Hi there I have a fleetwood Colchester 4 birth caravan 1993 model when unloaded it weighs far to much on the front end very hard to put on tow bar when turning with caravan mover will not turn as front end to heavy surely when the stabilizers are all up and it is free standing if you walk into the caravan go to the back end it still does not tilt as so front end heavy and it is not because the gas bottles in the front as tried them without any advise please thanks mark
The first thing I would do is find out what the nose-weight actually is.
If you don't have a nose-weight gauge, use a block of wood and a pair of bathroom scales, lower the hitch onto the wood resting on the scales until the jockey wheel is loose.
You can then start moving stuff around until it is about 7% of your MTPLM. I usually aim for mine to be around 85-90Kg
------------- Phil
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Its certainly helpful to know what the noseweight is - its difficult to advise without the facts. What do you mean by 'very hard to put on the towbar'? Are you trying to lift it manually, or with the jockey wheel?
Similarly your van - I believe the Colchester was available in single and twin axles models - you don't say which you have.However, since you say the van is difficult or won't turn, I assume its a TA. I suggest that you raise the jockey wheel, as this reduces the load on the front axle, and eases turning, but TAs will never turn like a single axle does.
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
The noseweight of an unloaded caravan is rather academic in that they are far more targeted at achieving a tolerable loaded weight. Its empty weight is what it is, and this reflects in a good design where the storage is distributed that in use gets to the intended levels.
I have taken a full gas bottle, battery and few empty 5 lire water containers when collecting a new van so as to be able to ballast it safely to bring it home in this non designed for use ex-factory situation.
Having said that I am sure some of the poorer designed vans were never designed at all, only "styled" with no consideration to their engineering requirements.
Mark, you last posted about this 8 months ago. How have you managed since then?
Unless you post up some details of your caravan it is difficult to help you further. If you have a fairly large caravan then the front end will feel heavy. 80kg or more & that is too heavy for most people to lift so don't even try it. It needs to be around that weight for safe & stable towing if caravan has loaded weight of, say 1300kg.
When hitching up do not lift hitch onto towball. That's not how it is done. Wind up jockey wheel until hitch is higher that towball then either move caravan forward with mover or with assistance reverse car so ball is under hitch then wind down jockey wheel until hitch clicks onto ball.
To check you are hitched wind jockey wheel hard back onto ground & see towball & hitch rise up together. Then wind up & stow jockey wheel.
To move caravan with mover you need good fully charged battery & it works best moving caravan with nose up. Is your mover ok? are both motors working & are rollers adjusted correctly to grip tyres?
If you have no mechanical knowledge I suggest you book caravan in for service at a caravan workshop or use mobile caravan service man.
Quote: Originally posted by AVON EAGLE on 27/12/2016
Just one other point - A motor mover adds weight to the nose.
Or reduce it if like mine it is mounted aft of the axle [the recommended in my van's case].
However, to get it into perspective the mover being so close to the axle can't alter the noseweight by much; changing one from front to back only achieves of the order of 7 kgs. Adding one where there is not one just 3.5 kgs.
Edit: figures for single axle vans approaching 7.5 metres.
Same with ours JTQU .... aren't most movers fitted aft of the axle?
The other factor, for us, was the addition of the battery to drive the mover, which is housed in a locker at the rear of the van .... thus adding quite a heavy object at the back.
We still have balancing problems ... van was supplied with a bike rack mounted on the tow bar triangle ... had to ditch that idea to achieve the correct nose weight ... now carry them inside, on bike racks, astride the axle.
Quote: Originally posted by Kelper on 27/12/2016
Same with ours JTQU .... aren't most movers fitted aft of the axle?
Seems not with Alko chassis and the conflict with their dreadful spare wheel carrier; here being forward it appears is by far the more popular. Very happy with both my continetal vans that the recommended position has been aft, at least it helps should I ever clip a kerb.
We seem to have 2 different problems here: the nose weight is very high when the caravan is unloaded and the mover struggles to turn the caravan.
Many caravans are nose heavy when they leave the factory but when loaded to the correct nose weight for the car and hitch the caravan is easy to manoeuvre and would tip up if you stood at the back. Does the problem of high nose weight also occur when the caravan is loaded for a holiday trip? If it only happens when the caravan is unloaded I wonder how often it is towed in this state, I would hardly ever tow it fully empty.
The mover problem could be a brake problem or bad adjustment of the roller to tyre gap but does this problem still happen when the caravan is fully loaded? It may just be due to high nose weight when empty and the problem goes away when the nose weight is correct.
I think we need more information about the nose weight and is this a single or twin axle caravan before we can come up with any more ideas. It's 8 months since the OP asked this question originally so I wonder how he has managed since then.
My Bailey Unicorn came out of the factory with a nose weight of 100 kg which is the chassis max. Add 2 Calor lite and it is hard to get under 100 kg. I now carry only 1 Calor lite , moved the motor mover behind the axle and move the spare as far back as reasonable.
thank you every one for taking time out to reply but surely with a empty caravan apart from normal fittings with the kegs up and me weighing over 80 kilo walking to back of caravan should it not tilt backwards with my weight and the caravan mover will move it backwards and forwards but not right or left.
hi thanks for your help i might even borrow a jockey wheel of someone to make sure that mine is not the problem but it does seem really heavy at the front though surely caravan empty me over 80 kilo walking to back of caravan should tilt it up
If the nose weight is over 80 kg then it won't tip up when you walk to the back. If the nose weight is 50 kg and you weigh 80 kg then it will tip. What is the nose weight when unladen and laden? You mentioned that you had broken several jockey wheels and this could be due to excessive nose weight. Do you have a spare wheel in the front locker? Do you have an onboard water tank that is still full of water? Do you have a front chest that adds to the nose weight?
With the mover problem, is the jockey wheel wound down in to the slot so that it can not turn? With the rollers not touching the tyres do both rollers work properly ie do they go backwards or forwards or stop at the correct time to perform a turn? If the rollers are not working correctly it could be the hand set or control panel that are faulty.
We have asked several times for the nose weight, the answer to this question may solve a lot of your problems.
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Topic: caravan to heavy at front
