Noseweight Limit

[elsasdad]

Hello everyone,im new to caravaning and this forum.I've got a general question about noseweights.

Is the noseweight limit there to prevent the towbar being overloaded and thus possibly causing structural damage to the car and/or towbar assembly.Or is it to make the caravan more stable when being towed.

Following on from this is the limit just a bit of advice from the car manufactuer not to go beyond what they have designed the car to take ,or is it an actual legal limit specified by the authorities.

 

[MikeyW]

The noseweight limit is a legal limit. The maximum noseweight is determined by either your car towbar or your caravan hitch, whichever is the lower. The stability of the caravan is reliant on many things including good loading and tyre pressures etc.. The noseweight will also have an effect and it is generally the higher the better without going over the maximum for either the car or caravan, whichever is lowest, as I mentioned earlier.

I hope this helps

Mike

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello everyone,im new to caravaning and this forum.I've got a general question about noseweights.

Is the noseweight limit there to prevent the towbar being overloaded and thus possibly causing structural damage to the car and/or towbar assembly.Or is it to make the caravan more stable when being towed.

Following on from this is the limit just a bit of advice from the car manufactuer not to go beyond what they have designed the car to take ,or is it an actual legal limit specified by the authorities.

Hello elsasdad.

When I see questions like yours about stability and legality, I can't help but believe the questioner is missing the bigger picture.

Outfit stability cannot be achieved by only focusing on one narrow feature such as nose load. It has to be considered with a broader perspective.

The nose load limit is set by the manufacturer, to prevent structural damage to whichever vehicle it applies. There are two vehicles involved when towing, the tow vehicle and the trailer. Each has its own limit, and where the feature is common to both parts of the outfit, the driver must ensure that neither limit is exceeded.

Setting a 'nose load limit' has no effect on the inherent stability of any outfit, it merely expresses the maximum load you can expect the components to withstand. The stability of an outfit is affected by a range of features of which nose load is just one. It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure that all the factors including nose load are combined correctly to produce a safe outfit.

The authorities do set some 'limits', but these are usually limits according the class or type of vehicle and who can drive it. They do not 'set' the nose load limit, but they use the limits specified by the manufactures as established in accordance with the vehicle type approval and registration process.

If you can only achieve a stable outfit by exceeding a stated limit, then you must not use that combination. You may find that by varying some of the other features you may change the characteristic of the outfit to improve stability, but as already stated you must not exceed any of the limits specified by the manufacturers or allowed in law.

Where as overloading any limit is automatically deemed 'unsafe' a vehicle or outfit can still be deemed 'unsafe' for reasons other than overloading, so simply keeping everything within their respective limits does not guarantee a safe or legal outfit.

Remember the loading of tow-vehicle and caravan is unique to every trip, so what has worked on one trip, may need adjustment for any outer trip.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Elsadad

The Caravan Club run hands on caravan towing courses specifically for novices. They a day and half and inexpensive.
You will learn everything you need to know about loading nose weight and everything else that help you achieve a safe and competent tow.
Go for it

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello again elsasdad

As you tell us you are new to caravanning, and you have raised the question of nose load and the legality of the limit, I should also make you aware that there is a specific way of measuring nose load, which is the way the authorities would do it to check compliance with the manufactures limit.

Please forgive me if you already know this as we have no idea of what your experience is, its best to start from basics, besides which it may help other readers in a similar position.

It should be no surprise that when you couple a trailer with a nose load to the tow vehicle, the nose load is transmitted to the tow vehicle and its suspension will adjust accordingly and settle the tow ball at a slightly reduced height. The suspension will also change when you put all the luggage and passengers in the car, so its only when everything is loaded and ready to drive that you get the actual ride height

What is not always appreciated is that as you vary the height of the hitch, the nose load also changes. This is due to the way the trailers centre of mass rotates over the main axle when the hitch is raised or lowered. So the EU regulations stipulate the measurement of nose load must be carried out at the actual ride height.

Consumers have difficulty in measuring nose loads accurately accurately because the nose load gauges available on the retail market are not accurately calibrated, (there is one manufacture that makes an unsubstantiated claim their product is calibrated) and there have been several reports of wildly inaccurate results (some as bad as +/- 20kg!), poor consistency of measurement, coarse graduations on the mechanical gauges, and none of them adjust for ride height. Basically none of these are fit for purpose. But despite this we are still required to comply within the vehicle manufactures limits to remain legal!

