I know this is a topic well covered but I don't think we've found an answer for our particular situation quite yet. Just wondered if anyone has a Witter ZX89 and use if with three bikes and tow a caravan.
Our car, Nissan X-Trail, won't have a problem with the nose weight but our concern is what happens when using a tow ball mounted carrier and three bikes on sharp corners with the caravan. Is there a potential for the bikes to hit the caravan? Or, will it keep clear?
Just wondered what others' experience is? Your thoughts much appreciated.
I thought the limit was 100kg so the weight of the rack (10kg?) plus 3 bikes (10kg each if they are Tour de France spec or perhaps 15kg each for normal bikes) wouldn't allow you to tow a very heavy caravan due to the low nose weight you would be left with.
What sort of nose weight do you need on the caravan? Ours tows well at 70-75kg so that would only allow me to carry one bike on a rack before exceeding the 100kg.
Have you thought about a roof carrier of some sort? Main disadvantage is having to lift the bike so high to fit it but if you are young and fit that may not be such a big problem.
If you have a fairly large caravan, it will use up most of the nose weight allowance. You need to consider the rear axle loading on the car as well. I would be quite surprised if this could be made to work.
Newbie to caravans but experince of towing far heavier weights on trailers and hooks with both small and large wreckers.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the stated towbar limit, 100kgs or whatever is the limit, not the target.
My car and caravan have the same nose weight limit but the caravan handbook says the loading should be done to achieve 'at least 25kg'.
My own experience suggests the nose weight should only be as much as is needed for a stable tow and will likely be different for different towing loads on the same tow vehicle.
I haven't towed my Knaus 470 yet and my intention was to load it to achieve the minimum nose weight and then increase if experience suggests a higher figure is needed, same as I was taught to do in the REME.
But the EC directive suggests it ' must not' be lower than 4percent of the max towable weight, in my case that's 80kgs.
That's an awful lot more than 25kgs suggested by Knaus.
Our daughter had an Ace Jubilee Statesman and from memory it was over 1400kg so you'll need a nose weight over 70kg which leaves very little for bikes and rack.
I think it looks like roof rack or leave the bikes at home. Or convert to folding bikes like I have, gives more flexibility about carrying and storage and means I can still ride when I want to.
If you can keep noseweight within limit then all you can do is try it. Put bikes on & then slowly turn with an assitant whatching ready to shout if they are going to touch.
Can't get my head around this bike rack thing versus nose weight thing.
My car has a max braked tow weight of 2000kgs.
It follows that a certified towbar must therefore be rated up to 2000kgs.
The car, towbar, drawbar and caravan have a max nose weight of 100kgs.
What difference does it make if I put 65 kgs of bikes ((the rack limit) in the boot, on the roof, on a rack on the back window or on a rack fitted to the towbar?
It's not affecting the nose weight at all, that is the load on the towball not on the towbar.
Surely I can put up to the max towbar load on the towbar?
65kg of bikes plus the weight of the bike rack on the towbar = a nose weight of 65kg plus whatever the rack weighs so only allowing a very light nose weight on the caravan.You also have to ensure the max loading on the car axles is not exceeded especially when towing with a car load of kids and assorted "essential" equipment.
Your car may have a max tow of 2000kg but that doesn't mean that weight is safe, that's why the 85% guide line is there.
Also you have a gross train weight which must not be exceeded and Renault and Citroen in my experience often quote high towing limits but if you check the GTW figure you find that if the car is fully loaded you can not tow such a heavy trailer.Ford and Vauxhall quote a gross train weight which equals the max weight of the car plus max weight of the trailer.
Sorry if I've complicated things further but the way some of these figures are listed by manufacturers makes it difficult to get to bottom of things sometimes.
The towbar download weight limit is decided by strength of mounting points & design of towbar to fit into space so exceeding the noseweight limit will put excess stress on mountings, although there should be a good margin built in.
As for loading rear end with tailgate bike rack & with caravan hitched on you risk exceeding allowable rear axle weight. Axle weights will be on plate on vin plate under bonnet & can only be checked with an axle weigher.
The weight limits as defined by car maker are not intended as a guide to safe loading & towing. These are simply max allowable weights determined by build of vehicle & power of engine etc. It is up to driver to work within these limits to achieve a combination that is safe on the road.
This may not be everyone's cup of tea but we bought a cycle rack for securing bikes in the caravan. We took 2 adult bikes to France wedged in the cycle rack slots bungeed together so they didn't move wrapped the pedals in towels and then put awning over the axle to stop them slipping this worked out find for us. So might be a possibility. Of course you have to factor in your pay load. Sue
Thanks Sue, thinking now about possibly about two on the back of the car and two in the van with a carabike ;) Of course this is all down to checking the weights. We reckon that we if it all goes Pete Tong then we can use the carrier without the caravan anyway.
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Topic: Bike carrier plus caravan - again!
