Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Spongebobash on 23 May 2016, 16:06:37
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Hi to saloon owners with tow bars fitted, how high are your balls?
The one that came with my car covers the middle the number plate looks like it has some sort of plate in-between the bar and the ball to raise it?
Any pictures of fitted bars would be appreciated
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Dimensions are in the owners manual :y
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Sounds like you have a drop plate being used to raise a towball which is something you should be doing
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Sounds like you have a drop plate being used to raise a towball which is something you shouldn't be doing
Fixed ;)
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Should be doing? So raised balls are good?
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Sounds like you have a drop plate being used to raise a towball which is something you shouldn't be doing
Fixed ;)
Ooops! ::) yes that too ;D ;D
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Should be doing? So raised balls are good?
As Al pointed out .... I should have said should NOT be doing. you don't want raised balls ;)
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Should be doing? So raised balls are good?
As Al pointed out .... I should have said should NOT be doing. you don't want raised balls ;)
They get too hot...
Sorry, wrong thread :o
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If some numpty has fitted a drop plate to RAISE the towball height I would be checking the springs / shocks very thoroughly as it sounds like they are knackered and not holding the towball at the correct height - or the numpty was towing a unit with a VERY excessive noseweight ....
Either way that spells NOT GOOD for suspension life/wear/handling
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Maybe it wasn't used to tow a caravan?
Something with a bit of ground clearance perhaps?
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When i towed my new car home recently with the Omega I was informed by the hirer that my balls were too low for the new standard height,so there should be a plate to raise your balls up!!
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When i towed my new car home recently with the Omega I was informed by the hirer that my balls were too low for the new standard height,so there should be a plate to raise your balls up!!
Drop plates should NOT be used to raise a towball ...... if you had a swan neck either fixed or detachable, there's no why of lifting them, if it's too low, then as Nige/Entwood says, there are other problems
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Towball height is controlled by an EU directive 94/20/EC and should be between 350 mm and 420 mm with the towing vehicle correctly loaded.
If it is outside those limits then there is something wrong with the suspension .. assuming the towbar has been fitted correctly......
:)
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This link may help ... took a while to find it .. sorry ..
https://caravanchronicles.com/guides/understanding-all-about-tow-ball-height/
one paragraph I will quote so you don't have to search for it ...
"Can I use a drop plate up-side-down to raise my tow ball?
No. I don’t know of any vehicles or tow brackets that can use a plate to raise the height of the tow ball. Using one would add increased loading on the tow bracket and would invalidate the EC Approval. I would suspect you might have insurance issues if anything untoward were to happen."
I'll say no more ...... :(
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This link may help ... took a while to find it .. sorry ..
https://caravanchronicles.com/guides/understanding-all-about-tow-ball-height/
one paragraph I will quote so you don't have to search for it ...
"Can I use a drop plate up-side-down to raise my tow ball?
No. I don’t know of any vehicles or tow brackets that can use a plate to raise the height of the tow ball. Using one would add increased loading on the tow bracket and would invalidate the EC Approval. I would suspect you might have insurance issues if anything untoward were to happen."
I'll say no more ...... :(
Be interesting to see the state of the boot floor too ::)
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I can assure you all that the boot floor is mint and there are no problems with suspension, the previous owner fitted the plate to tow a caravan from Devon to the Midlands once as it was cheep than fitting a tow bar to his 4x4 which had previously towed it down to Devon, either way the plate will be comimg off tomorrow and the ball attached correctly, the tow bar itself looks relatively new so not worried about any wear on the old girl :) thanks for all advice tho :)
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Undo the bolts and look at the holes... those reinforcing plates can hide all sorts of things ::)
That said, if he usually used a 4x4, raising the ball joint up might have been to compensate for a heavier vsn than the Omega is rated for :-\ any self respecting full size 4x4 will easily pull a tonne more than the Omega... in which case, whilst a 250/300 mile journey might not have busdted anything, it certainly won't have helped the life expectancy... :-\