Trailer tongue weight?

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Mar 14, 2005
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In a nutshell you cannot be prosecuted due the caravan exceeding its nose weight, but you can be prosecuted for exceeding the towbar specifications or the weight on the rear axle.
Not strictly true! Whilst there may not be a prosecution for exceeding the "S" value on the grounds of value of the applied load, the authorities could deem the outfit to be unroadworthy The burden of proof is less specific.

Again how accurate would the weighing equipment need to be to detect that either are being exceeded by 20-30kgs?

To be able to measure a value with practical accuracy, the measurement tool needs to be typically a minimum of 10X more precise, and of course be in calibration. However for measuring typical noseload on Class B licence vehicles, it would be perfectly reasonable to expect a measuring device with a range of only 150Kg to be easily be able to resolve to 1kg or even 0.1kg with a tolerance of +/-0.1kg. As far as I know, there is no retail device currently sold which can offer that degree of resolution, and certainly they cannot offer that degree of accuracy. But such systems are readily available in the commercial sector.
 
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Not strictly true! Whilst there may not be a prosecution for exceeding the "S" value on the grounds of value of the applied load, the authorities could deem the outfit to be unroadworthy The burden of proof is less specific.

To be able to measure a value with practical accuracy, the measurement tool needs to be typically a minimum of 10X more precise, and of course be in calibration. However for measuring typical noseload on Class B licence vehicles, it would be perfectly reasonable to expect a measuring device with a range of only 150Kg to be easily be able to resolve to 1kg or even 0.1kg with a tolerance of +/-0.1kg. As far as I know, there is no retail device currently sold which can offer that degree of resolution, and certainly they cannot offer that degree of accuracy. But such systems are readily available in the commercial sector.
I think it is highly unlikely that even the DVSA would check your nose weight as there is no legislation to cover it as an offence so a pointless exercise. They could however secure a conviction if you exceed the maximum load weight of the rear axle.

We find our Milenco calibrated nose weight gauge to be adequate for the purpose of checking the nose weight of the caravan as it can read up to 400kg.
 
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Mar 14, 2005
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I'm not sure what the links are for, but they don't seem to have any connection with the thread.

An insurance company might see the need to make such enquiries if faced with a claim, but its unlikely they would have the opportunity to inspect the trailer at the time of the alleged infringement. If there had been an incident its likely the items in the caravan would have moved in the incident, and thus it would be almost impossible to ascertain the actual nose load at the moment before the incident.

As I hinted above if any vehicle load specification is exceeded, it may not be a recognised as an excess load infringement, but it might be used in an unsafe vehicle infringement.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Unless the noseweight limit was exceeded excessively, it would be difficult for the insurance company (or anyone else) to prove that it was too much, especially if the towbar itself and its vehicle attachment points didn't come to any harm. Only if a fatigue failure had occurred would the matter call for an in-depth investigation.
 
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Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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The 'member's that the last two replies were addressed to was a spammer.
He is now banned and all of his material has been removed from the message boards.
I've also edited Lutz's quote to remove the spam url.
 
Jul 18, 2017
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The 'member's that the last two replies were addressed to was a spammer.
He is now banned and all of his material has been removed from the message boards.
I've also edited Lutz's quote to remove the spam url.
I was wondering about the reference to links on a thread that was a month old? LOL!
 

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