Nose weights...

[LVQuestpaddler]

Hi, the ABI Award Globestar I was given for free has a noseweight of 75kg, whilst my VX Combo has a noseweight max of 50kg. I towed it the 3 miles to my house today and it pulled it fine. It has no gas bottles or anything in the front section, so is there any way I can "tune" the caravan to have a nose weight reduction? I was thinking of reducing weight in the front and maybe adding it to just behind the axle?
The whole nose weight thing is confusing-my van can take a half tonne load in the back but it's rarely ever got any weight in it. So surely a van with a 25kg bag of cement right at the back doors and a 50kg noseweight caravan won't be any different to an unladen van with a 75kg noseweight caravan? Is the whole issue the weight bearing down on the back of the van and how that affects steering etc? I doubt this would shear any bolts. I'm stripping some weight out of the van so should I get it weighed on a bridge when the work is done and work on 7% of the real weight then test it with scales?

 

[Lutz]

Never mind the noseweight. If my data is correct an ABI Award Globestar weighs 1250kg full up. That's way over the limit for any VX Combo that I am aware of. I don't know of any Combo with a maximum allowable towload of over 1000kg and that's probably already more than the caravan when empty.
As far as the noseweight is concerned, you can reduce it by adding weight at the back, yes, although this will always be a second-best alternative. Taking weight off the front is preferable, if this is possible. It'll probably be necessary in your case anyway if there is going to be half a chance of staying within the towload limit of the Combo.

 

[LVQuestpaddler]

Cheers for the reply- I posted another thread and the unladen weight is 920kg with a max of 1100kg. The caravan won't be used for touring I plan to park it up outside my workplace April-Oct, to be used cos I live a fair bit away and to commute 5 days a week would be 750 miles, so use it to kip in 2 nights a week. I have access to all kitchen/washing facilities at work so I may well strip out the excess weight of these items, I'm not sure how safe they are anyway given their age and unknown history!? During the winter I'll bring it back to the house and park it up there (I do a 4 day shorter hours week in winter so commute it daily)

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi LVQuestpaddler,

Lutz has responded regards the towed weight, but you asked some other questions. The capacity of the towbar is not necessarily related to the load carrying capacity of the whole vehicle. One of the main concerns is what the towing bracket is fixed to and how it is fixed. the specified fixing points may not be as strong as other parts of the vehicle, so the rated load has to be reduced.

Do bear in mind that it is an offence to overload a towbar, and depending on your driving licence you may be limited to only towing a trailer where its MTPLM is no greater that the unladen weight of the tow vehicle.