Stowage Of Coupling Ball Bar; Caravan And Trailer Loads - Vauxhall Astra Owner's Manual

Dismounting the coupling b all ba r
Unlock coupling ball ba r (k ey to position 1
– see pa ge 189, Fig . 12416 T).
Pull turn k nob out a nd turn it forwards as
far as it will go. Rem ov e c oupling ba ll bar
downwards out of coupling housing .
Insert the sealing plug in the hole for the
coupling ball ba r.
Do not use steam-jet clea ners or other
high-pressure cleaners to c lean the
coupling ball ba r.
Stow age of coupling ball bar
Put coupling ba ll bar in bag and tie to
vehicle tools beneath spare wheel as
shown in illustration.
Caravan and traile r loads
The permissible caravan / trailer load s a re
vehicle- and eng ine-dependent m aximum
values which must not be exceed ed. The
actual caravan / trailer loa d is the
difference between the actual gross weight
of the carava n / trailer and the actua l
coupling socket load with the caravan /
tra iler attached. When the caravan / trailer
loa d is being c hecked, therefore, only the
caravan / trailer w heels – and not the
jock ey wheel – m ust be sta nd ing on the
weighing app aratus.
1)
Obs erve na tiona l reg ula tio ns.
The permissib le carav an / tra iler loads for
y our v ehicle are giv en in the vehicle
documents. Unless otherwise stated, they
are valid for g ra dients up to max . 12 %.
The permissib le carav an / tra iler load
should be fully utilised only by drivers who
are adequately exp erienced in towing
large or heav y carav ans / trailers.
The permitted carava n / trailer load
app lies up to the specified incline and up to
an altitud e of 1000 metres ab ov e sea level.
S ince engine power decreases as altitud e
increa ses b ecause of the air becoming
thinner, therefore reducing climb ing ability,
the permitted towing weight also
decreases by 10 % for every 1000 metres of
add itional altitude. The towing w eight
does not have to be reduced when driv ing
on roads with slight inclines (less tha n 8 %,
e. g. motorways).
1 )
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