[GraphicX]

a little worried about towing with my jimny & have some pretty n00by questions about it all.

i have a boat on a trailer with the plate stating 749kg & a camper trailer with the plate stating 750kg & neither have have brakes of any sort.

my jimny is a 2000 model & the owners manual states 350kg unbraked & i think 550kg braked.

so am i fücked ?

the stuff that has me confused is that what i've read on the web from the SA gov site states:

- if the trailer has brakes that can be operated from within the towing vehicle it can tow 1.5 times it's unladen mass. for the jimny that would be 1.5 tons wouldn't it ??

- to determine GTM (gross trailer mass) it must be weighed at a weighbridge while connected to the towing vehicle. wouldn't that reduce the weight recorded for the trailer on the weighbridge ?

sorry if these questions come across as really dumb, but not being able to tow the boat or camper with the jimny isn't exactly good news for me.

[zukenutter]

Are your trailers actually 750kg each? Might be worth weighing them on a weighbridge first so you know what you're dealing with. I've had our camper loaded to about 450 a couple of times, it will pull the weight ok but stopping takes quite a bit more effort. I've also had about 800kg behind for short drives to the dump, steep hill starts will fry your clutch pretty quickly.

[shep]

Put brakes on the trailers. Override cable discs on the boat trailer and electric drums on the camper.

It does cost about $500 per trailer but the difference in the stopping performance makes it well and truly worth the expense.

[Jezza86]

i havent got breaks on my boat. its not cool. wouldnt want a kid to step out so i will be puting a new axle and breaks on the boat trailer.
ive built my camper trailer with eleteric breaks, and thats what ill put on my boat trailer unless eletericity and water dont mix.

[pete_79]

We dragged a bit over 350kg all over the Snowies with no dramas. There was heaps of hills, creek crossings and other challenges, that weight with no brakes didn't bother the Jimny.

We recently took the in-laws camping and needed to take extra gear for them in the trailer, the total weight was maybe close to 450kg. I could feel the extra weight pushing me and stopping distances where noticeably longer, but the Jimny had no problems pulling that weight up a fairly long/steep climb on sealed road.


Even though we have taken the trailer on decent trips with no brakes and not had any problems I'm looking into options for brakes at the moment, just for a bit of extra safety.
I'm currently leaning towards override because of the low weights we tow and I just want them to help in an emergency breaking situation. Also looking at override because I have access to 3 cars that could be used for the trailer. One of these is a company car and I can't/don't want to wire it up for electric breaks.


My personal opinion; I wouldn't tow much more then 750kg even with brakes. Jimny running gear isn't built for those types of loads.

[zukenutter]

^^ agreed,

I aim to keep our camper to around 350, and an extra 100 is very noticeable.

[christover1]

750 may just be total weight with load.
As said, get it weighed.

[GraphicX]

i'll try & get both the trailers weighed this week, i know where the weighbridge is, just not sure if they charge & what times they're open but i really need to know now.

i'm going to guess my boat could be up to 500kgs when it's fully loaded for fishing, & maybe the camper could be 400kgs, but really don't know til i weigh them.

i only ever tow the boat a short distance, all level ground except when i get to the ramp to launch & retrieve it, but either way i'm going to look into brakes for it now even though it's what i consider a really light setup.

[shep]

Pulling power isn't the issue, stopping power on the other hand is a big issue.
My boat/trailer is 1000kg on trailer with no fuel or fishing stuff. Jimny tows if fine however
If the trailer didn't have good mechanical brakes it would really suck to have to stop quickly.



The electric brakes on my camper means the car actually stops quicker when towing then when not towing.

[Jezza86]

shep wrote:

The electric brakes on my camper means the car actually stops quicker when towing then when not towing.

this is exactly what I'm hoping to achieve.

[christover1]

My new camper set up is 380kg.
I have discs all round on the Vit.
It stops well, but...
It will get trailer brakes one day, for sure.

[GraphicX]

my boat isn't anywhere near as big/heavy as yours shep. it's a 445 quintrex estuary angler, let me see if i can find a picture ...



it's similar to that with a 40hp motor.

really gotta get it all weighed though & then start planning what to do. hoping mechanical brakes may be sufficient enough, i've gotta do the brakes on the jimny soon so might chuck in some slotted & dimpled rotors (rear is only drum unfortunately).

[zukenutter]

Nice number plate on the camper Shep

[shep]

zukenutter wrote:

Nice number plate on the camper Shep

Look at the make and model

[zukenutter]

Ha love it

[JAYZUKI]

shocked Phil and Gus haven't commented here yet