Chassis Retrofitting an Extended Drawbar?

[bigcol]

mate - when you "twist" your back suddenly - bugga - there goes them muscles in the lower back...........

just have to remember to walk like you just had an accident in your pants, and always grab hold of something near by - bench, chair etc...........

tis a damn shame when a man hurts himself...........

 

[dagree]

Don't want that space void to go to waste, do we. Ill spin some tow weight/coefficient yarn, and sneak some fishing gear in there instead

Putting that reply in the memory bank

 

[dagree]

just have to remember to walk like you just had an accident in your pants, and always grab hold of something near by - bench, chair etc...........

That won't fool Mrs Dagree as that is how I look every morning when getting out of bed (And NOT due to an accident in the pants!!!!!!)

 

[Drover]

I must admit, kids all gone, retired and only pack the good stuff, fishing gear, yak, Engel beer fridge, spare beer and wine but getting the Yak up on the racks can be a trial but sure beats packing in bikes, footies, cricker gear, surfboards and the tangled mess of fishing gear left from last trip, oh nearly forgot the dog, the least trouble maker so long as he'd been fed right.
Think I'm OT again.

 

[ShaneT]

I cant see why it should cost any more than $500. All they need to do is grind of about a dozen stitch welds slide it forward a foot and re weld. You wouldn't need a a new draw bar. Take it to a small mob out of town and let them have a look. If that doesn't work out for ya you could look at going to a "Y" draw bar like the yanks do.

 

[michael keenan]

The chassis in these vans is merely mild steel. The drawbars are very easy to remove. 8 small welds on each side and a small gusset. you won't weaken the chassis. The weakness in the drawbar is the thickness of the steel not the welds. I have a bent drawbar on an expanda at the moment. (Van was in a head on collision. The drawbar buckled in front of the welds. Bought the van from auction. It did have a toolbox on front)
As above use duragal, and cold gal the welds.

 

[Ligedy]

Draw bars are replaced on vans all the time just speak to a repairer, it's no big deal other than the COST. It's just normal RHS there's no special welding required or stress reliving needed. You can also use duragal tubing which a lot of van manufacturers use today in place of cold dip gal.

I'm with @achjimmy - it's no big deal replacing the drawbar just not worth the cost as I found going down the path of a drawbar reinforcement for ATM upgrade.

The draw bar is normal RHS - duragal C450 is probably stronger than what's used on the expandas... engineer based prelim calcs on C350 or less, unless Jayco could/would confirm what grade of steel is used - I didn't bother going there...

Any way if doing it 'legal' for rego and insurance (in QLD) I reckon put aside $1000-$2000 for your draw bar replacement.
$200 for RPEQ engineer to run the calcs and $200 for certification of upgrade and issue of TMR mod plate. I gave up at this stage as I was told the Jayco drawbar was at the limits and the engineer wouldn't sign off on any further loading without additional strengthening - I.e. not due to welds but due to the RHS sections not having the capacity / deforming. Hence a further $500 - $1500 estimated to have a boily reinforce / replace the draw bar to carry the the extra ball weight was not worth it to me.

That's a couple of grand towards the next van, but the extra 300kg of cargo capacity whilst being fully compliant was originally enticing until the price point.

I'm sure you could engineer a draw bar longer than 300mn if so desired - it would need to comply with VSB1 force constraints and ADRs. It's your money, it's definitely doable.

Cheapest option would be forget about rego and insurance and go agricultural... Get some durgal and get a mate to replace the draw bar... Might affect your ESC and culpability if you cause an accident though.

Good luck with fitting the bikes in. Transmod in Maryborough were a great help and they do engineering designs for other vehicles and truck trailers too. I didn't end up using them given the they answered all my questions before hand and thus I canned the project.

 

[dagree]

@Ligedy You have answered all my questions from the night we had the original discussions (and a few reds I think from memory... or were they white?)
My concerns were, as you have alluded to, in brief and not in order:

• Cost
• Effect on ESC
• Cost
  
• Ball weight changes
• Cost
• Insurance
• Rego legalities
• Warranty issue as we still have 5 months worth owing to us
• Did I say cost?

As mentioned in another post I started about a warning I put out there regarding a slight altercation between my rear bumper and the ali box I will finally be trialling the suggestion by @AndrewC and extending the HR Hitch out one further hole and see if it makes a difference.

Will also be taking @Crusty181 's advise and finding a flat area to check and mark the van with tape, or similar, for "Stop Points" while looking in the mirrors this weekend before we head off.