There is no magic way to predict how much nose load you need to keep an outfit stable, its very much a suck-it-and-see it situation. The received wisdom is more nose load is better, which has led to the tradition that suggests you run with a nose load close to the maximum your outfit allows. However I personally start at 90% and reduce the nose load in about 5kg steps until I detect the onset instability, then I add 5 to 10kg.

I have found that the outfits (caravans and other trailers) I have driven have been satisfactory with 75 to 90% of the available nose load capacity but this must be considered in the context of managing overall loading and other factors that affect stability.

With such inaccuracies with the retail equipment how can you be confident of setting your nose load correctly? Unfortunately there is no copper bottomed method available to the consumers, but about the best I have come across is to use an ordinary set of bathroom scales, which in general will be an order of magnitude more accurate than the "propriety retail offerings"

Which ever type of measurement device you use, you must ensure your loaded ready to roll outfit is parked on a perfectly flat piece of ground (Any slopes will affect the readings you take).

Chock the caravan wheels front and back, and release the handbrake.

Measure the vertical distance from the ground to the centre of the tow ball. (The EU requirement is this point should be within 350 and 420mm from the floor in towing configuration for cars)

Now uncouple the tow vehicle and move it out of the way. Arrange to support the bathroom scales on some firm stand (I use the caravan step and some magazines) so that when I rest the trailer hitch on the scales its the same height as when its connected to the tow vehicle.

The indicated weight is the official EU nose load.

 

[Dustydog]

Hello again elsasdad

As you tell us you are new to caravanning, and you have raised the question of nose load and the legality of the limit, I should also make you aware that there is a specific way of measuring nose load, which is the way the authorities would do it to check compliance with the manufactures limit.

Please forgive me if you already know this as we have no idea of what your experience is, its best to start from basics, besides which it may help other readers in a similar position.

It should be no surprise that when you couple a trailer with a nose load to the tow vehicle, the nose load is transmitted to the tow vehicle and its suspension will adjust accordingly and settle the tow ball at a slightly reduced height. The suspension will also change when you put all the luggage and passengers in the car, so its only when everything is loaded and ready to drive that you get the actual ride height

What is not always appreciated is that as you vary the height of the hitch, the nose load also changes. This is due to the way the trailers centre of mass rotates over the main axle when the hitch is raised or lowered. So the EU regulations stipulate the measurement of nose load must be carried out at the actual ride height.

Consumers have difficulty in measuring nose loads accurately accurately because the nose load gauges available on the retail market are not accurately calibrated, (there is one manufacture that makes an unsubstantiated claim their product is calibrated) and there have been several reports of wildly inaccurate results (some as bad as +/- 20kg!), poor consistency of measurement, coarse graduations on the mechanical gauges, and none of them adjust for ride height. Basically none of these are fit for purpose. But despite this we are still required to comply within the vehicle manufactures limits to remain legal!

There is no magic way to predict how much nose load you need to keep an outfit stable, its very much a suck-it-and-see it situation. The received wisdom is more nose load is better, which has led to the tradition that suggests you run with a nose load close to the maximum your outfit allows. However I personally start at 90% and reduce the nose load in about 5kg steps until I detect the onset instability, then I add 5 to 10kg.

I have found that the outfits (caravans and other trailers) I have driven have been satisfactory with 75 to 90% of the available nose load capacity but this must be considered in the context of managing overall loading and other factors that affect stability.

With such inaccuracies with the retail equipment how can you be confident of setting your nose load correctly? Unfortunately there is no copper bottomed method available to the consumers, but about the best I have come across is to use an ordinary set of bathroom scales, which in general will be an order of magnitude more accurate than the "propriety retail offerings"

Which ever type of measurement device you use, you must ensure your loaded ready to roll outfit is parked on a perfectly flat piece of ground (Any slopes will affect the readings you take).

Chock the caravan wheels front and back, and release the handbrake.

Measure the vertical distance from the ground to the centre of the tow ball. (The EU requirement is this point should be within 350 and 420mm from the floor in towing configuration for cars)

Now uncouple the tow vehicle and move it out of the way. Arrange to support the bathroom scales on some firm stand (I use the caravan step and some magazines) so that when I rest the trailer hitch on the scales its the same height as when its connected to the tow vehicle.

