A Frames
- Thread starter Percy1
- Start date
Hi Percy, not all of them were, I say were because my 2008 Fleetwood uses the longer one which is 1.5m long, lattery they were taken over by Adria and then closed down, so am wondering if the Adria's still use the longer one?
Dont know how true it is but I was told the longer one gave more stabilility, oh and I can stand on mine to wash the front of the van.
Dont know how true it is but I was told the longer one gave more stabilility, oh and I can stand on mine to wash the front of the van.
It reduces the noseweight the longer the A frame is but increases the caravan overall length
Its common in Europe to see bicycle mounted carrier racks on the A frame and that could be one reason as well as improved stability
Longer A frames on UK vans could also mean higher ferry fares but UK vans tend to have the body built futher over the A frame so it could be an optical illusion to some extent
It would be interesting at a second hand dealership to measure the distance from the wheel centre to the coupling on UK and European vans
In the eighties Bailey used to state in the brochure that the Pageant range had a longer A frame for increased stability
I never understood why they then still made a range with a shorter A frame
Cosmetic appearance also plays more part in UK styling where showroom appeal is often more of a consideration than practicality and most UK vans tend to have the plastic A frame cover whereas many continental vans have a more utilitarian styling
Its common in Europe to see bicycle mounted carrier racks on the A frame and that could be one reason as well as improved stability
Longer A frames on UK vans could also mean higher ferry fares but UK vans tend to have the body built futher over the A frame so it could be an optical illusion to some extent
It would be interesting at a second hand dealership to measure the distance from the wheel centre to the coupling on UK and European vans
In the eighties Bailey used to state in the brochure that the Pageant range had a longer A frame for increased stability
I never understood why they then still made a range with a shorter A frame
Cosmetic appearance also plays more part in UK styling where showroom appeal is often more of a consideration than practicality and most UK vans tend to have the plastic A frame cover whereas many continental vans have a more utilitarian styling
The apparent length of the A-frame depends purely on the length of main chassis members - the angled members are common on all Alko chassis.
The reduction in noseweight from a longer A-frame is irrelevant because it also depends where the wheel centre (not the axle) is situated relatively to the Centre of Gravity - in any case, increasing the A-frame by 0.25m would only reduce a 100kg noseweight by about 6kg - it's the hitch to wheel centre distance that's important, not the visible A-frame
There is a marginally improved towing stability in a longer distance from hitch to wheel centre - a typical modern UK caravan is 5.5m internal length so the hitch to wheel centre distance is about 4m - extending that to 4.25m would have a small benefit.
Longer A-frames have a detrimental aerodynamic effect on drag by increasing the distance between car and caravan bodywork.
All in all, it's a non debate with no winner either way - except the Dutch would need somewhere for their bikes!
The reduction in noseweight from a longer A-frame is irrelevant because it also depends where the wheel centre (not the axle) is situated relatively to the Centre of Gravity - in any case, increasing the A-frame by 0.25m would only reduce a 100kg noseweight by about 6kg - it's the hitch to wheel centre distance that's important, not the visible A-frame
There is a marginally improved towing stability in a longer distance from hitch to wheel centre - a typical modern UK caravan is 5.5m internal length so the hitch to wheel centre distance is about 4m - extending that to 4.25m would have a small benefit.
Longer A-frames have a detrimental aerodynamic effect on drag by increasing the distance between car and caravan bodywork.
All in all, it's a non debate with no winner either way - except the Dutch would need somewhere for their bikes!
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