Quote: Originally posted by Bill Lord on 30/12/2007
The 7% which Alko quote is the maximum that the chassis is designed for and the caravan is perfectly happy with much less. If you are happy with your car then I would not even think about swapping for something as trivial as that especially as 80kg is more than enough.
The Caravan Club say this:
Q
What is noseweight, and how important is it?
"A
Car manufacturers quote a maximum permitted noseweight for each car model, which is the maximum caravan hitch weight permitted on the car towball. It is important that this is not exceeded; however, it is equally important for stability that the caravan noseweight is heavy enough, and it is recommended that the optimum for stability of the outfit when towing is generally found to be approximately 7% of the caravan’s ALW (generally between 50 and 90kg). You can appreciate that those car manufacturers quoting a maximum noseweight of 50kg or less will restrict the choice of caravan quite considerably. Caravan manufacturers often quote a noseweight limit too - check this is compatible with the 7% recommendation. "
See: http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/801876BF-A519-46FF-BC4F-F2DF284BD52C/0/TopTwentyCaravanningQuestionsAnswered.pdf
There is an interesting article here too:
"Noseweight is the biggest factor determining caravan stability."
http://www.practicalcaravan.com/features/noseweight.html
There is a caravan loading game that simulates car/caravan stability for various caravan loading conditions on the Bailey/Bath University website here ...
http://www.towingstabilitystudies.co.uk/towing/caravansnake.html
Cheers
Andrew
Topic: Ideal Noseweight
