New van collection

[noggin16460]

Hi picking up new van in few weeks, should I take any thing heavy like water hog to weigh the front of van down to ensure have some weight in tow hitch as the van is going to empty when picked up

 

[Bluetonic]

Possibly a good idea, I know that my Bailey T/A is about 120kg on the nose empty so I had to move some stuff out of the car into the caravan to get some weight off the hitch

 

[otherclive]

Our last caravan was nose heavy but be prepared to go either way.

 

[Mel]

We have had nose heavy vans and nose light vans. Dealerships are usually very quick to hitch you up and wave you goodbye without any test of the noseweight. Take a noseweight gauge with you and insist that it is checked before you hitch up. You will then have some idea about where to place the ballast

 

[Dustydog]

The Dealer handover and explanation of how EVERYTHING works will take at least an hour . Make sure they use real water😎

 

[Lutz]

It depends what model of caravan you are picking up. Some have a low noseweight when they are empty and need more weight at the front, others are nose heavy and need ballast at the rear.
I wouldn’t get too concerned, though. My caravan had only about 25 kg noseweight when empty and I picked it up like that from a dealer about 200 miles away without adding any ballast. One did notice a certain amount of nervousness in the way the caravan behaved, but with a bit of extra care it was manageable

 

[ProfJohnL]

It is sensible to be prepared to ballast, Do not rely on the caravan manufacturers statement of ex works nose load, That is state of affairs that you will never encounter even when dragging the brand new caravan off the dealers forecourt. Because as soon as you add any sort of load to the caravan the nose load will change.

I once had to collect a second hand Twin Axle unit and the experience was unpleasant because the nose load was too small. and within the normal range of towing movement whilst going over speed humps, the actual nose load switched from Positive to negative, which gave the tow vehicle a double tug at the hitch. I had to ballast up the the front of the trailer to ensure the nose load always remained positive.

 

[Beardy]

If it's nose heavy, try moving the bench seat cushions to the rear of the caravan. They aren't light and you're removing weight from infront of the axle and adding weight behind it. Due to the bulk they're not likely to move around too much (unless you hit the brakes hard) and the shouldn't cause damage if they do (at least not as much as a heavy tool box or half full water hog would).