what do i need to do/change, to tow a dual axle expanda?

[PixelPaul]

hi all,
kinda new to towing larger things, and i was told i need to change my tow bar for a caravan. I want to tow a jayco expanda outback, a dual axle one.
this is what i have on my triton:

https://imgur.com/a/l4pYghD

2300kg gross trailer mass
230 kg static ball load.

i do have a brake controller installed, and this is the 7-pin plug i have near the tow bar. I have an anderson plug in the bar too, can anyone recommend the best adapter to use between the caravan 12-pin any my 7-pin, and use of the anderson plug?

https://imgur.com/a/PPLprce

any details would help a great deal.

 

[Boots in Action]

hi all,
kinda new to towing larger things, and i was told i need to change my tow bar for a caravan. I want to tow a jayco expanda outback, a dual axle one.
this is what i have on my triton:

https://imgur.com/a/l4pYghD

2300kg gross trailer mass
230 kg static ball load.

i do have a brake controller installed, and this is the 7-pin plug i have near the tow bar. I have an anderson plug in the bar too, can anyone recommend the best adapter to use between the caravan 12-pin any my 7-pin, and use of the anderson plug?

https://imgur.com/a/PPLprce

any details would help a great deal.

Hi there @PixelPaul and welcome to the forum. Your question will no doubt cause a lot of ideas to come forward from many experienced members.
My own opinion is to forget about an adaptor to connect 7 pin female on tug to a male 12 pin on van. I suggest the easiest and cheapest and most reliable way would be to get rid of the 7 pin female on tug and change it to a 12 pin female to suit your van. With the 12 pin setup, the bottom 7 pins usually carry the lighter loads (rated to only 15A) whilst the top pins carry the heavier loads (rated up to 35A). In my particular case, I have my 3way fridge connection direct from tug to van fridge by separate dedicated line using Anderson plug to Anderson plug as that needs to carry the highest current and minimises voltage losses. The smaller pins in the 12 pin unit are 1 - left indicator, 2 - 12 volt supply to charge van battery, 3 - Ground direct to vehicle chassis, 4 - right indicator, 5 - electric brakes, 6 - stop lamps, 7 - tail lamps and registration lamp, 8 - not connected. Large pins 9 - 12 volt supply from tug to power fridge (not used if separate line via Anderson plugs), 10 - fridge ground (as for 9 if using Anderson plugs), 11 and 12 - not connected. @mikerezny posted a proper wiring diagram on this forum only a short time ago, but I cannot find it at the moment. Incidentally, I also have a 6 X 4 box trailer which has a 7 pin female plug for connection to tug when I go to dump. It fits the bottom 7 female pins on my 12 pin arrangement perfectly and the cover locks the trailer connection in place, so I have not had to change plug on trailer. Hope this helps, but I will be the first of many for you to choose from. Good luck!

 

[Boots in Action]

hi all,
kinda new to towing larger things, and i was told i need to change my tow bar for a caravan. I want to tow a jayco expanda outback, a dual axle one.
this is what i have on my triton:

https://imgur.com/a/l4pYghD

2300kg gross trailer mass
230 kg static ball load.

i do have a brake controller installed, and this is the 7-pin plug i have near the tow bar. I have an anderson plug in the bar too, can anyone recommend the best adapter to use between the caravan 12-pin any my 7-pin, and use of the anderson plug?

https://imgur.com/a/PPLprce

any details would help a great deal.

Sorry @PixelPaul , I did not cover the tow bar point. I am no expert on that subject and do not know what the gross weight of a Jayco Expanda Outback is. As your current towbar is only rated to 2300kgs, I think it may have to be upgraded to carry a heavier load. @Drover or @Crusty181 should be able to help you on that. And what is the max tow capacity of your Triton??

 

[PixelPaul]

from what i can find, my tow capacity is 2500Kg. So i am not sure it is worth upping my towbar just for that extra 200Kg before i hit the max.
when i look at the outback expanda specs, it says:
Tare weight 2047kg
Tow ball weight 192kg
so that does not leave much room to add in our "stuff", tho i can always just load the back of our triton with out gear.
maybe the outback expanda is not something i should be looking at, at the moment. Until i get a new car. If that is the case, does anyone recommend another good expanda?

 

[Drover]

A pic of the hitch point............. with the tug rated at 2500 and the bar at 2300kgs I would suggest a van with an ATM of no more than 2200kg max, ignore tare weights they are something you will never see............. so in reality a small van or camper .

Your van with a tare when new might have been 2047kg the ATM and GTM are the important figures so we could say the ATM might be around the 2.5t range, I very much doubt the ball weight would be near 192kg be more like 220 or so............... not to put a damper on things but even adding a better tow bar you would be pushing things to be legal....................

A general rule of thumb is tow capacity is really about 4 to 500kgs less than what they say, for once you load your van to its max along with the usual gear in your tug the GCM which is total of van and tug Kgs is over the limit............... most set ups the max of the van and max of the tug is more than the all up max weights allowed.....................
Towing at all the limits doesn't do anything any good, vehicles or wallet.

Let us know your vehicle model details and we should be able to line up what weights it could do in the real world......

To save saying it again read these links for explanations for ATM, GTM,GVM,GCM and why things aren't what they say.

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