I just thought I would share a finding from my last towing trip.
I have a 2001 Compass Corona 524 (MTPLM 1300kg), towed with a 57plate CR-V diesel. Whenever we went away on a trip, the van behaved impeccably, with no hint of unruly behaviour. Even passing trucks and coaches failed to upset it at all. We have the noseweight set at around 85kg, and everything is loaded sensibly inside, with most of the heavy stff going in the car.
Coming back, the same story , noseweight set to around 85kg, most of the kit in the same place as before, apart from a bag of dirty clothes which tends to live under the sink in the end washroom. It does not weigh a huge amount, but is usually a good black bin liner full, weighing perhaps 15kg (at a guess).
However, usually on a return trip, the van has always been somewhat more fussey, wagging its tail a bit more than is comfortable on the motorway. I have always "lived with this in the past, but on the last trip my son needed a loo stop, so I took the opportunity of moving the bag of clothes from under the rear sink to just in front of the axle, to see if it made any difference. What a difference it made to the stability. You would not think that 15kg's of load sat at the back of the (otherwise well loaded) van would affect stability so much.
That is a lesson well learned.
Thought it was worth sharing with everyone.
Cheers
David
I have a 2001 Compass Corona 524 (MTPLM 1300kg), towed with a 57plate CR-V diesel. Whenever we went away on a trip, the van behaved impeccably, with no hint of unruly behaviour. Even passing trucks and coaches failed to upset it at all. We have the noseweight set at around 85kg, and everything is loaded sensibly inside, with most of the heavy stff going in the car.
Coming back, the same story , noseweight set to around 85kg, most of the kit in the same place as before, apart from a bag of dirty clothes which tends to live under the sink in the end washroom. It does not weigh a huge amount, but is usually a good black bin liner full, weighing perhaps 15kg (at a guess).
However, usually on a return trip, the van has always been somewhat more fussey, wagging its tail a bit more than is comfortable on the motorway. I have always "lived with this in the past, but on the last trip my son needed a loo stop, so I took the opportunity of moving the bag of clothes from under the rear sink to just in front of the axle, to see if it made any difference. What a difference it made to the stability. You would not think that 15kg's of load sat at the back of the (otherwise well loaded) van would affect stability so much.
That is a lesson well learned.
Thought it was worth sharing with everyone.
Cheers
David