Tow hitch weight.

[DrZhivago]

Looks like all parties in this thread have retired exhausted to their respective corners FTTB 🙁 This topic is always entertaining, but I'd finished my tub of popcorn anyway :lol:

 

[Martin24]

Looks like all parties in this thread have retired exhausted to their respective corners FTTB 🙁 This topic is always entertaining, but I'd finished my tub of popcorn anyway :lol:

My way is of course still the best :evil: of course not being able to lift the van at all now, I put down to disability NOT overloading 😗 I'm sure the gauge on the jockey wheel is completely wrong as it always seems to read the same totally OTT figure.

 

[Gagakev]

I use this before I leave home, fully adjustable to suit hitch height.

BUT I dont take it with me, due to the weight of it,................... it puts my NW way over :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[colin-yorkshire]

Actually since changing to a caravan I am starting to wonder how many motorhomes are driving around way over their legal limit.

Ours had a MTPLM of 3700kg no chance of being overweight [I never carried a pallet of bricks in it] :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: .

and yes Martin, I know all the tin hat jokes. but it is exactly how I gauged the nose weight for almost 25 years. B) B) knowing how much I could lift one handed. told me if the load was more than a certain weight. as the maximum was way over what I could lift it was always light and never over. but enough to keep it stable what the actual weight was didn't matter, I then had a gap from tourers for 11 years [with the M/home] it was only when returning to a tourer it became a requirement to know what it actually was. [due to the lower tow bar weights] that's when I did the weight experiment. and found like Kev and others that the actual difference between the different methods was at most 5 kg allowing 10 kg as a margin and never changing the loading of the van kept it within the parameters I was happy with. this is of course a personal experience. but accepting that someone else can have a different approach their happy with seems a sensible approach..

 

[Hutch]

Fully agree with Martin and Colin, check every now and again with garage scales, they came from the bathroon. Hitch up and down make very little difference , less than 1 kg. On a 7 meter van. I am happy with my nose weight of the caravan.

 

[Martin24]

Confession time,

I have not seriously checked nose weight on the last three vans.

What I do know is they have all "felt right" and the current one especially tows beautifully so I'm not going to change what works, looks right and is a very stable tow.

 

[Martin24]

Confession time,

I have not seriously checked nose weight on the last three vans.

What I do know is they have all "felt right" and the current one especially tows beautifully so I'm not going to change what works, looks right and is a very stable tow.

If everyone has a go with their equipment at Woosiefest we'll see how far over I am.

 

[otherclive]

I tend to check before each outward trip, but not when touring as by then the contents and loading are stable. I used Milenco (calibrated) gauge but I have checked this against the bathroom scales method and they were within a couple of kilos of each other. But I do adjust the base of the Milenco to get it as near hitch height of the loaded towball as possible.

 

[Anseo]

I use this before I leave home, fully adjustable to suit hitch height.

BUT I dont take it with me, due to the weight of it,................... it puts my NW way over :lol: :lol: :lol:

This is one of those posts that for some reason the associated pic does not show up initially, anyway, just seen this pic and I love it, well done, great piece of kit, I must DIY a similar.

Cheers Gagakev.

 

[Gagakev]

I use this before I leave home, fully adjustable to suit hitch height.

BUT I dont take it with me, due to the weight of it,................... it puts my NW way over :lol: :lol: :lol:

This is one of those posts that for some reason the associated pic does not show up initially, anyway, just seen this pic and I love it, well done, great piece of kit, I must DIY a similar.

Cheers Gagakev.

Original design by our famous Sprocket, couple of hours out of bits of scrap and an old tow ball cut off.