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pete we have moved everything forwards and short of putting stuff on the A frame there is no way we can get any more weight forwards at all, yes the lockers are empty, i have nt got enough stuff to fill half of them anyway!!! all the ones around the bed never have a damm thing in them til we get on site as i use them to store food in.

the water is totally drained down each and everytime we are going home so that isnt going to help at all all the heavy stuff we own such as the awning, the 2 wheel clamps, the cadac are on the front seating under the front window across the van, the front locker has 2 gas bottles a campsites worth of steel pegs and al the other junk you blokes take mallets ramps wellies etc etc etc, under the bed is very little in fact there is only 2 windbreaks 2 handles for the water barrels and a porch awning groundsheet, 10 kgs at best in that, bathroom has about a carrier bags worth of shampoos and gels etc etc and enough towels for 2 people so thats got no weight in there either

If you cannot achieve the designed noseweight with the standard van equipment, then it sounds as if something has been added to the van after manufacture, that has thrown the weight ratios out.

IE a set of spare wheels and carriers added to the chassis to the rear of the axles or some other addition like an inboard water tank, etc.

I've never had a twin axle, but is it the case that, if you wind the jockey wheel up off the ground, the van stays level. That is resting on both wheels only. Don't forget, when the front drops the back wheels have to come off the ground and they are probably heavy.

The nose weight has to vary enormously on a twin axle, as the front rises or falls. To measure it accurately you must have the hitch at exactly the height it would be when hitched to the car' The car rear suspension will be lower with the van on than without.

A question for the twin axle brigade.

Does your vans, when they leave the factory, have the apropriete noseweight at that point?

IE, even when empty, is there enough noseweight to safely tow the van?

If this is so, then Damtnet's problem is one of the way he has loaded his van. If the answer is that the only way his van can obtain its proper noseweight is by loading it, then the van has a design fault.

Yes. I am surprised that we have not had more suggestions from the Twin Axle Fraternity on this problem.

My only twin axle trailer experience is with a Car Transporter and that is easy to set the noseweight on.

In defence of the 'Twin axle Fraternity' all I can say is that of all the (5) caravans we have had with tandem axles is that we have had no issues whatsoever regarding noseweights or towing in general.That is why we always look for twin axles when we change the van. We have had caravans for over 30 years mostly with the larger vans.I have no idea why this particular caravan has such issues with its balancing as we find it very easy to load ours to obtain the correct noseweight which in our case is 100kgs.

I would suggest when Elddis produced this van for public sale it would have had everything checked thoroughly including the noseweight and ex-works weight.There is no way this excellent caravan manufacturer would release an unsafe caravan from new.Something has been done to this van to make it like it is. If an adult can stand inside the caravan at the front and the noseweight barely changes then there is a major problem which for the life of me I cannot explain without seeing it for myself.This caravan needs to be carefully checked at a service centre as soon as possible.... 

Quote: Originally posted by mike whiskey on 13/4/2010

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Have you wound up the front stays before checking the nose weight?   

I know it sounds stupid, but I've seen it done!

MW

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