Hiya last year when i was new to TT's i asked if the kitchen that hung on the back trailer door, could be left at home ?
I was told by several experienced campers on here NO WAY as the trailer/chassis is built with the weight of the kitchen in mind, and to tow without would unbalance etc
Only looking on the thread with pics of you guys and your setups i notice it has been done
"we use our own cooker and kitchen unit rather than the bulky raclet cooker and sink unit that fits on the TT rear door..."
So is their now a change of opinion?
All advice gratefully received
P.s i have a raclet marathon
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Karla-------Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.It's about learning to dance in the rain.
No. Weight distribution is what it is, and doesn't change. It's designed that way and should be kept as original. You would probably never be able to get the noseweight right.
Imagine the trailer is like an old fashioned set of scales with the wheels as the pivot in the middle. The trailer is designed to have a certain downward force on its nose to keep the hitch pressing on the tow ball. The figure will be quoted in the handbook somewhere. You need to load the trailer so that the noseweight is right. Caravanners (should) use a nose weight gauge to check this when loading up as they carry so much junk. If the noseweight is incorrect, the loading of the tow bar will be wrong. The handling of your car & trailer will be altered if a big heavy lump like a kitchen is detached. You may never notice this until the time you need to brake at 60 MPH going down a wet hill with a queue of traffic ahead of you.
Check your campers nose weight limit in the handbook, borrow a nose weight gauge (or use a piece of wood fitted in the hitch resting on your bathroom scales) & then see what removing the kitchen does for it.
i belive your kitchen unit closes so it is inside the trailer unlike the conways/suncamp?if so i think you can leave yours off as it won't affect the balance in the same way.
you still need to check the nose weight but unlike the conways your axle won't have been moved to have the kitchen hung on the back.
i also have the raclet kitchen unit that hangs on the back door whilst traveling and is then lifted off and set up when you arrive on site and i too have removed mine as its too bulky and we never use the sink part anyway,we now use our own cooker and kitchen unit and removing the raclet unit hasen't affected the nose weight or the way the trailer handles as i just simply move the awning poles furthur back and load the 6kg colorlite gas bottle on the rear to compensate...
------------- 2008 Bailey Pageant Champagne series 6 with a Dorema Daytona Awning + Nissan X-Trail + Outwell Trout Lake pollycotton tunnel tent
Habving owned two different trailer tents, one being a Racelt, I would say yes with the Raclet, as unlike something like a Sunnca,mp, it does not form a major part of the chasis. Witht he Suncamp, the tow elsectrics are in the kitchen unit, so could not be left off. What I did a couple of times with the Racelet was forget the awkward stand and jsut use a small table to put the cooker on - found that much easier.
I understand thinking of it as a set of scales, only my kitchen is stored hooked on to the inside of the trailer not the outside, does this make a difference?
It was your pics Garry that started me wondering again,would my poles,gas bottle,cadac at the back work?
Only reasking as their maybe some confusion how my kitchen unit attatches to the trailer.
mmmmmmmm me now thinks i have to plug from the kitchen into a fixed wire in the trailer for towing lights etc,
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Karla-------Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.It's about learning to dance in the rain.
Years ago we bought a TT that had a with or without kitchen option. I was a bit short of cash at that time so I bought the ‘without kitchen’ option but then, the following summer, decided to buy the kitchen. I had to take the TT to the dealer who fitted the kitchen on the back and changed the positioning of the trailer on the axle to compensate for the new configuration. In this particular make, there are apparently two positions that are easy to change between, but it had to be done by the dealer. I may have the terminology wrong here as I am not technical but I know it wasn’t as simple as just adding on the kitchen, something else had to be done to the trailer to compensate for the change in balance.
Thank you, I have the kitchen unit on mine but someone before me has taken the cooker and sink bit off it, so really is a waste of time having it on, maybe see if I can email the company that made it
Hi. I'm new to this site, so don't know if this is where I ask questions. Sorry if it isn't.
We have a pennine Pullman tt, and have realised that the both sides of tt are damp spongy. I've started getting rid of the wood, to the aluminium skin, but would love some advice on what to do after it's removed.
Also, how does the kitchen cupboards... Come out as it goes behind it?
Many thanks in advance.