Caravan noseweight ?

[andyp1]

Where can you find out what a caravans noseweight is as it leaves the factory.

I have a twin axle , I have never checked the noseweight, but i carry almost nothing extra and what i do carry is in the car.

Gas bottles are about the only significant things of weight I carry

Cheers

Andy

 

[JTQ]

andy,

I cant answer your question however I struggle with the significance of an ex factory nose weight as everybody will put something inside the van to be able to live with it. I note you don't put anything much in the van but surely there is the normal living type items, bedding, cooking, eating etc.

Surely the only relevant nose weight is that with a normal distribution of the users kit; and then that has to be subtly rearranged to be within the vehicle/hitch limits. Ideally as high as is possible. Loading the van with user kit can both increase or decrease the ex factory nose weight. A well designed van is one where its right when its loaded as most people would choose.

 

[xtrailman]

unladen nose weight is important,for when you collect new, and again when you take the van in for service.

Also a naturally lighter nose weight van such as the end kitchen avondale i had is much easy to balance, that van unladen was 35kg, when i collected it new extra ballast was added.

The avondale brochure published the unladen nose weights for the 1997 range, but i have never seen that information on any brochure since.

 

[Lutz]

It's the owner's responsibility to adjust the noseweight as necessary, so it's a bit immaterial what the ex-works noseweight is. It would be a matter of luck if it happens to be exactly what you require without doing anything. As likely as not one would have to add ballast somewhere to get it right. (If you're picking the caravan up for the first time, you're unlikely to be able to do the opposite and remove weight to get the noseweight right.)

 

[JimC]

My Lunar Lexon EW is very nose heavy when almost empty. I took it in for a service last week and found the nose weight to be off the scale on my gauge (110kg plus). I usually keep mine at about 90Kg, and therefore had to move all the seating upholstery to the rear of the axles to get it down to 90Kg. which is the limit for my tow car.

Jim

 

[Garfield]

We also have a noseweight problem with our Lexon FB T/A, we have moved the spare tyre from the front locker to under the rearmost bunk and have to place the awning and other heavy items in the rear bathroom to get anywhere under the 100kg limit of the hitch never mind the 75kg limit of the car!

 

[Steve L]

In the interest of safety, you should measure and adjust the nose weight before towing on each occassion.

I've been towing for over 30 years and check everytime as I can't guess and get it right, even if we load the van the same each time.

It is easy to adjust nose weight in a new van by moving the spare wheel around inside, you could even put the tow car spare in the van to take weight off the hitch if needed.

Taking 5 mins to weigh and set the van up right can save you thousands if you loose control of the outfit due to snaking, caused by bad loading techniques.

Steve L.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

The ex works noseweight will probably be different to the weight when taking it in for service as normally the leisure battery would then be installed and we have had vanst with it installed at the front and another with it at the exreme rear

As different people use different size batteries its something that has to be an individual figure

 

[Lutz]

A good point, JohnG.

 

[andyp1]

My spare wheel is under the van in the carrier - so i don't really want to put that inside the van.

The leisure battery needs to stay in its locker obviously.

So that only leaves the gas bottles, I could put them in the back of the car as well i suppose.

Apart from that we travel very very light ( van is in storage, so we leave little in it and clothes travel in car in suitcase to make taking them to and from home easier )

I will check the noseweight - what is best - Bathroom scales or one of the purpose made ones ( what make? )

Cheers

Andy

 

[Lutz]

Do not put gas bottles in the car. For safety's sake, they need to be carried in a dedicated locker.

So long as you measure the noseweight at the same attitude as when the caravan is hitched up to the car, i.e. with the correct length of stick, there is nothing to be said against using bathroom scales.

If the noseweight is too high despite the caravan being empty and nothing up front can be moved to the back, then you have no option but to add temporary ballast of some sort at the back, like an awning or a sack of potatoes.

 

[JTQ]

The bathroom scale technique is not too fiddly; best cut a bit of 2X4" timber as a strut and place a ply spreader on the scales. Oh avoid SWMBO catching you as they dont really take to it!

Most of the special units I have seen have not impressed me with quality and thus concern about accuracy.

Its not a task you really need to be doing once you have sussed out how to load a particular van.

Whatever way, its crucial that the vans is horizontal.

 

[Lutz]

Strictly speaking the caravan should not be horizontal, but at the same attitude as when it is hitched up to the car. In other words, if it is slightly nose down when coupled to the towball then the noseweight should also be measured slightly nose down (or vice versa if nose up).

 

[Sproket]

I use some bathroom scales from Ikea,

 

[andyp1]

I like the fixture - looks like a good solution.

My car has self levelling suspension so i will make sure the van is level.

Thanks

Andy

 

[WatsonJohnG]

I do the same thing with an axle stand on the scales when I am doubting the noseweight gauge

I put the axle stand on the scales and zero the setting

When using the noseweight gauge I put the base on the trolley jack and raise it until the van is at the same attitude as on tow

 

[andyp1]

I have just spoken to a main dealer - they have tried various makes of nose weight gauges in their workshop and they had a wide range of results !

I guess a range of bathroom scales would differ ?

 

[Sproket]

Out of curiosity i have just jumped on the wife's expensive digital all singing -n- dancing scales, then jumped on my Ikea

 

[andyp1]

fair point , the dealer said the gauges they tried varied by 10kg maybe that does not matter much either ?

Andy

 

[Lutz]

An error of 10kg in, say, 75kg is unacceptable as this would amount to 13%. The generally accepted tolerance is 5%, which equates to a fraction under 4kg.

 

[xtrailman]

lutz

i don't see the logic in your above comment, if you load your tow bar to its max say 75kg, but due to a scale error of 10kg under, then you are overloading your ball limit, that is not to be recommended.

I use my nose gauge onto a old bathroom scale via a piece of 10mm plywood, both scales read near enough the same, as i load to around 90kg with a 100kg limit, i am happy that there is a safety margin for error.

 

[BedfordGeorge]

In various reviews in different magazines the Milenco Precision Calibrated Nose Weight Gauge seems to be the one they recommend. It won the PC magazine award, in thier Awards Issue. It is approved and calibrated to BS7961 that requires accuracy within 2kgs. they particularly advise this one if your noseweight is over 120kgs.

Have a look on thier site www.milenco.com

The other, at slightly lower cost is the Pyramid and you can see this on thier site... www.pyramid-products.com.

Sorry dont know how to do a proper link to these two companies, I need to go to Sprokets night classes.

Good luck and best regards,

George

 

[Lutz]

lutz

i don't see the logic in your above comment, if you load your tow bar to its max say 75kg, but due to a scale error of 10kg under, then you are overloading your ball limit, that is not to be recommended.

I use my nose gauge onto a old bathroom scale via a piece of 10mm plywood, both scales read near enough the same, as i load to around 90kg with a 100kg limit, i am happy that there is a safety margin for error.

If you load to the maximum according to scales which are actually reading 5% low then, strictly speaking, you would be overloading by the same 5%, but that is a tolerance that any structural system should be able to accommodate without incurring damage and should not result in prosecution in the event of a check by the authorities as they generally allow for a discretionary tolerance, too.

Of course, one can always ensure that you remain absolutely safe by never making full use of the noseweight limit, but always staying a couple of kilos below that limit.

 

[Douglas_374404558]

I use some bathroom scales from Ikea,

HI! Sproket just finished making one of these great thing, works very well, cost about

 

[Sproket]

I use some bathroom scales from Ikea,

Glad you like it.... it spreads the load evenly across the platform & it wont fall over, i also made the ball adjustable by about 2"