Hi , We have just purhased a new to us caravan, Swift Challenger 524 Sport model.
Its completely different and more modern than our current van.
So looking at the layout and where everything is, how do you guys load your similar vans (swift Challenger), for a stable and comfy ride. Considering we have clothes, 4 x chairs, Blow up anwing etc, etc. ot stuff nomrally asscociated with caravaning.
Just looking for advice prior to our first outing in it in July / August.
usual rules, keep the weight as close to the axles as you can, i.e awning and chairs in the center, get the bathroom scales out for the first pack you do, and then adjust to get the nose weight correct
I've a Lunar van, but very similar layout, only real issue with mine is it's inherently very nose heavy and I have to work hard to keep the noseweight down to car limit.
I've much the same payload as you, I follow the industry guidance of heavy stuff (mostly the weighty air awning) low and over the axle and it's always worked well for me with never a hint of 'wobble' to upset things. I'm perhaps more inclined to load the car (which beneficially has a huge boot space) than the van, even if technically stuff would fit in the van. I'd much rather tow with a heavy car and lighter van, than the other way around!
Only issue I had was in an attempt to lighten the noseweight once, I placed the 5Kg TV in the wardrobe in the rear bathroom, but after only a few miles it was apparent that even that light a load added to the extreme rear had upset the handling noticeably, so I stopped and moved it forwards, stability returned to normal. I tend to leave the wardrobes in the rear bathroom all but empty whilst towing, with the exception of a couple of lightish chairs in the wardrobe farthest from the rear, 'cos that's about the only place they stow securely.
No two outfits are ever going to be the same, plenty of discussion on UKC about how perfectly stable vans suddenly become a horrible tow behind a new tow car, so advice and other people's experiences only goes so far.
Best advice is start with industry guidance, heavy stuff low and over axle, load the car in preference to van, then see how it goes, if all well, maybe add a little more to the van and try again, stop and move/remove anything that is giving you problems.
My van has ATC fitted, so if I did badly load it and get a wobble, the ATC should stop it becoming a disaster, but so far it's been good and the ATC is just a idle passenger!
First, check the nose-weight with the van pretty much 'empty' save gas bottle(s) and battery. Then see what you have to play with. It pays to weigh heavy items, so that you have an idea of how much you are putting where to enable balance. Im guessing the air-awning wont be light, then you say 4 chairs. What about BBQ? Clothes/bedding - although these can be distributed for fine tuning. Food can weigh quite a bit if theres more than 2 of you? Then you have crockery/cutlery/pots and pans etc. and sundry kitchen stuff. Can be a good few KG there, depending. A lot also depends on what you are towing with. This makes a massive difference to your options. I probably carry 150-200kg in the back, but then again its rated for 1 ton! Not a luxury many have, so good luck.
Noseweight is going to be your biggest challenge. Get that right and you will be fine. We really really struggled when we changed from our previous Bailey to our current Swift. The Bailey was easy to get the noseweight right but the Swift took a lot of faffing about. Now that we know where everything goes we can just about manage it but it is tricky.
One thing we did a few years ago which was helpful. The caravan had to go for some work and the service centre insisted it was completely empty before being brought in so we had to remove absolutely everything. As we put stuff back in after we got it back, we weighed everything and were really surprised at the weight of some stuff. It made us seriously think about what we take with us and cut out a lot of stuff we used to take but could do without. I can’t remember the exact figures but one thing that really surprised us was the weight of our peg bag. We used to keep it in the front locker but when we saw how much it weighed, we got rid of half the pegs and moved it further back in the caravan.
Quote: Originally posted by Pixie_Hez on 23/5/2023
one thing that really surprised us was the weight of our peg bag. We used to keep it in the front locker but when we saw how much it weighed, we got rid of half the pegs and moved it further back in the caravan.
Anyone else picturing one of those fabric bags off the line with a dozen or so 'dollies' in it? Im thinking; how much can laundry stuff weigh?
Just sold my dealer special based on this caravan. When new first thing was to upgrade the weight to 1500kg. Awning,pegs and chairs always travelled in the car boot. We never ever used the table stored at side of shower as had meals on pull out front table on chest and the side dinette table. Our large table spent its life in our house loft. Disregarding this then also gave us another 73 kg of loading capacity.
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Topic: New Caravan
via mobile 25/5/2023 at 1:27pm