The indicated weight is the official EU nose load.

Thank you Prof
If I was a Newbie and read this thread I'd give up and do Benidorm.
Surely a hands on course is what this guy needs??

 

[ProfJohnL]

Here Dusty boy,

Now sit and stay. and if your good I'll give you a Dentastix.

The CC courses are indeed a useful tool to help caravanners, I'm certain they will tell caravanners its important to set a suitable nose load and how it may affect towing characteristics. But I'm also certain they won't tell you how to measure the nose weight in accordance with the EU directives because the public don't have any products available that enables then to follow the directive.

I went into the detail, because the questioner was effectively calling into question the need to limit nose load to the manufacturers specification, which implies they were considering operating at the upper most limits. It is vitally important to know how to measure as accurately as possible when working so close to the limits as its so easy to stray over the limit and have an illegal outfit.

Sometimes simply telling someone 'No don't do it' is not enough, they need to understand why and in this case how.

 

[Dustydog]

I prefer Bonios please Prof. B)
What you say is absolutely first class. My point is purely additional to yours ,. SWMBO did a CC course some years ago. They gave her a very detailed manual and the hands on aspect was that good even I learnt somethings..
The nose weight aspect is a crucial aspect and as you know I and a few others take it that seriously we have invested in gadgets to electronically measure it. Subject to the usual criteria of being correct height level etc.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Now there's a good boy

Here's a marrow bone , now go an bury it along with advice I.ve given :kiss:

 

[Dustydog]

Now there's a good boy

Here's a marrow bone , now go an bury it along with advice I.ve given :kiss:

 

[elsasdad]

Thanks for the replies,got things straight in my head now.
Will come to the forum straight away in future instead of listening to conflicting advice from others whilst away in the van.
Will look into the cc towing course as well.

 

[M5WJF]

Interesting that an EU Directive is so explicit, yet no-one has the means to follow it without extraordinary lateral thinking such as using bathroom scales, certainly a directive created by a 'Committee' that appears to be isolated from real life practicalities.

Looking at my own situation, my car isn't type approved, has a recommended tongue weight of between 25-40kg, and the tow height at the bottom of the 50mm ball is approximately 440mm (measured today).

I suspect my trailer with a maximum gross weight of 400kg, and weighing in at 78kg empty, will not deform the rear suspension by 20mm, which means I'm going to be towing outside the EU Directive. Which whilst not a major problem (I don't actually care), there may be drivers of 4x4s that might not be aware of the ride height requirements of the tow ball.

Personally when I had a Land Rover, I also employed an adjustable height tow ball, and looked at any trailer by eye from the side to determine if any adjustment was required, I just aimed for the trailer to be level, and since having a licence I've never ever weighed the nose or tongue of any trailer, or measured the tow ball height from the ground, and I don't think the average person in the street would have a clue that specific figures of 350mm to 420mm actually exist, although they may have heard about nose weights.

I think most legislation is created for the sake of it.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Interesting that an EU Directive is so explicit, yet no-one has the means to follow it without extraordinary lateral thinking such as using bathroom scales, certainly a directive created by a 'Committee' that appears to be isolated from real life practicalities.

Yes it probably was created by a committee, but there was no prior formal way of defining nose load, and with it being so variable, they had to devise a consistent method of defining it.

It would be crazy for a manufacturer to give a nose load figure, when simply by changing the height the applied load changes. so whilst I agree its a faff to actually measure it, it does at least give an accurate method, which as I have been at pains to point out, if you are working close to your upper limit, you need to have confidence and consistency in your method of measuring.

Looking at my own situation, my car isn't type approved, has a recommended tongue weight of between 25-40kg, and the tow height at the bottom of the 50mm ball is approximately 440mm (measured today).

If your car predates the type approval process, then there is no requirment to comply with the hitch height regulation.

.... there may be drivers of 4x4s that might not be aware of the ride height requirements of the tow ball.

The loaded ball height requirements only apply to none commercial vehicles. Commercial and some off road type 4x4's are not covered by the directive.

Personally when I had a Land Rover, I also employed an adjustable height tow ball, and looked at any trailer by eye from the side to determine if any adjustment was required, I just aimed for the trailer to be level, and since having a licence I've never ever weighed the nose or tongue of any trailer, or measured the tow ball height from the ground, and I don't think the average person in the street would have a clue that specific figures of 350mm to 420mm actually exist, although they may have heard about nose weights.

