Noseweight and leveling

[Surfer]

Sorry two different questions in one post. On a twin axle how would you measure the noseweight with the noseweight gauge as with the jockey wheel in the up position the van is balanced. All my heavy stuff is over the four wheels. I do not have any problems at present towing but would like to ensure that I do not have any in the future.

Secondly if you have to park side-on on a gentle slope what would be the best method to level the van? I have 2 Fiamma ramps and 2 chocks and numerous pieces of wood. Generally my way of thinking is to would pull the van up as high as possible onto the one ramp which leaves the rear wheel "dangling", then insert the other ramp in an opposite direction basically forming a "V" between them and then let the van run back a bit until was more or less equalised on both ramps. Or is this completely wrong etc?

 

[Mike_5041089]

Ian - if your van's "balanced" with the jockey wheel up & resting levelly on its 4 wheels, then you've not got adequate noseweight which could lead to severe instability. Even a twin-axle van should still exert the maker's recommended noseweight. Add some items to the locker to get the right download.

When we had a twin, I always used planks of timber for East-West levelling, pulling the van on with the car. Make sure the timber's long enough to accommodate both wheels, and have several pieces to build up to the correct height. Using levellers as you suggest could lead to a very unstable van with subsequent damage to the steadies.

 

[Steve L]

Hi Ian. We have a twin axle van too. We use our nose weight guage in the same way as you would for a single axle van. As for leveling. I position the van about 4ft further back to where we eventually want to pitch and then lay out two ramps infront of the "low side". I set these ramps at the distance center to center of the wheels. (same pitch as the axles) then I drive forward so that the front wheel goes up and over the first ramp and then further forward until the van is level. Chock the wheels to stop it rolling back and then unhitch. I have to do mine that way as my van has linked axles. this means that as the front axle rises to go up a ramp the rear one lowers to compensate, this avoids the weight tranfer you get with independent axles like yours. ( you say your rear wheel lifts off the ground when the front one goes up the ramp). I haven't seen this type of linked axle on modern vans, ours is 23 years old but still going strong.

 

[Lutz]

If your caravan is 'balanced' with the jockey wheel up, you've got a potentially dangerous situation. Like Mike says, even a twin axle must have adequate load on the towball. 25kg is the legal minimum but it's best to get as close as possible to but no more than the maker's permitted maximum.

 

[Theo_5041685]

A twin will normally always balance. You need to check the nose weight at the towball level

 

[Ian_5062166]

If your caravan is 'balanced' with the jockey wheel up, you've got a potentially dangerous situation. Like Mike says, even a twin axle must have adequate load on the towball. 25kg is the legal minimum but it's best to get as close as possible to but no more than the maker's permitted maximum.

hi Im wondering if you could help, could you tell me you say 25kg is the limit ..is this the top or bottom limit my van is 60kg on an astra van, could anyone tell me where I could find the correct nose weight