Noseweight gauge?

Or borrow the bathroom scales (best to do this secretly), get a bit of wood to protect the surface, and a stick that will put the hitch at the right towball height.

Raise the jockey wheel, position the stick on the scales and under the hitch, and lower the jockey wheel until the weight comes on the scales.

Don't exceed the car's max loading, whatever you do.

Jim

this is what you need

Nose Weight Gauge W39 £13.87 £15.95 inc VAT <FORM id=f406 method=post action=/default>

Having the noseweight too heavy can cause as much pitching as having it too light. 7% of my van's MTPLM is only 57 Kgs, the cars can both take up to 75 Kgs, but if I go over 60 Kgs I get a lot of pitching with both of them.

Just thought I'd mention that.

Yes, Caz, spot on.  The best number is the right number, and too much noseweight is dangerous.  I don't suppose many caravans are exactly at 7%, but we should be trying to get somewhere near, but without exceeding the limits of the caravan or teh towbar.

Jim

Caz, can I ask what Bailey 'van you have and what cars you tow with?  We've now been looking at different but suitable tow cars but we don't have a lot of spare cash having just bought the 'van.  We could trade one of our cars in for an older but bigger car, hopefully not having to spend too much more money....but blimey it's hard to find the noseweights of some these cars.

I'm really worried about finding the right car now.  Ah well....back to the drawing board! 

Thanks everyone for all your comments.

Jules

this may help as some have the noseweight on them,you also need to find one that matches your caravan and is 75% of your cars kerb weight to be safe on tow.so the car needs to be 25% heavier than your van.

http://www.cuddles.abelgratis.net/kerbweights.htm

Thanks for the link Michael.

Jules

OK, so I've now been back to the dealer to check the weights/figures on their system and guess what?  It shows that the car has a noseweight of 75kg not 52kg!  Now if this was correct it would make the match more suitable....wouldn't it?

However, the original 52kg figure was taken from the hand book so either hubby's reading it incorrectly (and he's not here to ask) or the hand book/manual (and I don't know where it is) is incorrect!  What now....?

Jules

Quote: Originally posted by jules+rich on 16/7/2009

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Caz, can I ask what Bailey 'van you have and what cars you tow with?  We've now been looking at different but suitable tow cars but we don't have a lot of spare cash having just bought the 'van.  We could trade one of our cars in for an older but bigger car, hopefully not having to spend too much more money....but blimey it's hard to find the noseweights of some these cars.

I'm really worried about finding the right car now.  Ah well....back to the drawing board! 

Thanks everyone for all your comments.

Jules

 

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I doubt it would be big enough for you. It's a 1994 Bailey Oakmere, which is a dealer special based on the Beachcomber 350/2 - only 11 feet 6 ins long, 2 berth, MTPLM 816 Kgs.

I tow with either a Citroen Xsara Auto 2.0 Hdi 110 bhp, or a Seat Ibiza 1.4 Tdi Reference Sport.

Quote: Originally posted by Petemate on 18/7/2009

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I was bemoaning the fact that my Rover 45 TDi has great pulling power but the car is limited by the manufacturer to 1000kg. The noseweight is given as 70kg. Of course, that is nicely 7% of the towing limit! Just a pity that there are so few later 'vans within our limit. I am following a few, but wifey likes those with end washrooms with the nice curvy basin jobbies. (we accept that seperate showers with curved doors are out unless/until we get a bigger car)
But I do like the way the Rover pulls our Pathfinder (1000kg max) Granted it doesn't have the aerodynamic drag of a caravan but it sure flies along. Currently we have the camper up for sale and are looking at such 'vans as '97 Lunar Meteor and similar. (I am waiting for a reply from a seller with a nice Bailey Ranger 380/2, supposedly 1999, with unladen 762 weight but I need to know the MTLPW)
I still get confused when seeing towing weights for some cars that are obviously way over 85% of the car's weight - I can only assume this is to do with the large weight of the car not allowing the tail to wag the dog.
Years ago we had a Cav Mk 3 2-litre CD, which had a very high top gear, which when hitched to our Mardon Classique 4-berth wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding and we had to swap it for an SRI (which had the same ratio in top as the CD had in 4th - boy, what a result)
Pete

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There are many things you can tow that weigh over the 85% - just not a caravan.  The problem is that a cravan is one of the least stable things you can tow, with a lot of windage and area compared with its weight.  A more "condensed" load on a trailer is much less likely to give you problems.

Jim

if you have rear springs you can have rear spring assisters fitted.see

http://www.mad-suspension.co.uk/progressive.htm