Historical practices are sometimes made null and void by newer legislation. It is up to the driver to ensure they are familiar with any legislation (old or new) that applies to them or their vehicles and to comply with it. Using your argument of not changing old methods, does this mean I can drive at unlimited speed without fear of prosecution, because when I passed my test there was no such thing as the 70mph limit on motorways?

Ignorance is no excuse in law.

I think most legislation is created for the sake of it.

I think in this case it helps to clarify a previously unsatisfactory situation.

 

[Gafferbill]

Interesting that an EU Directive is so explicit, yet no-one has the means to follow it without extraordinary lateral thinking such as using bathroom scales, certainly a directive created by a 'Committee' that appears to be isolated from real life practicalities.

I think most legislation is created for the sake of it.

I can't agree with that conclusion..................

Most of our laws regarding the use of a vehicle on our public roads are written from the point of view of the safety of everyone.
Hitch height limits for instance are critical when the trailer has more than one axle.........depending on hitch height axle loadings can change affecting the trailers stability.
Drivers with licenses in the lower categories often do not realise that safety requirements and the corresponding legislation becomes more onerous and increase with the weight of the vehicle and the number of passengers carried.
The whole of EU law concerning vehicles is framed in this way and is constantly moving in this direction.
This is the reason B+E licenses were introduced.......more weight.....better training and an increased test standard.

Move further up the vehicle weights and you are into further licensing requirements and certificate of competences for the driver as well as adhering to and the keeping of drivers hours and records.
For the owner of such a vehicle regular maintenance has to carried out and records kept.

If you tow you are in charge of more weight and have more responsibility..........

 

[ProfJohnL]

Thanks for the replies,got things straight in my head now.
Will come to the forum straight away in future instead of listening to conflicting advice from others whilst away in the van.
Will look into the cc towing course as well.

Hi, and thank you for the vote of confidence in the forum. I must sound a note of caution though, its not wise to have a blind faith in what you read on this or any other forum, unless you know who is giving the advice, and their relevant experience or qualifications.

PC forum like may others uses nicknames to hide the posters real identity. So a most readers cannot know the individual or their authority to advise on the subject.

It's a sad fact that most forums have had "trolls" who seek to disrupt the forum, upset genuine members and deliberately seek to spread misinformation. PC forum is well moderated and most troll attacks are quickly taken down, but there are some subject areas where there can be a difference of opinion and its quite possible that none of the opinions offered is actually correct, So always treat forum posts with a degree of caution and if its something you want to do then do what you can to verify the advice given before acting on it.

Good luck

 

[M5WJF]

I only ever drove Army HGV/LGV with HGV/LGV Trailers, and never weighed or measured anything, no tachographs, and even participated in Rigid Tows of HGV/LGV Vehicles.

I think common sense was expected more back then (Pre-1992), these days they legislate everything, and thats why the haulage industry doesn't have enough drivers, or have drivers who are unfamiliar with the road signs and English. I'm sure its progress, and we're all much safer now, despite it all costing a lot more than it used to.

No wonder one of my sons still hasn't had driving lessons at the age of 26.

I'll remember to use bathroom scales then.

 

[RayS]

Prof, how do you rate the Reich weighing system .? To me it has the potential of reasonable accuracy, and theotential to be checked with deadweight if only at the lower end of the scale.
I understand the method of use involves putting the weigh pad under each wheel in turn including the jockey wheel and then summing (or perhaps the device does it foy you ?) so it would be pretty easy to put the hitch onto the scale using you method to ensure level.

I've also considered a frame to stand astride the hitch onto which an old fashioned dial type spring weigher could be hung, but this is a bit OTT for most folks. The readily available digital scales are usually designed for flight baggage use, so do not have the range required.

