Weight definitions for a newcomer

[Keith_374323831]

Having joined the C.C. I posed the following queries with the 'Support' service - and never received a helpful reply (other than read this - wherein most of my queries were NOT defined. So here goes

Nose weight - now understood

Drawbar weight ?

Maximum Permitted Trailer weight ?

Maximum Draw bar weight ?

Gross Combination weight ? presumably tow vehicle plus 'van.

Gross Axle weight ? same as G.C.W above ????

What is a Drawbar - is this a towbar ?

Sorry to seem such a duffer, but any help would be appreciated before I fall foul of the system.

 

[gary]

Seems to me your reading something to do with commercial trucks and their trailers or perhaps from another country?

In caravan terms, the drawbar is known as the 'A' frame on the end of which is the hitch head, this is 'hitched' onto the towball which inturn is connected to the car by a towbar.

When it comes to drawbar weights there are two, one is set by the cars manufacturer and that's as much as he wants pressing down on the towball. The other is set by the hitch manufacturer and is a max limit the hitch is designed to carry, in general for a normal car it's 75kg and Alko's hitch will take 100kg and noseweight as you understand it, somewhere in between.

Max permitted trailer weight is set by the car manufacturer and is a weight the car will pull without putting undue strain on the cars mechanics, it is not to be taken as the maximum weight of caravan that it can pull. This should be taken as 85% of the cars kerbweight, kerbweight being the empty car with a tank of fuel and a driver.

Gross combination weight is known in the UK as gross train weight and indeed is everything that moves when you let the clutch out.

Gross axle weight, I would read as maximum axle weight of any one axle or perhaps total of the car 'or' trailers axles but not GCW/GTW being separately defined as they are.

 

[Stephen_374341239]

Seems to me your reading something to do with commercial trucks and their trailers or perhaps from another country?

In caravan terms, the drawbar is known as the 'A' frame on the end of which is the hitch head, this is 'hitched' onto the towball which inturn is connected to the car by a towbar.

When it comes to drawbar weights there are two, one is set by the cars manufacturer and that's as much as he wants pressing down on the towball. The other is set by the hitch manufacturer and is a max limit the hitch is designed to carry, in general for a normal car it's 75kg and Alko's hitch will take 100kg and noseweight as you understand it, somewhere in between.

Max permitted trailer weight is set by the car manufacturer and is a weight the car will pull without putting undue strain on the cars mechanics, it is not to be taken as the maximum weight of caravan that it can pull. This should be taken as 85% of the cars kerbweight, kerbweight being the empty car with a tank of fuel and a driver.

Gross combination weight is known in the UK as gross train weight and indeed is everything that moves when you let the clutch out.

Gross axle weight, I would read as maximum axle weight of any one axle or perhaps total of the car 'or' trailers axles but not GCW/GTW being separately defined as they are.

Hi gary

Thats the clearest info on this subject I have ever seen.

You should get a job with Practical Caravan well Done.

Best wishes Steve