Quote: Originally posted by LegsDownKettleOn on 30/4/2009
There is no denying that it makes for a more stress free journey which in turn makes for a less stressed driver. In itself a safety benefit. My worry is as to which is the lesser of the two evils.
Having changed my car, I am now towing a van that weighs less than 40% of the weight of my car so really have no need for a stabiliser any more, although the fact it is fitted I do still use it.
I have tried leaving the lever up and at this kind of ratio makes no difference to the handling at all.
With my previous car, I was towing at about 75% as I recall and the stabiliser made a huge difference; this just goes to demonstrate that the stabiliser was covering up an issue.
I have found that by moving things around the van it is possible to find an optimum. I generally, with my previous car, would leave the stabiliser off for a few miles to get the feel of things. If it did not feel right I would move things around the van until I was happy with the way it towed before putting the stabiliser on. This seems to cover all the bases.
Blimey LDKO, what towcar/caravan have you got to have a van 40% the weight of your new car?
Ulysses - 850 Kgs unladen, MTPLM is 1100 Kgs. So technically you are actually towing at 50%. The one I had never shifted an inch behind the Shogun I used to tow it, about 56% IIRC, so I know what you mean.
I don't get stressed driving so it wouldn't make me any more stress free if I had a stabiliser - in fact the stress of fitting the blooming thing would probably stress me more. A Bulldog one came with my caravan - but I threw it in the bin. I think it was missing the bits it needed to attach it to the car, anyway.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
Mine's the earlier model though, slightly lighter than yours was. I have to admit that I could only ever find one weight quoted for my model so assume it is probably unladen. I never found a figure for the payload of my model, but no doubt it is the same as the later model.
Yes, I was manipulating the figures a little for effect.
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Topic: first time tower
