Towball height

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waky53

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Is anyone aware that there is a legal requirement for the height to the centre of the towball from the ground has to be between 350 to 420mm. Anyone who has lifted their vehicle will probably see their towball is quite a way above this. Mine has a 50mm lift and the ball sits about 550mm so even a standard height car could be above the maximum height. In the event of an accident, your insurance could be voided as your vehicle does not comply with the ADRs.
 
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I can hear the next obvious question about this (that will not be asked out loud!):

"Is that measurement taken before loading the trailer or after the back end has sagged to its bump stops?"

Are our cars classified as MC? If they're registered as business vehicles I can see them being classified as NA, but private registration will leave them either as MC or bleah, I'd have thought.
 
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Great find bods. For an MC (off-road car) it must be a 4WD and have at least 4 of the following attributes met:

Required approach angle: 28 degrees, D40 STX is 32 (approx)
Required breakover angle: 14 degrees, D40 STX is 26 (approx)
Required departure angle: 20 degrees, D40 STX is 25 (approx)
Required running clearance: 200mm, D40 STX is 228mm
Required axle clearance: 175mm, D40 STX is 214mm.

So, our D40s exceed all 5 requirements. The D22 will exceed it a little more, which means ALL of our Navaras are 'MC' and therefore exempt from the towball height requirement.

Can someone check my figures?
 
I reckon that would be about right. I would also think that should include the R51 pathfinder in that class too, as it should have similar clearance and rampover angles to the D40 and probably a slightly better departure angle due to being shorter at the back.
 
Thanks fellas, you have eased my mind. I had been looking because our new caravan did not sit flat so was researching how much out of level was too much and found those details on towbar height. I did not know if the D40 would be considered an MC category, but looks like it is, so I don't have to lower my ball too much to let the van ride more level.
 
Great find bods. For an MC (off-road car) it must be a 4WD and have at least 4 of the following attributes met:

Required approach angle: 28 degrees, D40 STX is 32 (approx)
Required breakover angle: 14 degrees, D40 STX is 26 (approx)
Required departure angle: 20 degrees, D40 STX is 25 (approx)
Required running clearance: 200mm, D40 STX is 228mm
Required axle clearance: 175mm, D40 STX is 214mm.

So, our D40s exceed all 5 requirements. The D22 will exceed it a little more, which means ALL of our Navaras are 'MC' and therefore exempt from the towball height requirement.

Can someone check my figures?

Hi Tony, the approval sticker on the D22's Ive owned is in the front passenger door well; the D22 is category NA (full commercial). I've never owned a D40, but I suspect they're the same? I'd reckon a Pathy is MC, but not a Nav.
 
Hi Tony, the approval sticker on the D22's Ive owned is in the front passenger door well; the D22 is category NA (full commercial). I've never owned a D40, but I suspect they're the same? I'd reckon a Pathy is MC, but not a Nav.
This is from the document in relation to vehicle categories

Goods Vehicles

A motor vehicle constructed primarily for the carriage of goods and having at least 4 wheels; or 3 wheels and a ‘Gross Vehicle Mass‘ exceeding 1.0 tonne.

A vehicle constructed for both the carriage of persons and the carriage of goods shall be considered to be primarily for the carriage of goods if the number of seating positions times 68 kg is less than 50 percent of the difference between the ‘Gross Vehicle Mass‘ and the ‘Unladen Mass‘.

So I would say that covers all utility vehicles, both single and dual cab. A light goods vehicles is classed as under 3.5t gvm.
 
This is from the document in relation to vehicle categories

Goods Vehicles

A motor vehicle constructed primarily for the carriage of goods and having at least 4 wheels; or 3 wheels and a ‘Gross Vehicle Mass‘ exceeding 1.0 tonne.

A vehicle constructed for both the carriage of persons and the carriage of goods shall be considered to be primarily for the carriage of goods if the number of seating positions times 68 kg is less than 50 percent of the difference between the ‘Gross Vehicle Mass‘ and the ‘Unladen Mass‘.

So I would say that covers all utility vehicles, both single and dual cab. A light goods vehicles is classed as under 3.5t gvm.

Yes, but all new vehicles have to have an approval sticker attached before they can be registered. Part of the approval process is categorization. It's up to the manufacturer to decide which category the vehicle fits into. Which in our case is NA. Your state governing body has your Nav registered as NA. That's why it costs so much to register a Ute (in SA anyway) It's not something that we can just assume because our vehicle fits another category, that it is that other category. It's not.
 
Yeah I understand that. The documents linked above are the adr's for the builder of the vehicle. Technically if you fit a canopy and drawers, etc you should be able to apply to have the category changed, as it is no longer primarily a goods carrying vehicle. I can't really see the government giving up money though, for the states that charge more for registering goods vehicles anyway...
 
Here's a link to the SA Dept's guide to the requirements they want you to have to get the Ute changed to "non commercial". It makes it pretty much no longer a Ute! From that guide, it'd have to be set up like a Britz or similar to comply. They specify that fitting a canopy & drawers etc don't cut it for a change of category.
 

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