Delica L300 towing capacity

[sparky01]

Hey folks,
Glad to finally get around to signing up and becoming a member of Delica.ca. I am located in Victoria, BC and I purchased my Delica L300 1990 van from Five Star Auto (Parksville) in June 2010. I love it!

Recently I started thinking about buying a camping trailer and so I started doing some research on towing capacity which lead me here. Funny I come across a post (http://www.delica.ca/forum/its-a-towing ... -2389.html) and there she is! That's my van Thanks Mararmeisto for the post. Now I know what that thing is for :) I still need to figure out how to use it and test that it is still functioning but I'm not in a rush to buy a trailer immediately.

Besides getting my van all setup for towing I will likely be looking into the technical sections to see if I can find some help with my rear fan (climate control). I wondered why I wasn't able to get any air flow in the back so recently I looked under the van and noticed all the foam gaskets are falling apart and need to totally be replaced. I'm not sure how remove the 2 units and safely disconnect the air conditioning component. If anyone has a suggestion or link that would really be appreciated. I need to have it sorted out before I start cruising around on those dusty logging roads again this summer :)

Glad to be a new member and hopefully I can contribute.

Sincerely
Geoff

[TardisDeli]

Welcome to our cult. Mararmeisto and us (TardisDeli) are the 2 most experienced tow folk. Years back we each did heaps of research, and Jay TardidDeli fixes boats and boat trailers full time. Technically, there is no tow rating on these (possibly as few japanese tow things long distance). I vageuly recall that NZ or Australia had some ratings.

IN general, in Canada, here are some guidelines. Never tow more than half the weight of your vehicle without special (expensive) modifications. Marameisto went the electric brake route, as he was going over the mountains to Alberta for a family wedding. We preferred surge brakes as cheap, and ANY vehicle with a tow hitch can tow it (we lend our boats and trailers to friends), and it is fairly foolproof and maintenance free. So if your van dies, anyone can tow the trailer with surge brakes (we once got a phone call from Seb, come and tow the boler cuz the rescue vehicle that is towing my van can't take both), so we did. Get the strongest and highest rated hitch, as everyone loads up with too much crap (says me who insists my microwave and electric blanket are essentials). The onlly hitch I recommend (we've seen em all) is the E&H hitch in Burnaby, they custom weld and fit each one as there are variations in L300 (muffler size, LSD, spare tire size, etc). For towing balls etc watch for half price sales at Princess Auto. Ensure your trailer lights work, yellow at side, read rear. Often one can't see a small trailer out the rear window, so install a couple marker flags on sticks like go-carts or bicycles use so you can tell where it is when u reverse or park.

Watch the trailer tires, they often have a maximum weight rating, and max speed (not highway speed) rating...Jay got an old delica axle and delica rims and tires for the trailer, so the trailer does not need its own spare tire, it shares the l300 spare tire. Having the same axle width is great for offroading, it just follows the L300 tracks in the gravel. And it makes it very stable, tracks well. Trailer tires rarely have a good sidewall rating, so must ensure the inflation amount is exact, as they can't take the strain of cornering at speeds.

Trailer balance is critical, and needs much time spent moving loads around. What is called tongue weight. So the balance of weight on the tongue versus the van is correct. If you've ever had a fishtailing trailer, or a bouncing trailer, this is it. Also, if its too heavy to lift it onto your trialer hitch, then the balance iswrong. Or if it wants to tip over backwards. You do various little highway runs, move the fridge, the water, the propane tanks, the batteries etc to get the right balance.

If you come to Burnaby, stay with us a night or 2, so we can drive you to E& H (takes most of a day to install properly), and give you a Deli-Meet in your honour.
Christine.

[sparky01]

Thanks so much TardisDeli! Excellent advice. I will definitely drop you a line if I come over to Burnaby. Thanks.

I can see now that my first post wasn't very clear but I'm pretty sure I am the proud new owner of Marameisto's van. I already have a skookum E&H hitch and I recently downloaded the spec sheet on the Draw-Tite Activator II electric brake system that I presume they installed. They will be happy that their old van is being taken care of. I always get comments about the woodwork in the interior. Very cool. Anyway I can see from Marameisto's pictures that I should be thinking about re-installing a small roof rack so I have a place to put the spare tire to get it out of my way. I'll see if Glen at Coombs Country Auto has any suggestions when I am able to get it up there for servicing.

Thanks again for the advice. I'll be in the market for a camping trailer any day now :)

Cheers
Geoff

[sasquatch-hunter]

If you are planning towing something around 1000 -1500 lb., I don't think trailer brake is necessary. I towed my Boler all around and I have no problem even hours on logging roads. But you have to watch out for two things, particularly in Summer, are A/T temp and engine temp. Both max out on one trip during the heat of 2009 Summer near Osoyoos, BC.