Tow balls being to high , fitting drop plates

What is the correct towball height?
This is a tricky one to answer! EC Directive 94/20/EC stipulates that a vehicle in ‘laden condition’ should have a towball height of between 350mm and 420mm. The vehicle’s manufacturer could define ‘laden condition’ as ‘fully laden’. This is the maximum permitted mass of a vehicle as specified in the vehicle’s handbook.
On the other hand a manufacturer may define ‘laden condition’ as ‘conventionally laden’. This is when a load of 68.5 kg is permitted for each specified passenger seat, along with a further 6.5 kg allocated per passenger and located centrally in the area for luggage storage. You will need to check which specifications apply to your particular towing vehicle.

What is the correct height for the coupling head on a trailer or caravan?
A height of 385mm to 455mm is stipulated by the EC Directive if the trailer or caravan is in laden condition. Laden condition refers to a trailer loaded to the maximum specified mass in this instance. The mass must also be distributed evenly over the loading area.

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one set of measurements for the van and another for the vehicle. that seems stupid to me. taken from a google search by the way.

Well, there we are then.  Correct height is between 385 and 420mm.  I might even go work out what that is in inches.

Only the EC could define a standard for something by splitting it in half and then not making it fit.

Damned if I'm going to carry two extra people on holiday just to comply with a Directive from Brussles.  We're out anyway.

Illegal?

Does this mean I could end up doing a bit of bird?

If  I remove the bracket should I let the back or all four tyres down to get the hitch height down ?

I think I will chance it.

The point of having different height specs for towball and hitch is to ensure that even under adverse tolerance conditions (towball on max., hitch on min. height) the trailer cannot have a pronounced nose up attitude.

At the risk of offending those who live to be offended. when did we become this wet ?

There maybe an alternative to fitting a drop plate.

The factory fitted towbar on my Nissan Navara was too high and also gave the caravan a nose high attitude.

The towball was a Brink, so I researched the Brink website and found a lower profile hitch (also alko suitable) that sat 50mm lower, thus bringing the hitch height within the specifications and gave the caravan a slightly nose down attitude that I have found makes it more stable when towing.

A few points on the thread.

The banned Drop plates in question were the the Adjustable Height Coupling Drop plate for use with commercial vehicles. This was done to stop 10 tonne loads being towed in this way.

This does not impact on the steel plate sections now commonly sold as drop plates, which are not drop plates they are just 1/2" steel plate with alternative fixing points.

Drop plates are banned for commercial vehicles, not cars or light commercial vehicles. Nobody (virtually) tows caravans with commercial vehicles.

The EC requirement is to have a Type approved towbar fitted and tested. It is correct that the towbar manufacturer has to certify the bar and the coupling together. The reason they dont offer alternative couplings, spacers, or one of the dozens of alternative hitches is that they would have to individually certify every combination and every size of item for every bar. This is just not commercially viable.

There is no illegal reason to tow with whatever hitch combination you choose although you are responsible for it to be safe. In an accident situation you may have to prove this.

Now lets look at the practicality. A 4x4 light commercial is certified with a standard towball and states  3.5 tonne towing capacity, the bar is certified to this weight. To enable stability when towing you fit a solid plate to bring the towing height into the normal range for your van. This moves the point of load down 50 mm and rearward 30mm. The load exerted by your 1.5 Tonne caravan is not going to be anywhere near the certified maximum stress on the bar and gives virtually imperceptible changes to the loading on the bar. Is this safe, well I would argue (and prove mathmatically) that towing a 3.5T load excerpted considerably more load and inertia on the towbar than a 1.5T load 30 mm rearward of the point that the original certification was done.

To take the scare mongers arguments to the infinite point, my last two dealer fitted certified bars were supplied with a stubby towball. I changed them for an Alko, altering the position in height and reach. This not as certified, so is every Alko towball fitted to a bar certified with a stubby towball now illegal?

 Alko currently sell may variants of the drop plate on their website someone should tell them they are promoting illegal activity!!!!

This is from the Witter,

CAN I FIT A "DROP PLATE" TO AN EC TYPE APPROVED TOWBAR.

Only if the towbar has been submitted and tested for EC Type Approval using a 'drop plate'. Some Witter towbars for 4WD off road vehicles have been tested in this way, e.g. Range Rover, Land Rover Discovery and Defender, the new Mitsubishi Shogun and Mercedes M Class. Your local Witter specialist will be pleased to advise you.