noise wieght

[clarkes2001]

my father in-law is new to caravaning and is trying to get his noise weight correct on his new bailey senator Virginia he currantly has every litte on board and one gas bottle in the front locker but this is showning a 90kg noise wieght for the caravan.

looking around the caravan all the item like water heater , battery , etc also the caravan mover seen to be at the front of the caravan causing this problem of a heavy noise wieght so would be very great if someone who has the same caravan could give us some tips on loading so we can get the niose wieght down to about 75kg noise weight.

 

[Hamer_5041128]

Hi Christopher,

Has your father-in-law fully drained the inboard tank? Has he tested the nose weight with the wardrobes full of clothes? If he has an awning try puting the awning and poles under the fixed bed, place them at the front of the bed nearest to the axle, not at the rear of the bed. I think on the Virginia the loo is just behind the axle so put some water in the flush part of the loo. Do not put anything heavy under the bed at the rear of the caravan as with the clothes in the wardrobes there would be too much weight at the back of the caravan making it possibly unstable.

Hope this may help.

Hamer

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Christopher,

Two things come to mind:

It is important that when measuring nose weight that the caravan is on level ground, and the hitch socket is at the same vertical height above the ground as when it is connected to the tow vehicle. The nose weight must be measured under the hitch. If any of these points are wrong then the measured nose weight will be wrong.

It is generally accepted that it is best to tow with the nose weight at close to the maximum permitted, as it usually maximises the stability of the outfit. Ask your FiL to check the limit for his tow vehicle.

If the nose weight is to great then it will be necessary to start to rearrange the content of the caravan to bring the nose weight into range.

Don't forget, that any mass removed from the front will reduce the nose weight, and if it is replaced to wards the rear of the van it further reduces the nose weight through the see-saw action.

It should not be difficult to loose 15Kg from the nose weight.

 

[Paul_5064559]

Christopher,

The caravan club recommend noseweight should be approximately 7% of van gross laden weight. I do not know the MPTM of the Virginia but suspect that it is close to that of my Senator 5 Indiana which is 1500kg. Therefore the noseweight should be about 100/105kg if it is to remain stable at speed.

I suggest that you should not look at your car manufacturer's vehicle noseweight and try to adapt your van noseweight to align with this. To do this will mean that sometime somewhere on our road system you are likely to make a very nasty mess....

 

[Chrisbee]

Hi Paul

Whilst you are perfectly correct in what you are saying I don't know how relevant the suggested 7% noseweight is. Most cars of 1500-1700kgs kerb weight have an imposed towbar limit around 70-80kgs. The 7% "rule" would limit vans to under 1200kgs. Take a look on the road and see what the average saloon is towing. They aren't all snaking down the motorway.

Chrisbee

 

[GeorgeB]

Chrisopher,

Like Paul I too have a series 5 Indiana, and that also has a high nose weight, I think that it's a trait of the Senator range, even when the van was new & empty, except for the 2 7.5kg gas bottles it had a nose weight of 85kg.

Although they have different layouts, the Indiana & the Virginia weigh the same.

I eventually changed to BP gaslite, & with careful loading can get the nose weight to 80kg, without any snaking issues.

My one recomendation would be to have shock absorbers fitted, what a differnce they make to towing, little or no buffeting as white van man speeds past or when you overtake lorries.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello again Christopher.

Contrary to Paul's advice, exceeding the nose weight limit of the car or the caravan is illegal.

It is certainly true that the best behaved outfits tend use up most of the available nose load allowance, but there are many outfits that are well behaved with nose loads of around 70 to 75kg.

Incidentally the majority of caravan chassis are limited to a nose load of 100Kg, so Paul's advice to go to 105 is probably doubly wrong.

The addition of shock absorbers will make a difference probably an improvement.

 

[Lutz]

Very sound advice from John L.

Not only is it illegal to exceed the manufacturer's limits but you would put any warranty coverage that you may have at risk. If the manufacturer has designed the towbar to take 75kg, then that is its safe structural limit and exceeding it may result in premature material failure.

 

[Paul_5064559]

Hello again Christopher.

Contrary to Paul's advice, exceeding the nose weight limit of the car or the caravan is illegal.

It is certainly true that the best behaved outfits tend use up most of the available nose load allowance, but there are many outfits that are well behaved with nose loads of around 70 to 75kg.

Incidentally the majority of caravan chassis are limited to a nose load of 100Kg, so Paul's advice to go to 105 is probably doubly wrong.

The addition of shock absorbers will make a difference probably an improvement.

John,

I merely pointed out the Caravan Club recommendations for calculating noseweight, this was not my advice.

Furthermore no way did I suggest Christopher should exceed his vehicles stated nose weight limit this would be the worse of both worlds.

When we moved from a 1300kg van to the 1500kg Bailey we changed the Mondeo for a Freelander 2 - simple as that and safe as houses.

 

[ProfJohnL]

John,

I merely pointed out the Caravan Club recommendations for calculating noseweight, this was not my advice.

Furthermore no way did I suggest Christopher should exceed his vehicles stated nose weight limit this would be the worse of both worlds.

When we moved from a 1300kg van to the 1500kg Bailey we changed the Mondeo for a Freelander 2 - simple as that and safe as houses.

Hello Paul,

I appreciate that you were quoting the CC 7% guidance.

However, you go on to say:

"you should not look at your car manufacturer's vehicle noseweight and try to adapt your van noseweight to align with this"

This statement clearly tells the reader to ignore the car manufactures limits and thus implying go for 100or 105Kg.To do that would be illegal under the given circumstances.

It was not helpful to further imply that running below the calculated 7% there was a high probability of an incident. The records don't show that. The vast majority of caravans are towed by cars with a nose limit of about 75Kg and are quite manageable. In fact as you gain experience of towing there is a decreased risk of a towing incident.

The CC's 7% guidance is years old, whilst it is not bad advice, it must not override the mechanical limits set by the manufacturers that hold a legal significance.

There is nothing wrong with your solution to purchase a car with a high capacity nose load, but not every one has that luxury, and the records don't provide any conclusive evidence to support it as a necessity.