Could anyone tell me the empty noseweight of a Lunar Quasar 615 or indeed if you have this van, what you tow it with and what noseweight you aim for. Thanks
Mike
Mike
noseweight
- Thread starter Bay343
- Start date
Hello Mike,
I am not sure why you need to know the empty nose load of a caravan. Manufactures rarely if ever quote it, simply because, as soon as any item is added to the caravan the load will change. Equally due to manufacturing tolerances on materials such as wood or other absorbent materials, the nose load of two identical models will be different.
It also depends on the height of the hitch above the ground, so with so many variables it is not practical to such a figure, as it will almost certainly be wrong. or changeable.
What you should be doing is to load the caravan and measure the load, then adjust the items in the caravan to bring load into an acceptable range.
The acceptable range must be more than 25Kg but less than the lower limit defined by the cars tow ball limit or the caravans hitch limit. It is generally accepted that it is best to arrange for the hitch load to be towards the top of the available range to aid towing stability.
Check with your car and caravan manufacture or dealers for details of the hitch limits for your outfit.
I am not sure why you need to know the empty nose load of a caravan. Manufactures rarely if ever quote it, simply because, as soon as any item is added to the caravan the load will change. Equally due to manufacturing tolerances on materials such as wood or other absorbent materials, the nose load of two identical models will be different.
It also depends on the height of the hitch above the ground, so with so many variables it is not practical to such a figure, as it will almost certainly be wrong. or changeable.
What you should be doing is to load the caravan and measure the load, then adjust the items in the caravan to bring load into an acceptable range.
The acceptable range must be more than 25Kg but less than the lower limit defined by the cars tow ball limit or the caravans hitch limit. It is generally accepted that it is best to arrange for the hitch load to be towards the top of the available range to aid towing stability.
Check with your car and caravan manufacture or dealers for details of the hitch limits for your outfit.
Thanks, My towball limit is 75kg, which if fine with my current s/a van 1350kg. The new van I am looking at has an mtplm of 1550kg (t/a) If I cannot acheive 75kg with the new van empty, then it would be wrong to pack everything towards the rear when loading to try and acheive the 75kg noseweight
Hello Mike,
I think I understand your concerns.
First of all it is important that you understand how to measure the nose load, as twin axels are more sensitive to hitch height than single axle caravans. The suspension units of both axles interact in such a way that a change in hitch height makes a bigger difference than would be the case for a single axle unit, so attention to detail here may prevent unnecessary worry.
Briefly,
The whole caravan must be on a horizontal surface.
The hitch must be at the same height as your tow hitch when it is connected to your car. And the nose load must be measured vertically from the hitch it self
You are correct to wish to avoid placing heavy items at the extreme rear. This can exaggerate stability issues, but often it is only necessary to move a few Kg to bring the nose load into range.
Carefully consider what items you carry in the front gas bottle locker, The gas bottles must be there for safety, but what about the electric hook up cable, or the wheel ramps, cricket bat etc, these items can add up to 10kg, so simply taking them out of the locker will reduce the nose load, and if these are then stowed towards the rear of the caravan, they will actually further reduce the nose load.
If only 10 to 20 Kg of mass added to the rear of the caravan causes the outfit to become unstable, then you have much bigger problems than just nose load.
Fortunately, twin axle trailers are generally considered to be easer and more tolerant to load than singles so rather than worry about unladen nose loads, load it up and play with it until it you get the way you want it.
I think I understand your concerns.
First of all it is important that you understand how to measure the nose load, as twin axels are more sensitive to hitch height than single axle caravans. The suspension units of both axles interact in such a way that a change in hitch height makes a bigger difference than would be the case for a single axle unit, so attention to detail here may prevent unnecessary worry.
Briefly,
The whole caravan must be on a horizontal surface.
The hitch must be at the same height as your tow hitch when it is connected to your car. And the nose load must be measured vertically from the hitch it self
You are correct to wish to avoid placing heavy items at the extreme rear. This can exaggerate stability issues, but often it is only necessary to move a few Kg to bring the nose load into range.
Carefully consider what items you carry in the front gas bottle locker, The gas bottles must be there for safety, but what about the electric hook up cable, or the wheel ramps, cricket bat etc, these items can add up to 10kg, so simply taking them out of the locker will reduce the nose load, and if these are then stowed towards the rear of the caravan, they will actually further reduce the nose load.
If only 10 to 20 Kg of mass added to the rear of the caravan causes the outfit to become unstable, then you have much bigger problems than just nose load.
Fortunately, twin axle trailers are generally considered to be easer and more tolerant to load than singles so rather than worry about unladen nose loads, load it up and play with it until it you get the way you want it.
Mike.B I too have a Quasar 615 and I tow this with a 2ltr (16v) Renault Espace. My towball is limited to 80kg, so I always aim for 75kg. In my front locker I have two 6kg gas bottles, 25m EHU cable, spare wheel, levelling blocks and a few spare items (regulator etc) in a box.
When I pack for an outing, I place the lightweight portch awning (9kg) at the rear of the van, along with the peg bag and wastemaster (aquaroll sits in the toilet) and find I can achieve this limit quite easily.
When we go away with the full awning (40kg) I put the awning in the car and then place items like towels at the rear of the van to replace the porth awning and bring the noseweight back down. As John.L says just move bulky/heavy items around to achieve the limit you are aiming for, as long as they are well packed on the floor they wont move,
hope this helps and best regards, Martin
When I pack for an outing, I place the lightweight portch awning (9kg) at the rear of the van, along with the peg bag and wastemaster (aquaroll sits in the toilet) and find I can achieve this limit quite easily.
When we go away with the full awning (40kg) I put the awning in the car and then place items like towels at the rear of the van to replace the porth awning and bring the noseweight back down. As John.L says just move bulky/heavy items around to achieve the limit you are aiming for, as long as they are well packed on the floor they wont move,
hope this helps and best regards, Martin
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