I have a Bailey Senator Arizona (2006) and towing with a Nissan X-Trail 2005. When towing on dual carriage ways and motorways the outfit is upset by the bow wave of passing HGVs. I have added AL-KO shock absorbers and it has a AL-KO 3004 stabiliser. Any ideas on how to stabilise the caravan more, please?
Stability of Bailey Senators
- Thread starter Peter_5124611
- Start date
Look at how you have loaded the van + nose weight, and check that all is correct.
If you have weight at the rear of the van that will not help.
Does the X trail have soft rear suspension. If it is not self leveling or is to soft that will have the car moving up and down.
If you have weight at the rear of the van that will not help.
Does the X trail have soft rear suspension. If it is not self leveling or is to soft that will have the car moving up and down.
Peter, what do you mean by upset is it just a slight tug to one side by the van as the HGV,s disturb the airflow or does it feel more like the start of a snake.
All the combinations I have towed with can be effected slightly by passing HGV,s. The 7.5 ton vans doing 70mph tend to have the greatest effect. I have always regarded this the norm and find if you move to the left of your lane as you see the vehicle approaching in your mirrors it reduces the disturbance on the caravan.
All the combinations I have towed with can be effected slightly by passing HGV,s. The 7.5 ton vans doing 70mph tend to have the greatest effect. I have always regarded this the norm and find if you move to the left of your lane as you see the vehicle approaching in your mirrors it reduces the disturbance on the caravan.
I have the same van series 5 Arizona with shocks as well I tow it with loads off weight in the front 100kg a full top tank in the loo full water heater.This caravan is as steady as a rock.I just set my Cruise contro at 60 mph then the lorries with the 56 mph limiters can,t catch you.
Peter , can only think its your loading ,i tow Senator Indiana with a 130 BHP Ford Mondeo TDCI Estate and i am more near the 95% mark ,and as tour all year i havent noticed any stability problems ,and we have had quite a few highwinds earlier in the year ,i am no slouch on the motorway either ,also just a while ago i had a car overtake me on the M4 then he started to pull into our lane i was doing 65 MPH and i had to swerve over to the inside lane, how i never lost control i will never know ,also lucky for me the inside lane was clear ,but i have every confidence tow wise in the Senator
Joby. Can I ask in the best possible taste Joby.
R U BARKING MAD ?
Sorry to shout, but I had to ask in the most polite way I can think of.
R U BARKING MAD ?
Sorry to shout, but I had to ask in the most polite way I can think of.
Hello Peter,
I also tow a Senator a twin axle Montana 2004 with a Volvo V70 D5 Diesel engine. Sorry but mine is as steady as a rock on motorways etc so i think you need to check how you load the van.
I do not go above 60MPH mostly between 55 & 60 but i certainly wouldnt do 65 its a bit risky
Hope you get it sorted
Dave
11:52 PM Hello Peter,
I also tow a Senator a twin axle Montana 2004 with a Volvo V70 D5 Diesel engine. Sorry but mine is as steady as a rock on motorways etc so i think you need to check how you load the van.
I do not go above 60MPH mostly between 55 & 60 but i certainly wouldnt do 65 its a bit risky
Hope you get it sorted
Dave
I also tow a Senator a twin axle Montana 2004 with a Volvo V70 D5 Diesel engine. Sorry but mine is as steady as a rock on motorways etc so i think you need to check how you load the van.
I do not go above 60MPH mostly between 55 & 60 but i certainly wouldnt do 65 its a bit risky
Hope you get it sorted
Dave
There's only one way to find out if i am barking mad ,i shall be travelling along the M4 on friday the 14 from Swansea to Farnham in surrey a distance of 190 miles ,pehaps if your along that route you can flash your lights and i will stop ,and you will see what a nice guy i am,
Yet again, someone else who thinks that you have to use a Cheiftan tank to tow an Eriba Puck. The Mondeo TDCi estate weighs between 1560 and 1645kgs depending on spec. It has a max. tow of 1800kgs. Towing at 95% of the kerbweight is neither illegal or stupid. From memory the X-trail weighs about the same.
I also use a TDCi estate to tow a 1500kg caravan and in four years have never had any rpoblems. I'm changing it in 4 weeks for a new Passat estate (1760kgs) and will be changing the caravan to a Bailey Senator Louisiana, yes a twin axle weighing 1650kgs. Stupid? No. Illegal? Afraid not. Carefull loading, sensible driving, coupled with twin axles being inherently more stable than singles and I am more than comfortable thank-you.
More & more "family" cars now have kerbweights approaching (or exceding) some 4x4 vehicles.
I'm not sure about the comments posted re my question!
I have no problem with towing a Senator above 85% with whatever car suits your needs. That is down to personal choice.
I've towed a Senator on the continent at over 70 mph and had no worries and felt very safe and stable!
But this concerns me -
"i am no slouch on the motorway either ,also just a while ago had a car overtake me on the M4 then he started to pull into our lane i was doing 65 MPH and i had to swerve over to the inside lane, how i never lost control i will never know ,also lucky for me the inside lane was clear ,but i have every confidence tow wise in the Senator"
Whatever the other driver did Joby says he was over the limit, he would not have had a leg to stand on if worse came to worse!
Joby I live a short distance from Farnham so where do you want to meet?
I have no problem with towing a Senator above 85% with whatever car suits your needs. That is down to personal choice.
I've towed a Senator on the continent at over 70 mph and had no worries and felt very safe and stable!
