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There is no easy answer to this. When caravans were lightweight (less than 1,000kg) and the many cars had a noseweight of 75kg, this was not a problem. A 1,275kg caravan is now thought lightweight, but it gives an 85 per cent match with a diesel Mondeo. The ideal seven per cent noseweight of 89kg exceeds the Mondeo’s 75kg limit. This overloads the car, making it illegal and could void the driver’s insurance.

In practice it has been found that the typical outfit indicated above with a noseweight limited to the Mondeo’s 75kg will be stable, given the caravan loading is distributed well and the overall weight is not exceeding the 85 per cent limit.

At some point when reducing the noseweight below the ideal, a situation will come when the effect of the lower weight will show up and the outfit will not feel stable, particularly at the higher end of legal towing speeds. If you also ignore any other stability factors, such as loading, the noseweight will become even more crucial.

Some caravans have nose weights of 75kg before they are even loaded. Once forward lockers are full of gas cylinders and the battery installed it is not unknown for the caravan hitchweight to be 90kg or more. Sometimes this hitchweight can be reduced to 75kg or less by positioning a heavy awning a short distance behind the caravan axle.  However, to counterbalance a high noseweight by putting a heavy weight at the very rear of a caravan (back-loading) is inadvisable. Not only will your noseweight be less than ideal, but you have also created a dumb-bell effect, which will encourage your caravan to swing.

So when matching car and caravan, don’t compromise on the car’s towing limit or legal limits. Aim to meet the recommended 85 per cent weight ratio, but accept there may be a slight compromise to the seven per cent noseweight. Check your car noseweight limit is reasonably close to the ideal caravan noseweight and that you can easily balance the actual caravan noseweight within the car limit without excessive back-loading.