Buying a Bailey Unicorn Valencia but cannot find the nose weight,asked the dealer but the only Valencia available was on display and it was to busy to drop the legs,can anybody help please.
nose weight
- Thread starter IVAN_374576401
- Start date
Ivan
When I bought my GT60/620-6 I wrote to bailey and asked they told me by return mail.
However knowing the ex-works nose weight doesn't help much because 99.9% of caravans have an ex-works weight above the towbar limit so you have to balance it out anyway.
the only time we have a problem is when returning the caravan empty to the dealer so we are obliged to leave the full awning in it
regards
John
When I bought my GT60/620-6 I wrote to bailey and asked they told me by return mail.
However knowing the ex-works nose weight doesn't help much because 99.9% of caravans have an ex-works weight above the towbar limit so you have to balance it out anyway.
the only time we have a problem is when returning the caravan empty to the dealer so we are obliged to leave the full awning in it
regards
John
Hello Ivan,
The only nose weight a caravan dealer can quote is the exworks value. As soon as you add any additional items, the caravan the nose weight will be affected.
The safest way of ensuring compliance with towing regulations and the limit of your car is to actually measure the nose load, and make adjustments by shifting or adding load to the caravan to trim it.
If you are collecting and empty new caravan, take some scales and some ballast along with you. I have used an aqua roll which can be filled with varying amounts of water to help trim an otherwise empty caravan.
Don't forget the driver is legally responsible for ensuring their outfit is road legal.
The only nose weight a caravan dealer can quote is the exworks value. As soon as you add any additional items, the caravan the nose weight will be affected.
The safest way of ensuring compliance with towing regulations and the limit of your car is to actually measure the nose load, and make adjustments by shifting or adding load to the caravan to trim it.
If you are collecting and empty new caravan, take some scales and some ballast along with you. I have used an aqua roll which can be filled with varying amounts of water to help trim an otherwise empty caravan.
Don't forget the driver is legally responsible for ensuring their outfit is road legal.
Hi Ivan.
Bailey should be well capable of advising what the nose weight maximum is for your van. What you also need to establish is the towbar weight loading for your tow car. Then you must use the lower of the two figures as your max hitch weight.
I have towed caravans for 28 years and have used 75Kgs as my max loading with no ill affects. Most of my cars had this as their max towbar load. I even used it as the loading bench mark for our Diahatsu F70 (4X4) and 3500Kg Ifor Williams trailer which towed perfect even when fully loaded.
If you have any probs I can as the owner of Dinmore caravans, who is a Bailey agent and family friend.
Good luck. Atb Steve L.
Bailey should be well capable of advising what the nose weight maximum is for your van. What you also need to establish is the towbar weight loading for your tow car. Then you must use the lower of the two figures as your max hitch weight.
I have towed caravans for 28 years and have used 75Kgs as my max loading with no ill affects. Most of my cars had this as their max towbar load. I even used it as the loading bench mark for our Diahatsu F70 (4X4) and 3500Kg Ifor Williams trailer which towed perfect even when fully loaded.
If you have any probs I can as the owner of Dinmore caravans, who is a Bailey agent and family friend.
Good luck. Atb Steve L.
Not sure why any one would want nose weight of the empty caravan as this will be affected the moment they put anything in the caravan, i.e. battery, gas bottles etc.
Bailey will give you figures which are related to the caravan being totally empty with no battery, gas bottles, spare wheel etc so they will be as useful as a wet paper bag!
You need to measure the noseweight yourself once loaded and then ensure that it is slightly lower than the nose weight of the car. This can be done use bathroom scales and a piece of wood.
Bailey will give you figures which are related to the caravan being totally empty with no battery, gas bottles, spare wheel etc so they will be as useful as a wet paper bag!
You need to measure the noseweight yourself once loaded and then ensure that it is slightly lower than the nose weight of the car. This can be done use bathroom scales and a piece of wood.
The reason I require the nose weight of the empty caravan is the pegasus ex works comes in at 85 to 90 kg a lot of people are getting readings over 100kg,I need to know the reading because if it is excessive the only way to reduce is by loading rear of the axle,not a good idea,so I only want the noseweight as a guideline before I purchase,I took the noseweight gauge to the dealer but could not try because of the amount of customers,the nose weight on my vehicle is 100kg.I always use the gauge .SO if the wet paper bag comes in over 100kg I will have to buy a different van.
Damian
Moderator
Quote "the pegasus ex works comes in at 85 to 90 kg a lot of people are getting readings over 100kg,"
If the ex works noseweight is over 100kg, then there is something very wrong, and as the upper limit for the coupling is 100kg there is no room for additions at all, such as gas cylinders.
Even at 85 to 90kg it still is questionable as to whether it is sensible, given that the only place gas can be carried is in the gas locker, adding more than 15kg to the noseweight before loading.
If the ex works noseweight is over 100kg, then there is something very wrong, and as the upper limit for the coupling is 100kg there is no room for additions at all, such as gas cylinders.
Even at 85 to 90kg it still is questionable as to whether it is sensible, given that the only place gas can be carried is in the gas locker, adding more than 15kg to the noseweight before loading.
Just goes to show that you need to be prepared when you pick the caravan up from the dealer with an appropriate amount of ballast in order to be able to trim the noseweight, as necessary.
Recently bought an Olympus 534.Found that with just 1 gas cylinder in the locker and a hook up lead in the one side front locker I HAD A NOSE WEIGHT OF 120KG ! In order to get the 80kg max for my car I have changed the cylinder to a Lite and carry nothing - I mean nothing - forward of the axle.I have to carry kit that I don't really need behind the axle to get the 80kg max.An extra gas bottle is out of the question and the front cupboards are only loaded once we are pitched.
This was never the case with our Senator Oklahoma .We could achieve the 80kg easily with front locker and cupboards permanently loaded - albeit with fairly light things.That van was more stable to tow too.The Olympus is twitchy and also knocks the consumption of the car by about 2 mpg.
I'm not a Bailey knocker - The van is great to live in but there is a loading issue.
Also recommend a 2" Memory foam topper-It transforms the bed.(£39 from e bay seller cut to shape)
This was never the case with our Senator Oklahoma .We could achieve the 80kg easily with front locker and cupboards permanently loaded - albeit with fairly light things.That van was more stable to tow too.The Olympus is twitchy and also knocks the consumption of the car by about 2 mpg.
I'm not a Bailey knocker - The van is great to live in but there is a loading issue.
Also recommend a 2" Memory foam topper-It transforms the bed.(£39 from e bay seller cut to shape)
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