This is another instance of the totally different approach of our Continental cousins. Drawbars commonly carry one or two bicycles, sometimes there are multipul gas bottles in the locker etc. the sales brochure for my previous ( Burstner) caravan which had not only gas bottles but also the spare wheel in the front locker, showed it, complete with two bicycles on the drawbar, hitched to a then current Mercedes C Class which had a towball limit of 75kg !
I had some difficulty in getting down to the 100 kg hitch limit even after relocatng the spare wheel and changing to lightweight gas bottles. ( my 4x4 had a 130 kg limit)
Going back to the 1960s when the 'science' the general wisdom suggested 5 to 7 % of the maximum all up weight of the caravan was about right for the noseweight, and I guess the modern calculations will fall somewhere arond these figures.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Prof, how do you rate the Reich weighing system .? To me it has the potential of reasonable accuracy, and theotential to be checked with deadweight if only at the lower end of the scale.
I understand the method of use involves putting the weigh pad under each wheel in turn including the jockey wheel and then summing (or perhaps the device does it foy you ?) so it would be pretty easy to put the hitch onto the scale using you method to ensure level.

Hello Ray,

The Rollover Reich Weight Control has considerable potential, BUT it has to be used properly, because the weighing pad has some thickness. and when pulling a caravan over it, it will change the angle of the chassis, all-be-it slightly, but its akin to several mm hitch height difference, so again the measured value will have some error.

To over come this error either the Reich unit needs to be sunk into the ground so there is no step up to it or all the wheels need to be supported at the same height.

The issue is not massive for Single Axle caravans,but for Twin Axles the issue can be quite significant.

As for nose load assessment, yes you can use the gauge in the same way as I have suggested for bathroom scales, but if you use it under the jockey wheel, then again the dimensional configuration of the Jockey wheel compared to the hitch is different, and that will mean the measured value under the JW is not the same as the nose load. It is also affected by the direction the jockey wheel is pointing.

There is a way of using the jockey wheel, which does compensate for the dimension differences. The load at the jokey wheel has a fixed relationship with the load at the hitch. Its dependant on the relative distances of the hitch and the JW from the centre of the road wheels. It's back to school day physics/maths and moments or turning forces (Torque), where the turning force about a point is the force times distance. Given that the JW is closer to the wheels than the hitch, which means the the load at the JW will be Greater that at the hitch, and for any given caravan the relative proportion of the loads will always be the same.

The big issue with using the JW, is wheel is free to swing in different directions, which changes the distance to the main wheels, so you either have to always have the wheel pointing in the same direct relative to the caravan, or use the bottom of the tubular jack (heel of the jockywheel) and use this as your measuring point. The practical side to this is the once you have established the correction factor it remains the same for the life of the caravan. The way to use it is JW load x Factor to give nose load value.

The other great advantage of this system, is the fact you have the jockeywheel height adjustment screw that allows you to match the towed hitch height easily.

 

[RayS]

Thanks Prof. for your reply. On the road to my hard earned qualifications I spent many hours on calculations involving the effect of angular displacement on vertical forces and agree that if this method is used with the jockey wheel lock in a fore and aft position then the effect on noseweight as seen at the hitch is a simple ratio calculation between distance from cl of main road wheels to hitch and to point of contact of jockey wheel..

I spent probably the same time calculating the error of a strain gauge load cell having the load applied in a less than true axial direction which occurred when the beer tank on the load cell became slightly warm. This calculation was assisted somewhat by the well known (at the time) fact that 'A Double Diamond works wonders' since this was the beer in question.

I still consider we may be getting a bit over scientific about a situation which by its nature is multi variable with several unknowns.

 

[Gafferbill]

I spent probably the same time calculating the error of a strain gauge load cell having the load applied in a less than true axial direction which occurred when the beer tank on the load cell became slightly warm. This calculation was assisted somewhat by the well known (at the time) fact that 'A Double Diamond works wonders' since this was the beer in question.

I remember that test ........if I remember rightly It was called the Alcoholic End Product Extraction Test.

 

[intransient1]

This has been an interesting thread to follow and it shows how complex it is to get a proper reading.
ProfJohnL's method is certainly a safer way to to check the hitch weight.
Where I live the camber on the road is quite bad and I have to take my outfit elsewhere to a level surface.
Then when I take into consideration the noseweight as measured when I have the van serviced empty of everything except the gas bottle and the battery it is quite heavy at 90kg.
This could lead to inadvertently having to much noseweight at least once a year for a lot of people.

 

[ProfJohnL]

.............
This could lead to inadvertently having to much noseweight at least once a year for a lot of people.

