Cheers
@GC Caravan Hire, that's what I want to hear. I know it's possible, it's just a pain trying to figure out how and why some slide under that magical line.
@millers Thanks for advice. Yes, trying to stay both legal and safe, and realise they aren't always the same.
The Paj has kerb mass of 2255kg, and a GVM of 3030, so payload of 775kg. We have done a fair few mods many of which would make minimal weight difference, such as upgraded suspension with better springs, shocks and airbags, CB, spotted, light bar etc, but also bullbar, winch, 2nd battery and full bash plates which would add a bit. I really need to weigh the car, however lets call it 200kg to be extra extra safe, and it wouldn't be anywhere near that. Add myself, wife, toddler and 90 kilos of fuel, and we can call it 2750, leaving 280kg spare. Take off the 180kg of trailer ball mass and it still gives us 100kg of lugage capacity.
The Paj is one of the few cars these days where a full weight trailer does *NOT* deduct from the cars capacity. I.e., GVM is 3030kg, and GCM is 6030, so car have a full weight trailer AND a fully loaded car.
So on to the trailer side, dry it is rated at 2210kg. We travel fairly light and don't take a crap load of stuff with is. Usually, we travel to van parks so will be without water. We often even just buy our food at a supermarket once we get to wherever we are going, so frequently even have a mostly empty fridge. Given that, I would say most of the time the van would be under 2500kg so the ball weight could be up to 250kg on the Paj. Problem occurs *if* we were to camp remotely. Then we would be carrying water etc, however if free camping, it would only be for 2 to 3 days, so even then wouldn't be taking anything like gennies or any of that kind of weight.
I am pretty certain I could safely pack and balance the van to stay at that 180 ball weight area, it is more what the actual placard actually says bs real life and ho many issues that could potentially cause.
The car is rated to tow up to 3 tonne, so we know the car can pull it (though I would never want to go near max weight) and we would be traveling 400 to 500 below that limit. The engine can pull it easily at 2.5odd tonne (plus we have a 3" exhaust and chip), and it can certainly stop it too at the other end of the spectrum. Hell, the Paj has the exact same braking system as the LC200, so that aspect is all good.
It can take a ball weight of up to 250kg, and we won't be anywhere near that either, it is purely the reduced ball weight of 180kg over 2500kg. We do have a ball scale and I would def be using that until I am comfy with packing balance. We would also be getting ESC which would assist if I ever shifted anything too far back, however would only ever want to rely on that as a fail safe, if I ever felt the load was too far back and it was a pendulum risk I would adjust again accordingly.
The exact same Mitsi bar when fitted to the SWB is rated for a flat 3tonne/250kg, there is no de-rating over 2.5 tonne. Now either that is due to the arms of the bar being bolted further forward on the chassis due to the shorter bum, or it's a leverage issue on the rear suspension, which I am inclined to lean towards.
There are shops over east selling engineered solutions to over ride the de-rating so you simply have a flat 3 tonne/250kg rating and all they consist of is a suspension upgrade. Much like a GVM upgrade for an LC200 etc.
I have read of one Expanda owner having their Paj re-engineered with suspension and also a modified toe at that mounted further forward in the chassis, however in this instance they increased the tow capacity to 3100kg AND upped the ball load to 300KG.
So all up, the car can safely handle it as it is well below it's pulling capacity, and I know I can pack it to hit that de-rated ball weight, and given we have upgraded suspension etc to match the engineered solutions, I am happy with all that.
It just comes down to tying to keep the placards for both the car and van matching to reduce risk of hassles. If we were ever weighed, I am confident I could fall within all limits in real life with some smart balancing of loads.