Shogun 3.2 Di-D SWB

Dec 23, 2006
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Marcus,

I have had 3 3.2 DI-D Shoguns. The first 2 being short wheelbase and the present one long wheelbase. Only changed to long wheelbase because of the dog cage!!

All have towed large twin axles.

The first one was manual and the last 2 autos.

I have nothing but praise for Shoguns both solo and towing.

I would have a traditional bolt on towball fitted as you can fit a spacer between the tow bar and tow ball thereby making hitching up much easier.

I always ran my two Bailey Senators with 90-95kgs noseweight the same as my present Swift Conqueror 655. Smooth towing with performance to spare. My only problem is getting my wife out of the driving seat!!

I always tow in 4WD--High as recomended by Mitsubishi.

Also when towing i put an extra 0.4 bar in the rear tyres as recomended by Mitsubishi.It does help especially on switch back type roads.

Hamer
 
Mar 15, 2008
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"I always tow in 4WD--High as recomended by Mitsubishi."

I thought the shogun was like most Jap 4x4's and used a 2/4 wheel drive system without a diff between front and rear axles (unlike a land rover). This means that on normal dry roads you get axle wind up which leads to the wheels skipping around bends as they try to unwind - do you get this?

I only ever engage 4WD on slippy surfaces.

Mike Mc
 
Dec 23, 2006
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Mike Mc,

I am not that tech minded.All i can say is the Shogun has 2 Diffs. In both 4WD-high and 2 wheel drive the cornering is perfectly smooth, there is no suggestion of wheels skipping.

There is 2Wheel drive, 4Wheel drive high, 4 wheel drive high with one diff locked (recomended for such as snow), and 4Wheel drive Low, then in 4 Wheel drive low you can lock the other diff if conditions are really bad.

I always have Active Traction Stability control switched on so if one wheel loses grip the drive is transfered to he other wheels.

As i say i am not that tech minded but hope this helps.

Cornering in 4 High without the diff lock is smooth ,in fact you would not know you are in 4 wheel drive.

It does not recomend 4high with diff lock on dry or just wet tarmac

as it will cause excessive tyre wear.

Hamer
 
Dec 23, 2006
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Marcus,

Towing a Swift Conqueror 655 1780 kgs fully laden with 2004 lwb auto:- I average 22 mpg towing---32 mpg solo average.

I tow at 60 mph in cruise control on the motorways.

Hamer
 
May 23, 2006
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Thanks all for your comments. Very useful. My local Mitsubishi dealer has a demo car with a towbar and is letting me couple for a test drive towing as well as solo.

Just hope SWWBO likes it!!
 
Oct 12, 2010
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Hi, I have a lwb shogun towing swift challenger645 t/a.
I was wondering is your towball on the high or low setting on towball, I nearly lost car and caravan a few weeks back and I’m trying to get the best set up but to many conflicting stories.
Put towball on lower setting but caravan looked far to low.
Also noseweight is very high even when empty.
Any advice would be much appreciated as you have the same outfits
 
Nov 11, 2009
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steve28961 said:
Hi, I have a lwb shogun towing swift challenger645 t/a.
I was wondering is your towball on the high or low setting on towball, I nearly lost car and caravan a few weeks back and I’m trying to get the best set up but to many conflicting stories.
Put towball on lower setting but caravan looked far to low.
Also noseweight is very high even when empty.
Any advice would be much appreciated as you have the same outfits

The attached link might help.
https://www.pfjones.co.uk/towball-heights.html

Re noseweight it is not unusual for noseweight to be heavy in an unladen caravan. Only recently there were posts from a member who was alarmed that he had towed his new caravan home only to find that the empty noseweight exceeded the cars towbar limit, and might even have exceeded the caravan nosewight limit too.

Twin axles are more sensitive in that measuring and adjusting noseweight is a bit more tricky but saying that there are many caravaners who successfully get their TA outfit properly balanced. Noseweight should be measured with the caravan level and the hitch at its ride height. So you will need to load up the van progressively and see how it changes as you distribute your load. Then when you have it sorted you need to be disciplined when loading for the return journeys.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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otherclive said:
.... Noseweight should be measured with the caravan level and the hitch at its ride height. So you will need to load up the van progressively and see how it changes as you distribute your load. Then when you have it sorted you need to be disciplined when loading for the return journeys.

I'm sure otherclive meant that the caravan should be on "level ground". The chance a caravan would be level when hitched is actually quite rare, and would depend on the height of the loaded hitch, and that will change depending on how much load has been applied.

The unloaded caravans noseload has no relationship to its loaded nose load, its all in the way the caravan is loaded. (wow what a lotof loadeds in that sentence!!!)
 
Apr 10, 2014
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Steve28961,
I have a Lwb Shogun SG3 and my towball is on the top two holes of the towbar plate.
It was originally on the lower holes, but when I measured the height of the ball when the car was laden, found it to be near 350mm from the road. The towball must be between 350mm and 420mm when the car is laden and that's why I moved it to the upper holes.
I tow an Adria Adora Thames with a Mtplm of 1750kg and have had no issues whilst towing. The Delta Chassis also helps with it's towing characteristics.
Regards,
 
Oct 12, 2010
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Hi, I have a milenco noseweight but if you set the caravan up for the tow all height then when you lift the jockey wheel up the caravan tips forward
Also my towball height is 480mm approx from the ground but if I lower it to the position below the caravan looks low and I was wondering how the rear wheels of my t/a would be not planted on the ground as the front
Any help please
 
Mar 14, 2005
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steve28961 said:
Hi, I have a milenco noseweight but if you set the caravan up for the tow all height then when you lift the jockey wheel up the caravan tips forward

That is what should happen! For good towing it is generally accepted that you need a positive nose load, that means the trailers coupling will push down onto the ball on the tow vehicle. Just becasue you have twin axles, it doesn't mean the load will be shared equally by both axles.

steve28961 said:
Also my towball height is 480mm approx from the ground but if I lower it to the position below the caravan looks low and I was wondering how the rear wheels of my t/a would be not planted on the ground as the front. Any help please

Under EU regs, normal domestic cars sld support a trailer hitch between 350 to 420mm from floor to the geometric center of the ball, but it does not necessary apply to large 4x4's which may be exempt from that regulation - check with your dealer/ manufacturer.

Its not a question of whether it "looks right" its more important whether ist within normal limits. Yes if a TA caravan is tilted when hitched, it will affect the caravans axle loads, but in reality the difference should not be significant issue.

What is of concern when trying to set noseload on a TA is the fact the suspension on the two axles does interact and can make a big difference to the actual noseload. For that reason it is very important that when measuring the noseload the height of the hitch exactly matches the coupled height. Consequently unless the measurement gauge can be adjusted so the coupling can exactly match the coupled ride height.

For that reason I recommend using a pair of bathroom scales on top of the caravan step, and its height adjusted with a few magazines on the step to set the measurement height. Bear in mind that the static noseload must not exceed the car or the caravans limit - check your manufacturers specifications.
 

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