cc say no famaly caravan

[benny1]

sorry for spelling the cc say that becouse of my 807 76kg limit nose whight there is no large family caravans to mach my mpv but you all seem to have larde caravans can you explane

 

[benny1]

sorry i fogot to menson they say 7%of the laden whight si the nose whight of the caravan

 

[rayc]

Richard, of course there are many family vans that you can tow with your 76kg nose weight limit. I had a 1350kg van and a Honda CRV with 60kg nose weight limit and with careful packing of the van I could just about manage to get the van nose weight below 60kg.

As I understand it the noseweight of 7% of the MPTLM has no foundation in law and is simply a recommendation. When vans had a maximum weight of 1 tonne or so 7% was within the noseweight limit of most popular tow cars. As the weight of vans has got heavier then its not always so easy.

In any event load the van to give you approx 70kg on the nose and you will be doing what the vast majority of caravanners do when faced with the same problem.

 

[rayc]

Richard, of course there are many family vans that you can tow with your 76kg nose weight limit. I had a 1350kg van and a Honda CRV with 60kg nose weight limit and with careful packing of the van I could just about manage to get the van nose weight below 60kg.

As I understand it the noseweight of 7% of the MPTLM has no foundation in law and is simply a recommendation. When vans had a maximum weight of 1 tonne or so 7% was within the noseweight limit of most popular tow cars. As the weight of vans has got heavier then its not always so easy.

In any event load the van to give you approx 70kg on the nose and you will be doing what the vast majority of caravanners do when faced with the same problem.

Richard, my copy of the CC handbook says "Experience and research has shown that the noseweight should be approx 7% of the actual laden weight for optimum stabilityHowever this may be restricted by the towing vehicle mauufacturers limit and the caravan hitch limit".

They do not say that it is a legal requirement.

If you have a typical family van with a MPTLM of say 1400kg then if fully laden and you kept your noseweight to 75kg then that would be approx.5.5% which is not a large difference.

 

[rob_jax]

Richard,

As pointed out by Lutz in other postings, the 7% guidelines came from the days before noseweight data was supplied by the caravan manufacturers.

Since the introduction of type approved towbars, both the tow bar and the caravan tow socket are now stamped with maximum permissible limits.

The legal requirements are that:

1. The car + caravan + you and your family + your stuff must not exceed the posted "Gross Train Weight" in your vehicle documentation pack.

2. That the caravan + your stuff not exceed the maximum permissible towing limit for your car.

3. That the noseweight not exceed the lower of the caravan or car posted maximums.

There are other legal requirements if you have only passed your driving test recently.

Organisations like the caravan club "recommend" that drivers new to towing only consider a caravan that is less than 85% of the weight of the car. This seems to be very good advice.

Robert