Noseweights

[Robert_374373903]

My caravan and towbracket say's 75KLG, so thats what i set it at when leaving for holiday. However, last week i thought i would test it after coming back off holday and found it 53 KLG. Apart from food etc weight we had most things in the same place.There were no signs of towing differance so is it acceptable?.

 

[RogerL]

Over many years of caravanning I've found that noseweight varies considerably despite consistent loading - my answer is one item which can be safely positioned from front to back of the caravan, so as to adjust the noseweight to the required figure.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Robert,

The 75kg is a "never exceed" limit - so you should aim for a sensible value that is below that figure.

How much leeway you give yourself is one of the things you need to assess - and as Roger suggested, we regard the main awning fabric bag as a sliding balance weight.

So is 53kg OK or would 65kg or 70kg be better? I think the answer depends on the caravan, the tow-car, the weather conditions, and how the caravan was built and how you load it...

For us, towing a German Eriba with a MTPLM of 1200 kg - the recommended nose-weight multiplier is 4% - so we try for a nose-weight in the band 40kg to 50kg depending on actual load (with a 400 kg payload we never get close to even 1000kg)

And as you seem to have discovered there was little apparent difference between 53kg and 75kg - stronger sidewinds might alter your perceptions though...

Robert