But this concerns me -
"i am no slouch on the motorway either ,also just a while ago had a car overtake me on the M4 then he started to pull into our lane i was doing 65 MPH and i had to swerve over to the inside lane, how i never lost control i will never know ,also lucky for me the inside lane was clear ,but i have every confidence tow wise in the Senator"
Whatever the other driver did Joby says he was over the limit, he would not have had a leg to stand on if worse came to worse!
Joby I live a short distance from Farnham so where do you want to meet?
I have a Senator Indiana which I tow with a Chrysler Grand Voyager. No problems with stability here. Although I have noticed that it appears to tow smoother if I keep the nose weight down to 70 - 80 kgs. I would normally aim to 85-90kgs.
I shall be staying at Mellow farm,Dockenfield farnham page 412 of the C C book ,probabley arrive about 2pm Friday bye 4 now
I have the same van but 2004 model :-( (Bailey Senator Arizona)
I also have problems with the van being upset by the slightest puff of wind or vehicles passing in the opposite direction on motorways, I think my biggest problem is nose weight my 2001 Peugeot 607 SE HDi can only handle 70-75kgs but I struggle to get close to that weight and that is with almost nothing in the front of the van (2 propane bottles in front locker) and the awning and other kit by and beyond the bathroom door. I would say the van would be happier with about 90kgs on its nose (but I could be wrong)
Any thoughts from the collective?
Martin
I also have problems with the van being upset by the slightest puff of wind or vehicles passing in the opposite direction on motorways, I think my biggest problem is nose weight my 2001 Peugeot 607 SE HDi can only handle 70-75kgs but I struggle to get close to that weight and that is with almost nothing in the front of the van (2 propane bottles in front locker) and the awning and other kit by and beyond the bathroom door. I would say the van would be happier with about 90kgs on its nose (but I could be wrong)
Any thoughts from the collective?
Martin
Tha Arizona is not a particularly heavy caravan so the 75kg noseweight limit of most cars should be perfectly adequate.
Lutz Sorry I can`t agree on your comment "the Arizona is not a particularly heavy caravan" my series 5 has a MGW of 1500kg which is not light for a single axle caravan,and in my opinion you need a fair size vehicle to tow it,not many average family cars are big enough for even an empty Arizona at 1248kg.even when empty the nose weight is well above the 85kg max reading on my nose weight gauge. Keep up your good Work on this forum,Glenn
I tow a Pageant Bretagne MTPLM 1409 kgs with a 2004 Vectra Diesel which gives a 93% match and initially had a few problems with coaches and 7.5 tonners passing me but having experimented with loading on the last few trips have found there was too much weight behind the axle.
I came back from Bristol to the North Midlands in windy conditions last week and felt really confident for the first time.
I still look for coaches in my mirrors as they tend to cause the biggest problem although it no longer feels unsteady I just get pulled across the lane.
I came back from Bristol to the North Midlands in windy conditions last week and felt really confident for the first time.
I still look for coaches in my mirrors as they tend to cause the biggest problem although it no longer feels unsteady I just get pulled across the lane.
OK, lightweight or not is all rather relative but there are a good many caravans, even single axle ones, that are well over 1500kg. In the hands of an experienced and careful driver, a 1500kg caravan is still capable of being towed safely with 75kg noseweight.
Having my HGV since 1987 I would like to think I am a semi experienced driver but as stated before have a hard time getting the nose weight down, some of this could be down to the two 6kg propane bottles in the front locker (once empty I will change them for 3.9kgs if I can without changing regulators) as I have virtually nothing in the front lockers in the van. I get about the same reading Glen gets 90-95kgs but if I move awning polls etc to the back of the van I can get about 75kgs but as you all know all that weight at the back is asking for trouble.
Just to add my two-penny worth. Some of you may recall that 12 months ago I had bought a Bailey Senator Oklahoma. I immediately had problems towing with my Mercedes C250; mostly because the noseweight limit of the car was 75kg and I was unable to get the Senator's noseweight below 90kg or so. I then bought a KIA Sorento and now all those issues are behind me.
As for stability, the Senator is very stable. Yes of course I can 'feel' the drag when a large coach overtakes me at 70mph but apart from that, it's rock solid. I have to say, I think much is down to the towcar / caravan weight ratio. The Mercedes never felt that stable; although I have to say it wasn't bad (noseweight not withstanding !) John
As for stability, the Senator is very stable. Yes of course I can 'feel' the drag when a large coach overtakes me at 70mph but apart from that, it's rock solid. I have to say, I think much is down to the towcar / caravan weight ratio. The Mercedes never felt that stable; although I have to say it wasn't bad (noseweight not withstanding !) John
One of the new 2007 Adria models (I can't recall which one) has locker right at the back, specifically to accommodate 'ballast' to reduce noseweight if it is too high. The locker is rated to take a load of up to 70kg.
Our Ace Jubilee Statesman had the battery box right at the back and with a 100amp hour battery weighing 4st3lb its seemed like a case of do what we say rather than do what we do regarding loading heavy things at the rear.The fridge,cooker.battery and water heater were all on the same side as well.
The Senator on the other hand has the fridge and cooker over one wheel and the battery and wardrobe over the other and so you would expect it to be more stable .
In practice there is little difference to the feel when on tow.
The Senator on the other hand has the fridge and cooker over one wheel and the battery and wardrobe over the other and so you would expect it to be more stable .
In practice there is little difference to the feel when on tow.
I am shocked that you tow with water tanks filled!
Water moves around and can make a unit even more unstable and usually the advise is to ensure that all water tanks are EMPTY not full.
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