Hi all - I am a newbie to caravaning and going on my first outing next Saturday. I have done a lot of research around noseweights. I have a Bailey Ranger 500/5 and when I have used the noseweight gauge it seems heavy at the front even with only a 4.5kg gas bottle and the spare wheel in the front locker it is around 120kg and I am trying to get it down to 80kg which is the recomended Ball weight for my Ford Galaxy.
As I only use the van for weekends I don't have a lot of things to put in the van (no awning etc) which may effect the weight on the nose.
My questions are
1.Would it help if I removed the front draw unit to get noeweight down
2. If so how easy is it to remove and replace the draw unit as I would only want to relocate it whilst towing?
Hi all - I am a newbie to caravaning and going on my first outing next Saturday. I have done a lot of research around noseweights. I have a Bailey Ranger 500/5 and when I have used the noseweight gauge it seems heavy at the front even with only a 4.5kg gas bottle and the spare wheel in the front locker it is around 120kg and I am trying to get it down to 80kg which is the recomended Ball weight for my Ford Galaxy.
we have the 500/5 ranger,with a few bits and one bottle,plus spare tyre it works out at 92 kgswhich is what i can use on our towball.the spare weighs in at 19 kgs.you could put it in the boot of the car.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
I tried to get my drawer unit out on Monday to do some maintenance (Avondale, not a Bailey, BTW) I took all the screws out I could find, but it was still solid. I was taking it out to replace the front wallboard, so pulled a hole in it to reach behind. It turned out the unit is screwed from behind the GRP front panel, so that makes for a massive job to take the unit out. My wallboard was sound behind the unit, so I panelled in around it. You wouldn't notice unless it was pointed out. I had no intention of taking the front panel out as this involves awning rails grab handles, windows, almost everything in the front coming off. Not an option for the amount of weight it is going to save you I'm afraid. Have you considerd carrying the gas bottle and spare wheel in the car or moving it inside the van? There must be 20 - 30 kilos between them, if they were put in the back of the van (not ideal, I agree as you get a see-saw effect) it could reduce the nose weight by as much as 60 kilos.I have heared of a few people having noseweight issues with some Baileys, but do not recall which models.
To be honest, I find my van tows better with a low noseweight around 20 - 25 kg. This is probably a lot to do with the heavy LPG tank in the back of my car. However, there have been no signs of ill effect from such a low noseweight, on the contrary, much more than this causes a lot of pitching. Fortunately, my gas and battery lockers are just in front of the axle which makes for a much better balanced van. Something I will be looking for when I come to change it in a few years.
On some vans the front cabinet just lifts out, to make the bed a better shape. If it doesn't then it's probably well screwed in like LDKO's.
Try moving the spare from the front locker to over the axle. You can get adjustable bars from dealers which are used between the units to stop stuff moving forwards and backwards whilst in transit.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
Our Ranger 550-6 front drawer unit was screwed down to the base unit by only 2 screws - 1 each side at bedbox level. Once removed though - there's a big hole left in the baseboard (to keep noseweight down....?) so a piece of board will be needed to cover it.
We suffered heavy noseweight too - moving the spare to inside the van while towing improved things, but buying a spare wheel carrier and slinging it under the van was the best move. Also, all the luggage / awning / stuff was carried over and behind the axle. Still couldn't get the noseweight below 75kg though.
Hi have you tried putting some of weight at the back of the van e.g water carriers gas bottles awning waste carriers that should take some weight off the front (only a suggestion)
Hi have you tried putting some of weight at the back of the van e.g water carriers gas bottles awning waste carriers that should take some weight off the front (only a suggestion)
It would theoretically reduce the noseweight, but could cause instability with the weight at the ends rather than over the axle. Would really be a last resort and not recommended.
also bailey ranger 550/6 owner and was suprised at how heavy I was at the front so have removed spare wheel, and carry this in the van, carry gas in the car - front locker is virtually empty. thinking of making the front drawers easily detachable, to make the bed larger at night so would be grateful if anybody has modified theirs to make it easy fit
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Topic: Removing Front Draw Unit
