviously when you get your new van it will probably ride level     .... again I shall predict that happens within the year!