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Morning all I am having a slight panic about max nose weight. We are off to France for 2 weeks on Mon and I'd really like to get it sorted. I've been looking on the internet but it's just confusing me more so i thought I'd come and pick the brains of the people on here.

We tow with a Ford Galaxy and no where can I find info about nose weight; to top it all off I've been reading various caravanning mags and suddenly had a eureka moment! We have a detachable towbar so... Is our max nose weight based on the towbar manufacturers max - 85kg or the Ford Galaxy max - ??? Or a combination (Insert own formula) of both?

I'm really stuck, have found vague mentions of Galaxy nose weight being 80kg.

Also we currently have been towing with a nose weight of around 60kg, would it be better to increase this? What difference would it make to towing?

Sorry for all the questions so early on a Saturday morning but as you may be able to tell I'm having a little panic!

Karen

 morning karen

 usually nose weight is 7% of vans max weight.up to galaxies max nose weight.

 so devide your vans max loaded  weight by 100 multiply by 7,this gives you your max nose weight, if it is higher than cars nose weight,use lower figure and you will be ok.

 atb and enjoy your holiday

This website lists noseweights:

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

It shows 75kg for a 2006 Galaxy.

The car, towbar and caravan drawbar will each have their own max noseweight limits.

You should not exceed any of them so go for the lowest.

Tow bar and caravan drawbar would normally be OK up to 100kg, so assuming car is 75kg go for 75kg.

Don't forget that the actual noseweight depends entirely on where you load everything. Heavy stuff at front means heavy noseweight etc. so you will need to weigh it. Most people use bathroom scales for this.

I put the scales under the jockey wheel then measure the distance from van wheels to jockey wheel and van wheels to tow hitch.

Noseweight = (weight at jockey wheel) multiply by (distance wheels to hitch) divide by (distance wheels to jockey wheel).

Distances can be in inches or centimetres as long as both are the same

Measure at ground level from the centres of the wheels in each case, middle of where they touch the ground.

If you get the formula round the right way the noseweight should be a bit less than the weight under the jockey wheel.

Sorry, got it the wrong way round. Should be:

Noseweight = (weight at jockey wheel) multiply by (distance wheels to jockey wheel) divide by (distance wheels to hitch).

Thank you very much for the advice will aim for around 75kg

Karen

An ALKO hitch has a max load of 100kg,therefore any nose weight must be less than 100kg , your nose weight must be no heavier than that recommended by your car manufactorer & less than the max load as stamped on your tow bar

The nose weight must of the van must be obtained from the tow hitch ball socket with the van on level ground (if taken from under the jockey wheel the reading will be as much as 10kg to light depending on which way the jockey wheel is pointing)

According to cuddles  your car has a max nose weight allowance of 75kg