Could do with some more info to give any conclusive advice. I see you have only 2 posts, would it be fair of me to assume you are new to caravanning?
Assuming this is the case, the first thing you need to look at is your loading. The weight needs to be kept low down and over the axle. If you are putting weight at the ends, this will cause problems.
There have been people having trouble with excessive noseweight (the weight the hitch exerts on the back of the car) with Baileys and particularly the Pegasus. If you don't have a noseweight gauge then use a stick on some bathroom scales. Cut the stick so that with it on the bathroom scales and the hitch sat on it at the same height as the hitch of the car. Check the weight of this doesn not exceed the maximum for your car.
As a rough guideline, you should be aiming to be able to lift the hitch by hand, but only just. If you cannot lift it the odds are it's too heavy. If you can lift it easily then it's too light.
As I say this is a rough guidline, different people will find different weights easier to lift and different cars can tolerate different weights, but it shoulkd give some indication if you are miles out. It's no substitute for a proper gauge.
As well as the loading, check your tyre pressures on both the van and the car.
What is the towing limit of the Zafira?, the nearest one I can find on Whattowcar (the CDTI120) only has a towing limit of 1300kgs, which appears limited by chassis rather than engine output.
This would make the Pegasus 166kgs too heavy for the van.
The 1.9CDTi if its a Zafira 2 has a kerb weight of 1653kg so its towing at about 90% so it may well struggle at times. Loading is always an issue but this is even more the case with the Pegasus. As stated before it would be wise to check that the nose weight is spot on given that you are at best at 90%
------------- Nigel
March 2012 - Dove Meadows
6th July Moving to Hayle
the kerbweight for the 150bhp design is 1569kg according to the Vx website with a max tow weight of 1500kg and the MPTLM of the Pegasus 534 is 1482kg so it works out a 95% towing match . Also the noseweight is only 75kgs if the caravan was overloaded at all with holiday gear which is easily done the OP could find him/herself on the wrong side of the law or worse be prosecuted The Bailey pegasus 534 MPTLM is very close to the Zafira's Max tow limit which cannot be exceeded so the car is a poor match for the caravan . also the Pegasus ex works noseweight is higher than 75kgs so that will also be an issue
That modell of Zafira( zafira design 1.9cdti 150 ) as a manafactures maxium towing weight of 1500kg and your Van has a MTPLM 1482kg, you are sailing very close to 100%. .to tow at these weights ,you will have to be very accurate with loading as there is no room for error , and you may find it struggling in some circumstances, zafiras have all ways had notably low tow weights allthough yours does seem to be one of the better ones at 1500kg
been towing for 25years tyres at correct pressure noseweight at 82kg only two of us so not much luggage have w rated tyres on rear recomended for towing
tows very well 4th gear up redhill A38 problem only occurs above 50mph
we had similar problems with our 534 behind a mondeo ,easily upset by side winds and overtaking vehicles.ours is loaded to1400kg , 2 of us, heavy stuff in car.towed compass liberte and elddis avante with same car and same if not more weight, no problems.problem seemed to occur above 50 mph also
we are towing with a 4x4 all the time now we have ours hols to france behind us.
Quote: Originally posted by lyntonvhoskins on 18/7/2010
been towing for 25years tyres at correct pressure noseweight at 82kg only two of us so not much luggage have w rated tyres on rear recomended for towing
tows very well 4th gear up redhill A38 problem only occurs above 50mph
if your noseweight was increased would probably cure the problem But you cant because you will overload the rear axle and the Zafira has a max of 75kgs which you are already exceeding but as others have already said your car is not the best match by any means and is basically built on a VX astra Floorpan
Although noseweight seems ok...make sure your not balancing the front by loading the rear, this cures noseweight issues but creates a big pendulum.
we had a similar issue with my previous car that was a little light for the van, taking weight from the back and sticking it over the axle cured it, along with a heavy 85kg noseweight, its much better now with the heavier car, although I do like heavy noseweights to keep things stable ( sorry I prefer safe and stable than truly legal)
Just a thought ! if you are having stability problems is the ATC system not operating?? I would have thought that you would have been aware if it was cutting in
Im not suggesting that it is in any way causing the problem though.
I also feel that the car is not up to the job pulling a van of that weight
We had bad snaking problem towing our Bailey Indiana, we had never experienced it before and it turned out to be a problem with our car. It was the bushes or brushes,
unfortunately I can't get hold of my husband to ask him, but it effects the stability of the car, so we got them replaced and it's been fine ever since. When I can contact husband, he is on a customers site at present. I will be able to give more info, but you might be able to guess what I am referring to.
We had this not so much as snaking tho just felt wrong when we got our new lunar, never had a problem with our last van, we got the nose weight all correct, and loaded the van as the rules, but to no avail, then oneday we added a sky box to the front of the van under the front window cabinet last drawer and no word of a lie it made all the difference, have no idea as to why it's not particularly heavy but it really did and now the vans stable and really great to tow,sometimes just moving things about can make all the difference, I read somewhere a caravan is an expensive seesaw and a little bit of tweaking can make a huge improvement.
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Topic: snaking