Hello Intansient,

The company I used to work for supplied various items of equipment to the caravan manufacturers. To assist the manufacturers we used to have sample caravans and do model installations, so the manufacturers could hopefully fit the appliances correctly in production. (Some manufacturers try to cut costs by scrimping on some aspects of installation.)

This meant we sometimes had to collect or deliver caravans direct to manufacturers. The caravans were about as close to ex works as you could get them, and it was noticeable that over the years the ex works nose loads were getting bigger. It was for that reason we came up with the idea of carrying empty water carriers (25L) and a number of bungee cords and transit straps, so that we could check and trim the caravans by adding ballast accordingly before we towed them.

We used spring loaded nose load gauges, and it was after we noticed inconsistency in the readings, that I personally took a much keener interest in the issue of nose load and caravan weights in general.

We continued to use the spring gauges but we settled on aiming for an indicated 75% of the available nose load capacity, which we found to be usually adequate for towing, and still left us with enough load margin to allow for the inaccuracy of the gauges.

I was not entirely happy with this 'ad hoc' arrangement and over the years I have refined my view and advice towards the bathroom scales - which we know can also have some poor calibration, but they are generally far better and more consistent than the retail spring gauges on the market.

The Reich products do not change length/thickness any where as much as the spring gauges do, and being digital their graduations are finer and easier to read, but they still do not allow the hitch to be set at the correct measurement height, and they don't come with a certificate of calibration so their accuracy is still unconfirmed.

There is no lawful excuse for having an 'out of range' nose load. The driver (and in the commercial sector the company) is always responsible for ensuring the vehicle they drive is road worthy and compliant with regulations.

 

[intransient1]

Hi ProfJohnL,
thanks for the extra clarification and the simpler idea of using the caravan step much more stable and less chance of me having an accident as osteoarthritis makes simple tasks a lot harder.

 

[ProfJohnL]

.................I still consider we may be getting a bit over scientific about a situation which by its nature is multi variable with several unknowns.

Hello Ray,

I think we can still just about call caravanning a hobby, though the legal basis that allows us to caravan has changed, and where as in years gone by it may have had rudimentary regulations applied and weakly enforced, in our current time, like it of not, we are now beset with greater legislative controls than ever before. Cynically one could presuppose its a way to generate more fines revenue from easy targets, but regardless of the purpose, you cannot afford to be unaware of the changes and their implications there is no reason for any driver to be found with an overloaded vehicle, as ignorance is no excuse in law.

I get a perception that some forum users want to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the changing legislation, in the hope it wont affect them. Well if they have been prudent and followed good practice , then for now they probably will have no conflict, but if they have deliberately pushed the envelope and used inaccurate measurement methods in the past they are more likely to be found wanting in the future

Just because historically the issue of caravan loads has rarely been picked up by and prosecuted, there is evidence the issue of all vehicle weights and especially overloading is being pursued more vigorously.

The methods we have traditionally used for assessing our outfits have been handed down to us, but legislation has moved on and some of our methods are now longer fit for purpose. This is the danger of relying on 'traditions' it the lazy way out of addressing a situation.

So many long held 'traditions' have been shown to fail to meet the needs of a modern society. After review, some may still serve their purpose, but as I have already suggested there are many that have become illegal, outdated, dangerous or just socially unacceptable. So its more imperative than ever to stop blindly using traditions without reviewing their relevance or efficacy.

Specifically in relation to nose load. The traditional vague methods may have been sufficient in the past, but today the authorities have access to more information and better measurement systems, so inaccuracies of the past may now come to be a false economy if used today.

I suspect most caravanners have an almost instinctive understanding of how to adjust their nose load; like using a see-saw, but its difficult to explain the metrics without getting into some science and maths. In this case the EU directives now establish fairly precise criteria to be measured. If we are to be judged on specific criteria we should use the same criteria to guide our efforts to comply.

Most people resist change, and just telling someone to change a long held belief can (and has in this case) encountered inertia. I believe that showing how a system works it can help to educate readers to understand why a they should consider changing.

 

[Gafferbill]

Specifically in relation to nose load. The traditional vague methods may have been sufficient in the past, but today the authorities have access to more information and better measurement systems, so inaccuracies of the past may now come to be a false economy if used today.

I know of no authority that is likely to check a trailer/caravan noseweight other than a DVSA officer working alongside a police officer.

What method do the DVSA use to measure noseweight?

I can't believe they use a piece of wood on bathroom scales?