Noseweight Measurement

[Richard_5040321]

Can anyone tell me please how to accurately measure the noseweight ?

The Practical Caravan magazine this month talks about only releasing the rear steadies therefore leaving the front ones down.

Is this correct ?

I normally wind up the steadies and slowly release the jockey wheel.

I don't want to muck this up and get a false reading so your help is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Zbungle]

You appear to do exactly the same as I do. Have the van resting on the jockey wheel with all the corner steadies up, put noseweight guage in place then slowly wind up the jockey wheel so that the noseweight of the van is transferred to the guage. Must be the only way to get a true figure.

 

[VIP2006]

This is what I do (and it may be shot down by othe contributors to this forum)

1 - Load the caravan with the equipment to be carried to the weight allowed for personal use.

2 - Distribute the load as far as possible near to the axle(s)

3 - Buy a nose weight measurer and set the caravan hitch to allow this to be placed under the coupling head.

4 - Lift up the front 2 corner steadies and allow the coupling to push the down the measurer, if the noseweight for your outfit is not reached, adjust the load towards the front of the van until the weight measurement is reached.

5 - note how you have acheived the required noseweight for future trips.

hope this helps - regards

 

[Lutz]

The only thing that's important when measuring the noseweight is that the coupling is at the same height as when the caravan is hitched up to the towcar (ideally, the caravan will be standing level in this condition). Whether the weight transfer on to the noseweight scales is achieved using the front steadies or the jockey wheel is really immaterial.

 

[TrevorTomlinson_5041677]

Anyone needing info regarding noseweights and any other critical information can obtain useful material at www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk and print off from their data sheets. Safety is paramount, and their facts provide knowledge which is practical and makes common sense.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Richard, I have not read the article, but you can only get an accurate reading if the caravan is on level ground, the nose-weight guage is correctly adjusted to the height of the tow hitch when the caravan is leveled. The only points of contact with the ground should be the road wheels and the base of the nose-weight guage. Any other point of contatct that exert any pressure will corrupt the reading. also bear in mind that it is very unlikely that the equipemnt you use will have been calibrated, so aim to be lower than the indicated maximum to be on the safe side.