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Trailer Tents and Folding Campers

Topic: First time folding camper questions.....

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Kelper

14/6/2018 at 10:19am
Location: Northern Ireland
Outfit: Sterckeman Alize Concept CP480

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Quote: Originally posted by SGThomas on 13/6/2018
Second rule of camping:

Ignore Kelper

Ouch ...

DarrenElbrow

14/6/2018 at 5:01pm
Location: Poole Dorset
Outfit: Conway Challenger 1997

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All tow bars are a standard height. If your trailer is nose down then it’s loaded incorrectly.
My folding camper sits level on both cars I’ve used to tow it. A Peugeot Partner and now a Mini Clubman. Both cars have the tow ball at the same height

Derbian

14/6/2018 at 7:36pm
Location: derbyshire
Outfit: Seat Exeo Opus Camper

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I'm not going to get into an argument about this as there are literally hundreds of articles about this on various forums/websites. The EU standards say that towball height with the car loaded can vary between 350 and 420mm from the ground. Towhitch height can vary between 385 and 455mm with the trailer loaded and level The differences between the two are intended to make sure the trailer should be slighly nose down although at the extremes this isn't always so.

Derbian

14/6/2018 at 7:40pm
Location: derbyshire
Outfit: Seat Exeo Opus Camper

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PS To repeat what I said previously have a look at the "Blue Sky Pennine" website as there are lots of guides with usefull information especially for anybody starting out.

FCAdventures

14/6/2018 at 8:01pm
Location: None Entered
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Wow I really didn't expect so much help, thank you everyone.
I feel like the chicken and the egg, do I get a towbar first or get a FC first to ensure I am then getting the right towbar fitted? Sorry if sounds stupid, its a big financial comittment for us and I don't want to get it wrong.

pnefan

14/6/2018 at 9:10pm
Location: Preston
Outfit: None

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Interested to read the answers about drop plates. We have just had a new tow bar fitted to a new car. The fitter we used has been in the business for years both for commercial and private vehicles. We have had five tow bar fitted by him over the years. We asked about the problem of the height of the tow bar and he specifically stated that a specialised flange tow bar with a drop plate would be best. Im sure that he wouldnt do anything illegal especially as the tow bar has his company name all over it. If we hadnt dropped the tow ball the back of the camper wpuld have been too low and probably grounded on road humps. The height of the tow bar is still with in the guidelines for the height from the ground.

Derbian

14/6/2018 at 9:38pm
Location: derbyshire
Outfit: Seat Exeo Opus Camper

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Your fitter is right, there are specialised tow bars which can be used with drop plates but these are intended for use with commercial vehicles and 4x4's. So you may be OK with the Sportage. Not sure there are any produced for normal cars and you can spot them because they have holes at different heights for fitting the tow ball. Problem is that tow bars have to be Type Approved and changing the height of the tow ball with a drop plate would mean testing it with the drop plate fitted and they don't do it because of the cost ( Lots of different sizes of drop plate). If you look at the towbar manufacturers websites they normally say don't fit a drop plate. Have used one myself in the past but times change and these days I wouldn't risk it

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