Prof John L said:
Hello Parksy
But yet again why 85%, why not 50 75 or even 100%. What is the basis of 85%.........
......I know that you didn't choose the figure so like the rest of us you can't argue for or against 85..........
..........We could keep on trading reasons, but until the someone from the industry actually gives verifiable and validated reasons for the choice, I still question whether any actual testing was carried out to derive the figure. It also calls into question the validity of the figure for to-days cars and caravans.
Neither of us are competent to argue for or against the figure John but you have often argued against it or at least questioned it's validity.
Most casual enquirers use the 85% figure as a starting point from which to base safe towing practices upon.
If they come unstuck and fail to keep their unit shiny side up then it probably won't have been because of an incorrect weight ratio.
Both of our viewpoints are largely based on sets of assumptions, I'd consider it fair to assume that major caravan organisations base their data, which gives rise to their advice, on information or collective knowledge that they possess.
This information may or may not be in the public domain, those offering advice are under no obligation to reveal information that may be considered to be commercially sensitive so the person seeking advice must decide for themselves whether or not to accept the advice.
As far as many of us are concerned the reputation of these organisations is good enough to persuade us that their advice will be good (as opposed to bad or confusing) and therefore the advice is generally accepted except perhaps by engineers or those with an interest in science or engineering who are prone to questioning accepted practice.
Do you consider the 85% weight ratio recommendation to those inexperienced in towing to be bad or confusing advice?
When I was a muso we had a saying when rehearsing something new.
The saying was "It's close enough for jazz", in other words it may not have been note perfect but it worked!
The validity of the figure for today's cars and caravans may be said to constitute a separate debate because the information that any data would be based on would have to be retrospective for such information to be transposed into usable data.