Slightly concerned by nose down look of van when towing. Towing bailey ranger gt60 500/5 with honda crv 2006 petrol. 85% match and noseweight 85kg i.e 7%. Have to manually move van from drive to hitch up due to downwards slope of drive and speed bump right outside. Combination of turn, slope, and speed bump would cause jockey wheel to ground. Could this ever be an issue on road or is this just due to extreme combination of conditions? New to this but obeying all rules as far as i'm aware. As far as I can see nose down appears to be the way to tow and even at a lower nose weight is the position our combination takes up. Advice and comments appreciated.
nose down
- Thread starter scrancat
- Start date
With the caravan hitched up to the car, the centre of the towball should be between 350 and 420mm above the ground. This may result in the caravan having a slightly nose down attitude (or, in fact, slightly nose up, depending on how high the caravan sits).
The safest attitude for towing is with a slight nose down. Nose up should be avoided if at all possible as it is very easy to create instability. That doesn't mean that nose weights should be exceeded and cars loaded so that they drag their back ends on the ground with the front wheels barely touching! A level car, and a slightly nose down caravan is ideal.
So long as the noseweight has been measured with the caravan standing at the same attitude as when hitched up to the car, a nose up attitude is no less stable. A problem will only arise if the noseweight is measured with the caravan level, but nose up when hitched up to the car.
This comes up a lot
I like to see my outfit caravan slightly nose down but to get that it usually means some sort of spring assisters
I have the MAD auxilliary inside the original coil springs on the 2 litre diesel X Trail(current model)
It improves the ride and reduces body roll
The noseweight is below the Nissan max for the car
I wish that more towbar makers would type approve towbars with 2 sets of holes to give some choice of ride height
You only have to travel down a motorway to see lots of very nosedown outfits and the implication for speed humps,ferry ramps etc contact is obvious especially with motor movers
I like to see my outfit caravan slightly nose down but to get that it usually means some sort of spring assisters
I have the MAD auxilliary inside the original coil springs on the 2 litre diesel X Trail(current model)
It improves the ride and reduces body roll
The noseweight is below the Nissan max for the car
I wish that more towbar makers would type approve towbars with 2 sets of holes to give some choice of ride height
You only have to travel down a motorway to see lots of very nosedown outfits and the implication for speed humps,ferry ramps etc contact is obvious especially with motor movers
I know this topic has come up before, but if both the towball height on the car and the coupling height on the caravan are within the specified standard tolerances, there is no need for 2 sets of holes. In fact, except for 4x4's which are exempt from the standards, 2 sets of holes would probably result in one being outside the tolerance band.
An excessive nosedown attitude would suggest that the noseweight is way too high.
An excessive nosedown attitude would suggest that the noseweight is way too high.
hi guys.
this problem seems to get aired at the begining of evey year as new vans are hiched up ready for the first outing when new owners notice the difference from the last van.
providing all the criteria is met and the nose down attitude is not too pronounced it does not seem to cause any problems it may be well to remember that the shape of the van with a sloping front and upswept back increase the illusion that the van is nose down when in fact it is almost level, our bailey is just like this made worse after fitting steel braced tyres and shock absorbers to cut down on body roll. it was only after using a mtr long spirit level on the floor of the van that I was finaly convinced that it was just about level when hitched up to the car. also solo the megane has normally a distinct nose down rear up posture to it, so when the van is on the back it adds to the illusion.
this of course may not be the same in every case but may well be worth considering.
this problem seems to get aired at the begining of evey year as new vans are hiched up ready for the first outing when new owners notice the difference from the last van.
providing all the criteria is met and the nose down attitude is not too pronounced it does not seem to cause any problems it may be well to remember that the shape of the van with a sloping front and upswept back increase the illusion that the van is nose down when in fact it is almost level, our bailey is just like this made worse after fitting steel braced tyres and shock absorbers to cut down on body roll. it was only after using a mtr long spirit level on the floor of the van that I was finaly convinced that it was just about level when hitched up to the car. also solo the megane has normally a distinct nose down rear up posture to it, so when the van is on the back it adds to the illusion.
this of course may not be the same in every case but may well be worth considering.
It would be difficult to imagine that the EU directive regarding towball heights would be changed to allow 2 sets of bolt holes for vehicles other than 4x4's because on the Continent virtually every towcar has a swan neck towbar and these would not benefit from any change. Only commercial vehicles have bolt-on towballs. I can't say that I've ever seen a private car with a bolt-on towball on the Continent.
The photograph above does not give any details for which vehicle the towbar is intended. It would be reasonable to assume that it is either for a 4x4, which is exempt from the towball height requirement, or a cost saving common towbar for two versions of the same car (for example, those fitted with self-levelling suspension or sports suspension and those without). If the latter applies, one does not have a free choice which pair of holes the towball is used, but one must use those dedicated to the version that the towbar manufacturer specified. Otherwise homologation could be affected. This would certainly be the case if the towball height is not within the specified 350 to 420mm.
the pyramid nose gague states 14 /15 inchs to test thats to simulate the tow hight .most vans give a nose down look even when they are not.
the pyramid nose gague states 14 /15 inchs to test thats to simulate the tow hight .most vans give a nose down look even when they are not.
A noseweight gauge should never state a fixed dimension above the ground at which noseweight is to be measured. The actual height of the towball on the car when it is fully laden is the height at which noseweight should be measured.
In the lineup of different types of towbar, they have forgotten to mention retractable versions.
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