HELP NOSE WEIGHT

[wayne_374363671]

hye, can anyone help me with the above. i have a sprite alpine 2 with a mtplm of 1650kg i weighed it off at the weigh bridge after loading it up for our weekend away, it weighed 1620kg, my problem is the nose weight was 95kg and i tow with a ford focus witch as a 75kg limit. the only things i have in the front of the van is the gas bottle and aqua roll. the only way i could get it down to 75kg was to load the bottles in the end wash room. is this acceptable. could i have a faulty nose weight gauge,

wayne

 

[Damian]

Wayne, first of all regarding the loading of gas cylinders in the rear of the van is a total NO on safety grounds alone.

Try moving the stored items inside the van around so that thye heaviest items are over or just behind the axle.

To check your nose weight if you think the gauge is faulty, use bathroom scales and a piece of 2x2 the same height as the towball when placed on the scales.

 

[wayne_374363671]

thanks Damian

i didnt put the gas bottle in the wash room, just the aqua rolls the gas bottle i secured in the boot of car. my problem is we dont take much kit with us, and what we do take mainly goes in the car, the mtplm is up mainly because we have a mover fitted. so there is'nt much to move about.

wayne

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Wayne,

I can only echo Damian's response,

Whilst he said do not place the gas bottles at the rear of the caravans, the reason is that by law your gas bottles must be carried securely in a an upright attitude in a well ventilated area.

The rear of a car is not a suitable or safe place for gas bottles. Even a small leak inside a car could have disastrous consequences - Do NOT Do IT.

THe proper place is the gas bottle locker on the caravan A frame.

Consider only taking one bottle to reduce nose weight, or as D's suggestion redistribute the weight in side the caravan to get the nose load down below the cars limit of 75Kg

 

[Alecsmart]

Hope you have mis-typed the mtplm of your 'van. 1650kg has got to be way over the kerb weight of any Focus!

 

[Lutz]

Not only is 1650kg over the kerbweight but also way over the maximum permitted by Ford. No Focus is approved to tow more than 1500kg.

 

[WilliamLX]

Nose weight problems? Interesting is this similar to women who claim that no matter how hard they diet, that they can not lose weight off their bottoms? I have to admit I have never noticed anyone carrying excessive fat on their nose! Perhaps it is an English thing not found here in Ireland???

PS this is a joke post!

 

[wayne_374363671]

Thanks to everyone for your advice. and YES i did miss print the mtplm it is 1150. and weighed off at 1120. i only carry one small gas bottle and i will now make sure its secure in the front locker.

wayne

 

[Ianofwilts]

Just a thought, have you loaded your front lockers with clothes. We tend to leave them in the case just rear of the axle. Also under bed storage is quite often forgotten. Trouble can be by moving too much weight to the rear stability can be compromised. Probably obvious but check the weights again. Do you have extras like microwave or air con. Mine both sit forward of the axle.

 

[wayne_374363671]

hye ian

the only things we have in the under bed storage is a light duvet and four pillows. we dont have aircon or a microwave and the oven and fridge is over the axel. our water heater is up front though but i always drain it before we travel.as for the clothes we hang them in the wardrobe at the rear of the van.

wayne

 

[Ianofwilts]

wayne,

sounds like your doing everything right. check the weights again. Seems strange what with being weighted almost to the max with weekend kit, hope you get it sorted. I do think most car manufacturers state a max nose weight but can uprate, but with cost of coarse.

 

[Lutz]

I know of no car manufacturer that offers uprated noseweight, not even at extra cost.

 

[wayne_374363671]

yeah thanks ian

i'm gonna get it weighed again and try a different nose weight guage. we bought the van new last year and it came with a diamond pack, spare wheel and carrier,fly screens and then we had a mover fitted so maybe thats why its quite heavy.

wayne

 

[Damian]

Wayne, you could have just mentioned an important point,,,the mover.

If it has been fitted in front of the axle it would be worth changing it to behind the axle.

I know the recommended place for a single axle van in front, but fitting behind works just as well, its just the mover is subjected to more road spray in the wet, so needs a bit more care and attention and cleaning.

Doing this may just reduce your noseweight significantly

 

[xtrailman]

I would not expect a 40kg weight just in front of the axle, to make that much difference, moved just behind.

Before going to such lengths, i would suggest trying a test weight before and then after the axle, measuring the nose weight, with both positions.

I travel with two aqua rolls in the rear wash room, along with a bag of odds weighing about 25 pound, no problem, if that gets your weight down to 75 on the nose, it might be the cure.

Before the experts start preaching i have done this for the last five years. But my nose weight runs around 85 kg.

 

[wayne_374363671]

hye ray

i put my two aqua rolls and a bag containing the huck up cable in the end wash room. all i have in the front locker now is the gas bottle and waste pipes and the nose weight is dead on 75kg. i've towed it at various speeds from 30mph to 50 mph and its. seems real stable.

thanks to everyone for your advice.

wayne

 

[ollycaravanmad]

hi wayne

just a thought when you check your nose weight did you know the top of the guage is meant to be the same height as the tow ball on the towcar i find it makes a big difference good luck cheers olly

 

[JenniferB]

Carrying on from what Ian of Wilts said - I too solved some stability & noseweight issues by emptying the top lockers. I bought 3 collapsible basket boxes from B&Q and a roll of that "anti-slip" rubbery matting stuff and I pack the three crates with everything that I would store in the lockers. The rates then sit happily along the center of the caravan over the axle.

You wouldn't think it would make much difference, but as my Dad pointed out, try putting all that stuff into Sainsbury's bags and carrying it any distance!!

I think a lot of the problems we have arise becuase modern caravans have SO MUCH storage! Years ago we had an Abbey Cambridge and that only had a couple of lockers and a couple of slim shelves. We never had noseweight or stability issues and no stabiliser fitted.

 

[xtrailman]

you are right about the front overhead lockers, my first van had none, we have loads of storage in our bailey, and its not that big inside, 15'9" if i recall correctly.

What we are always short of is worktops!