nose weight of 75kg is this attainable on a bailey provence??

Jul 4, 2006
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My current car has a max nose weight of 115kg but we want to change car and the one my wife likes and can drive is only 75kg. Tried a Sorento but it's huge and don't like the driving position. I'm too tall for a x trail and the crv and rav is far too expensive even secondhand. It's not sustainable for me to do all the towing and my wife wants to tow as well - also in case I had an accident etc and couldn't drive.
 
Jun 11, 2005
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Hi, we have a Bailey Bordeaux and can get it down to 75kg if requred. It just means that you have to give more thought to how you pack it. There is no need to place haevy items at the back, by careful packing arond the axle and in the front side lockers and front boot you can get 75kg. We only carry two 4.5kg gas bottles and put as littel in the front locker as needed to ensure the noseweight is okay. Our normal car is the Sorento which gives us up to 100kg noseweight, limited by the van and not the Kia. However we have towed witha SAAB 9000 at 75kg without any problems of stabilty.

Cheers

Other Clive
 
Jul 4, 2006
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perhaps I should give a little more detail.

I currently run a Terrano 2.7 TDI - great towcar but - my wife can't drive it due to the very heavy pedals especially the accelerator and clutch and the angle of the pedals coming out of the floor - I personally don't find the accelerator too bad but after a run of 160 miles last autumn I had a numb foot after 100 miles. It's something you get used too. My wife wants something she can drive as we want to go to France. After looking around at something that will pull max 1420 MPTLM. The high up driving position means we can look out of the rear window of the van when towing so a traditional car is not on the list. As I said I'm too tall for an x-trail, I wouldn't buy a freelander due to realibility issues so we thought maybe a hyundai tucson but the nose weight is 75kg max which seems low. I would be towing a pageant provence.
 

MAM

Aug 16, 2006
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I have a Bailey Pageant Provence and tow with a conventional estate car. I have bought the BP light weight gas bottles so now I carry two 5Kg bottles in the front locker - and nothing else. All heavy items go in the middle of the caravan (low-level kitchen cupboards or in the toilet or shower. So far I have towed steadily with the car nice and level.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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I have a Provence, towed by a Passat 4Motion which fortunately has a max noseweight of 85kg.

I can get it down to 80kg by removing both (small) gas bottles but I think I'd be struggling to get it down to 75kg as there is very little else in the front locker or indeed front end of the van!
 
Mar 14, 2005
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If you can't get the noseweight down to the required amount by any other means, you'll unfortunately have no other option but to add ballast behind the axle. A heavier load just behind is better than a lighter one far towards the rear.
 
Jul 4, 2006
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I'll get the scales out and see what the weight is in basic non loaded mode. I'd do it now but my van isn't built yet, 2 weeks to go. As I type this I thought maybe I could go up to the dealer and see if they'd check the nose weight on their demo - that would give me a baseline.
 
May 21, 2008
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I tow a twenty foot twin axle van with a 1998 Laguna estate and am limited to 75Kgs for our nose weight.

Due to the layout of the van most of the serious weight is over the axle area (kitchen and wardrodes). Then there's the rear double bunk room, which houses the awning (875cm) under the bottom bunk. We use this smaller awning as a 3/4 awning as it is plenty big enough.

Now while I agree with Lutz that excessive bulk weight at the extreme end of the van is not ideal, sometimes you are left with little choice. But by keeping the weight as low to the floor as possible we manage to tow without swaying or nodding. With minimal weight under the front bunks and again by putting the heavier items to the axle end of the bunk lockers, we have got to our target weight of 75Kgs.

Once you have found by trial and error, the best loading plan to achieve the tow criteria then I'd suggest you do a basic plan sketch, then the kids and all will pack the van to the same plan each time.

As we caravan as a family group I often have nephew's and niece's wanting to help pack the van on site, so I hang my packing spec on the open main door so that as the kids file in with the goods they can see the plan and go to the right locker to store the items.

I have found that by using higher nose weights that the brakes tend to be more sluggish to operate and I put this down to excessive friction on the hitch due to weight bearing down on the sliding shaft.

75Kgs does seem to be a nice weight to get the close coupled brake system working effectively while also not making the car look arse heavey.

Steve.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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With the fixed rear bed layout there is avoid where normally heavier items are placed such as fridge,oven,wardrobe or toilet.

With our Oklahoma its only by loading the under bed area that the noseweight can be got down and in fact unladen the noseweight is over the limit for the hitch.

It goes against the grain to load at the rear but it seems the only option.

Swift with the same layout balance out the weight with the leisure battery housed at the rear
 

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