Ballast when towing?

Off the back of a different conversation do we think it is better to ballast a jimny to gvm when towing to improve traction especially when stopping  or is it better to run as light as possible to make most use of the limited power? Yes I know those who have met me will be thinking that I do a fair job of ballasting just sitting in a jimny but let's not be rude I'm only 2 normal people. 

For reference in daily trim temeraire is 1140kg without me but I can easily remove approximately 50kg without suffering too much limitation to practicality.

I can't say that traction or stopping performance has ever been an issue when towing both vehicle loaded or unloaded. I am not sure the exact weight of the "camping junk" we throw in the back of the Jimny, but it's over 50kg in total, then two people get in. But I've towed the same load with or without the junk, no noticeable difference.
This comment is in relation to a braked trailer, the only time I noticed poor stopping performance was towing a 575kg unbaked trailer.
The overriding want during all towing trips was more power, so my vote falls on the side of saving as much weight as you can, so throw the ballast.
It would also assist the stopping should your trailer brakes fail to operate correctly.

Scimike wrote:

I can't say that traction or stopping performance has ever been an issue when towing both vehicle loaded or unloaded. I am not sure the exact weight of the "camping junk" we throw in the back of the Jimny, but it's over 50kg in total, then two people get in. But I've towed the same load with or without the junk, no noticeable difference.
This comment is in relation to a braked trailer, the only time I noticed poor stopping performance was towing a 575kg unbaked trailer.
The overriding want during all towing trips was more power, so my vote falls on the side of saving as much weight as you can, so throw the ballast.
It would also assist the stopping should your trailer brakes fail to operate correctly.


On the Gen.4 the un-braked towing limit is 350kg, so I am not surprised that you had problems towing 575 kg, but I agree with everything else you said.

Roger
 

^^^^^ guilty as charged your honour.
​​​​​​The G3 has the same unbraked limi. Not as guilty as it first sounds, the trailer was 346kg and all the junk in the back of the Jimny made up the difference, so the 575kg was split between the trailer and vehicle. I had gone to the trouble of putting the trailer on a weighbridge and loaded to the max, the rest went in the rear of the vehicle (seats removed)....It's was still an overall load of 575kg on the brakes, and at this point you can tell Jimny brakes, like the engine, are starting to work hard.

The thinking behind full gvm of 1420kg is that the tyres are being pushed into the road more and are less likely to lock up or rather work harder when the abs fires. Allegedly. On some of the hills round here I can occasionally feel the trailer pushing for that split second as the overrun moves into play as I crest a climb also occasionally the Bridgestone do run out of talent but that's usually on flatter ground if I have to slow from full speed quicker than I would otherwise. That's a tyre thing though not really a loading thing. I guess trial and error may be in my future.