Just purchased a Fleetwood Vanlander 640 ES
Have Kia Sedona 2.9 CDI 2009
Everything checks out in terms of weight match etc but when I collected the van, I put a cheap nose weight gauge under the hitch to double check the nose weight came within the 85kg on the car.
The weighing device went up to 100kg.
However, when I put the hitch down on it, it compressed the bar right down meaning, I guess, the nose weight of the caravan was at least well over 100Kg
So, what was in the caravan, in the rear, the air awning, caravan full cover.
In the front locker, 1 x Gas bottle, empty Aquaroll, spare tyre and a few bits and bobs.
I had no choice to hitch up, when I put the caravan was hitched up the rear of the car didnt drop down much, if anything and the overall line of car and caravan was, in my opinion, perfect.
Under tow for 160 miles, I was shocked how well the sedona towed and the overall feel and balance was great.
Steering was not to light and I did not struggle pulling away, in fact, if anything I had to be careful not to go to fast as the Sedona seemed to love the combination (the weather was awful)
So, I am not to sure what to do now, the weighing gauge thing was new, albeit it cost me only £12
I would check the noseweight again using a quality gauge such as the Milenco gauge or using the bathroom scales and a piece of wood under the hitch and a spreader plate on the scales. It would be good to load the caravan with all your equipment before checking the noseweight again and get the noseweight correct ready for towing.
With the caravan emptyish as described you have a lot of weight right at the front, we removed the spare wheel from the front locker on one of our vans because we couldn't get the noseweight low enough otherwise.
When we collected our last two caravans from the dealer we checked the noseweights and altered the loading before we left, there's no way I would have towed an unfamiliar caravan over that distance in bad weather with the noseweight much heavier than allowed. You could have changed the way the caravan was loaded before towing. The Alko stabiliser hitches have a max noseweight of 100kg so that must not be exceeded.
I had checked all the weights etc with the Caravan Club Tech people before purchase
Everything that came with the van was placed just back from the rear wheels.
I guess I could have also taken the gas bottle and spare tyre out of the front locker
I stopped several times on the way down to check the rear of the car to see if she was down on the wheels and far from it she was riding as high off the wheels as if I didnt have a caravan hitched on.
I was also aware to look for lighter steering, again, the car felt the same as when not towing
I would suggest taking everything out and checking the noseweight then you can work out how to load. Seems to be most weight at front as loaded. It depends on where the storage is in your caravan and how you load it. Most weight should be as near to the axle as possible and low down.
------------- Jean
Sometimes a little rain must fall before you reach a rainbow.
The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you finish the work.
The caravan may be 85% of the kerbweight of the car but you still need to keep the noseweight within the limits of your car which in your case is 85kg.
When you say spare tyre, are you reffering to the tyre being on a wheel rim as well. If so then that's more likely to be your problem so it's worth just weighing the spare wheel on it's own as you'll ber amazed just how heavy it is. They used to put the spare wheel in the front locker as standard but because it was causing noseweight issues they designed the under slung carrier that clamps on just behind the axle which contributed to a lighter noseweight. Also, if your gas cylinder is the all metal type then a cylinder such as the Calor lite bottle then this is half the weight again so you just need to do some adjustment and then get yourself a Milenco noseweight gauge which is the best on the market. All the above I have had to do myself but I'm restricted to 75 kgs. so I have to do a little counterbalancing as well but with some common sense not to make the outfit unstable.
I didnt realise things could be so sensitive to nose weight as a spare tyre on its wheel in the front locker
I think my shock was, everything in this twin axle was put just behind the back axle in the rear bedroom.
Only thing else in the van was in the front locker, wheel, gas bottle, Aquaroll and some other bits.
The Caravan club worked out all the percentages and the Kia Sedona was a "good match" even with the 200Kg payload.
So the shock of a more or less empty van pushing the nose weight gauge right down flat, indicated even the Land Rover the seller used was not big enough.
However, reading the notes here, which I thank you for, it is clear that only small adjustments to loading can make a huge difference (spare wheel etc)
I think the bathroom scales is a good approach, they can be calibrated, also I think I need to load up with all our basics we will be carrying, fortunately, the Sedona boot is massive so if I have to transfer the contents of the Caravan locker to the car boot I can.
However, as I said earlier, Im 58 years of age and have seen all sorts of nose down/up on caravans hitched to cars.
The Sedona and caravan were perfectly level from front of car to back of caravan and the Kia did not even drop much if anything onto the back wheels.
And the handling was amazing, its as if that 2.9 big diesel engine had found something sensiable to do with all its power.
Without pushing the throttle to the floor It took the van from 0 to 50 in about 20 seconds.
So I am hoping the nose weight thing is much my fault or even a faulty gauge because I was very nervous about towing a big van but it turned out I really enjoyed it, took my time and kept it smooth.
To be honest to keep to 90kg is bloody hard for me.
I tend to be closer to 100kg, if am honest.
My gas bottles x 2 are further back but in front of front wheels. along with motor mover which does not help with my nose weight.
Spare wheel at back, no big front locker, awning in back locker under bed along with chairs, batt rear of wheels,but both front sides lockers tend to get full of junk.
We have had a post or 2 about having a de junk of lockers etc every now and then, to help lower our hitch weights, and you will be shocked at the amount of junk we gather in them front lockers trust me.
Have a move around with the weights, and de junk.
Good luck.
With a twin axle, my guess not ever having one, would be that the noseweight will vary depending on the angle the van is at.
As the nose drops the noseweight should decrease as more weight is put on the front wheels.
With a single axle the noseweight increases as the nose drops.
So having measured it at one angle then hitching it on the car it may be OK. The tow ball will drop when the car is loaded and the van hitched on. That's the angle you need to measure it at on level ground.
Also, I understand that as the car goes faster, wind resistance against the front of the van reduces the noseweight applied to the car.
The Caravan Club will have told you that your car and caravan are a good match,which they are weight wise,they may also have told you that the maximum noseweight for your car is 85kg. The nose weights will be different on different cars usually between 55kg to 150kg but what they wouldn't have said is that the noseweight on your caravan would be 85kg because they would have no way of knowing that, it will be up to you to load your caravan by moving things around and possibly taking things out to get the 85kg that you need, also the hitch on the caravan will take a maximum of 100kg.
Quote: Originally posted by Rob and Tina on 05/2/2018
The Caravan Club will have told you that your car and caravan are a good match,which they are weight wise,they may also have told you that the maximum noseweight for your car is 85kg. The nose weights will be different on different cars usually between 55kg to 150kg but what they wouldn't have said is that the noseweight on your caravan would be 85kg because they would have no way of knowing that, it will be up to you to load your caravan by moving things around and possibly taking things out to get the 85kg that you need, also the hitch on the caravan will take a maximum of 100kg.
Tina
Just to confirm that everything that has been said above is absolutely correct and totally agree with. If you follow this advice you won't go far wrong.
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Topic: Caravan Nose Weights
