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Hi everyone,

 I have just bought a 2004 Raclet tribune and after reading other forums and discussions I am now more confused than ever. How do I find out what the ideal nose weight is, and when I went away with a tent I took my sons bikes with us on a rear mounted cycle carrier, how would this affect the nose weight? as the bike rack holds the bikes high up and "out the back" of the car (a 2003 Ford Focus hatch) almost directly over the tow bar/a-frame of the trailer tent, the bikes and rack have a combined weight of 25kg so should I lower the nose weight of the trailer, what effect would a lower nose weight have on the car/trailer? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards, Stuart. 

I have a 54 Focus estate with a conventional (non-removable) towbar fitted (TowTrust TF154), and the max nose weight on that is 75KG.

You could check their list to see what it says for your car:

http://www.tow-trust.co.uk/towbar/index/F

Although that is only for their towbars, but if you have a similar one it's probably going to be the same. I believe that all cars manufactured after 98 have a maximum nose weight specified.

Not 100% sure about the bikes, but personally, I wouldn't worry about them. The extra weight will not actually be on the towbar, but will still be at the rear to help stabilise the outfit.

hi

for nose weight go for around 7% of the max weight of the tt,to be honest not a big worry with tt's just make sure your well loaded with the heavy stuff like awning and poles over the axle.

as to the bike carrier if not connected to the towbar it does not have to be taken into account for nose weight,but will need to be taken into account for rear axle weight,but again unless you are loading the boot with loads of heavy stuff and have three large adults in the back,you won't get near the rear axle weight.