Can you tell me is your car a 2011 Citroen C5-Tourer Diesel 2.0 HDI 16v VTR+
Minimum Kerbweight 1595
Gross Vehicle 2238
Max Towing with Braked 1670 KG
Unbraked 750 Kg
I have checked this on a Citroen Site is this correct ...
Have you tried it varying the ride height of the car, raise it to medium then try if not happy raise it to high, thats what the lever is for to adjust the hydrolastic suspension
Quote: Originally posted by Skoda Bob on 06/9/2012
Have you tried it varying the ride height of the car, raise it to medium then try if not happy raise it to high, thats what the lever is for to adjust the hydrolastic suspension
i think the new c5 is the same as the mk1the ride hight will return to normal above certain speeds, and low speeds at that. at its highest setting the ride is rock hard
What noseweight guage are you using? They're notoriously inaccurate except the Milenco which is properly calibrated.
Are you checking the noseweight with the hitch the same height as your car towball?
The symptoms sound like too high a noseweight to me. Pegasi are notorous for having very high noseweights when unladen, particularly if you have the optional front chest fitted (don't know whether you have this?). Ours was over 75Kg without a gas bottle fitted. Lucklily our car has a 150Kg noseweight rating, although the Al-ko hitch is rated at 100Kg maximum.
Worth a check. If you contact Bailey's customer service dept, tey will tell you your model's unladen noseweight figure.
Our c5 estate tows our van well can't say that we have had any problems in the last 6 years with this outfit the self levelling suspension is first class on our car it's the basic system so you can only raise the ride heigh for low speeds it returns to the default setting at speeds over 40 mph the highest setting is for wheel changing only I tow with a nose weight of 75 kg although the towbar says 80kg I use a cheap gauge but it is a simple job to calibrate it if you stand the gauge on some bathroom scales that are accurate ( mine are ) and then just put a mark on the gauge at the correct weight This set up has worked fine for the last 6 years I do check the nose weigh every time before I tow for peace of mind
We also have a Pegasus Milan, we tow with a Volvo V70 at 86%. The caravan is twitchy (there are various threads on this and other forums regarding twitchy Alutechs). It mostly appears to trouble those of us who tow with saloon/estate cars, I haven't seen complaints from SUV drivers.
Correct tyre pressures seem important and we find a noseweight of 75-80kgs helps. Pegasus 2 models don't appear to have the same noseweight issues as the first edition. Some have suggested the Alutech construction is the cause of the instability due to its extra stiffness not allowing the caravan to flex when being hit by sidewinds but I do not subscribe to this idea. I think it is more likely an aerodynamic issue coupled with the fact it is a long caravan on a single axle.
Although the caravan seems twitchy, it has never got out of hand. We towed to the Dordogne and back in some foul weather in June without incident. You do get used to it and I have never felt the ATC system kick in.
Quote: Originally posted by Theloneharanguer on 08/9/2012
Hi Carole,
We also have a Pegasus Milan, we tow with a Volvo V70 at 86%. The caravan is twitchy (there are various threads on this and other forums regarding twitchy Alutechs). It mostly appears to trouble those of us who tow with saloon/estate cars, I haven't seen complaints from SUV drivers.
Correct tyre pressures seem important and we find a noseweight of 75-80kgs helps. Pegasus 2 models don't appear to have the same noseweight issues as the first edition. Some have suggested the Alutech construction is the cause of the instability due to its extra stiffness not allowing the caravan to flex when being hit by sidewinds but I do not subscribe to this idea. I think it is more likely an aerodynamic issue coupled with the fact it is a long caravan on a single axle.
Although the caravan seems twitchy, it has never got out of hand. We towed to the Dordogne and back in some foul weather in June without incident. You do get used to it and I have never felt the ATC system kick in.
agreed , read this before and contributed my twitchy experiences too . in perfect conditions it tows well , wind causes it to twitch more than any other van we have owned . i find getting the noseweight to the the cars max limit helps and remove any weight from the back end , even emptying flush water out of the loo . towed this van with 4 different cars and felt twitchy , even behind a pajero !!
My 2 pennorth. We tow with a Saab 150 1.9Tid Sportwagon. I have always loved estates for towing, even though our first few towcars were hatchbacks. I just like the stability of an estate; it seems not to want to let the caravan dictate the handling etc. We scrupulously get the noseweight right every trip, out and back, though I suspect as we load the 'van exactly the same every time we go away I could probably not bother. Also I always have the toilet tanks empty for towing. Somewhere on this forum I have read a few owners saying they do not bother adjusting the car's rear tyre pressures - well, I do, and I am convinced that this makes a difference. One may say what difference should, say, 75kg make to the rear tyres with respect to loading? Well, it must affect the handling of the whole outfit when you consider that there are forces of more than that 75kg whenever the nose of the caravan dips over undulating road surfaces. Our outfit is rock steady in all conditions, ie White Van Man charging past at 90+ mph, high winds, exiting wooded areas on main roads, passing class 1 lorries be they double deckers, normal trailers, tankers or car transporters, and of course our own speeds which are well up to the respectable thanks. There have been many threads dealing with stabilisers (are they needed, blah blah) and I do have one. Used to have a blade type, but the latest 'van has an Alko AKS1300. I use a stabiliser for peace of mind more than anything else, and worthy of note is that the last trip out a couple of months ago both on the outward leg and on the return I found the operating lever had worked its way about halfway up. It was definitely fully down both ways when setting off. On stripping the unit I found the pads worn and have now fitted new ones. So as the outfit still performed excellently, I have to admit that perhaps the stabiliser is perhaps not really needed but I will still use it.
Sorry, I digress. Perhaps the percentage is a little high for the car, and this, coupled with a 'van which has a long body with a single axle, is contributing to a towing experience which falls short of enjoyable.
Hope you get it sorted.
When I was using my 16" wheels with winter tyres I found the van would pitch noticeably unless I was running the tyres at max load pressure. This was even with an empty boot. However with 18" wheels with summer tyres I run at half way between normal & full load pressure.
I have always run with 90kg nose weight.
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Topic: Problems towing Pegasus Milan with C5
