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Subject Topic: 55kg Nose Weight Limit advice? Post Reply Post New Topic
Persondestix
11/5/2014 at 5:15pm
 Location: None Entered
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Hi , im currently trying to purchase a cheap caravan (3-5k) for my family of 4
I think i like the 5 Berth double rear dinette layouts best
However my current car is a 2003 Toyota Corolla 2.0 Diesel D4D
Kerbweight is 1465 kg

Yesterday i seen a lightweight 5 Berth at my local dealers
Bailey Discovery 300 2004
Maximum Technical Permissible Laden Mass (Kg) - 1156

This gives a towing ratio of 79%
The problem is the Corolla only has a max towball nose weight of 55kg
will this be unstable if i have to load the bailey to get it to 55kg?
Am i fighting a losing battle with this tow car?
I only really have a small budget of £3000 , possibly up to £5000 max
Any other alternative caravans i could look into?
thanks for any help
Mark


Personfreeatlast
11/5/2014 at 5:20pm
 Location: Teesside
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My Bailey Pursuit has a recommended noseweight of 58kg and it is slightly heavier than the Discovery. Check the specs for the Discovery - you could always email Baileys. 3kg would not make much difference to be honest.


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Personjanus
11/5/2014 at 5:25pm
 Location: Rochdale
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Suck it and see. The caravan weightwise is great for your car you are unlikely to find anything better. Noseweight is better a bit higher but I drove car and caravan combinations with 50kg limits for the first 8 years of towing ( now up to 22). That limit never posed me a problem with stability, it is sometimes difficult to achieve but persistence pays off. Load the caravan as you would like it to be with everything in its dedicated position, check the noseweight, if it is too low move something forward and try again. More likely it is too high so move something further back, as an example moving an electric cable from the front locker to the very rear of the van can reduce noseweight by anything between 5 and 10kg. If you have to do more try to remove things from the front locker and fix just behind the axle, what is not advisable is moving any heavy object right to the back of the van.

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Bill

For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013

Mondeo Titanium 140 tdci


Personemmitdb
11/5/2014 at 6:34pm
 Location: Cornwall
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Greetings,

I wouldn't disagree with anything already said but remember that it's only the noseweight that is particularly low.
That doesn't prevent you from loading the car to the maximum. I know you are a family of four and I can understand the mountain of 'stuff' that this entails but you will find that the car handles the caravan better if the ratio between the car and caravan is as good as it can be.
I'm not advocating loading the car with unnecessary gear but, if it can be put in the vehicle rather than the trailer it should improve things, even if only marginally.
Also, pay attention to tyre pressures. If you have a fully laden car, let the tyre pressures reflect this.


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How come when some people visit the fountain of knowledge, they only gargle!!!


Personold chap
16/5/2014 at 6:04pm
 Location: Sitingbourne
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to get your noseweight correct you must first load the car in order to get the height of the top of the towball as it will be when you are towing. Then with a set of bathroom scales & cut a length of broom stick so that the total height of the scales & broomstick is the same as the car tow ball height.( I tack a square of 3 ply to the bottom of the broom stick to give stability & protection to the scales)
you then place the scales & the broom stick under the van hitch & gently raise the jockey wheel till it just clears the ground, this should be carried out on level ground of course. This method takes into account the towing angle of the van.I.e. if the tow angle is lower than with the van"level" then when hitched the noseweight on the car would increase & you could possibley exceed the cars download maximum


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PersonSi-the-gas
16/5/2014 at 7:07pm
 Location: Hayling island
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I always have a nose weight of around 30-40kgs. I make sure I can lift the hitch by hand. This is for 2 reasons, makes the car ride smoother, puts less stress on the a frame. I am an experienced tow'er and have always set up this way. I have towed all sorts of trailers and items. Just set nose weight so you can just lift it, then you know your suspension won't bottom out.


PersonOnewheelonmywagon
16/5/2014 at 11:12pm
 Location: W Midlands
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I believe there is a minimum legal noseweight of 4% of the van's MTPLM, which for the van you are interested in is 46kg.
Bathroom scales, Milenco gauges, nose slightly up, nose slightly down, all are only going to make a couple of kg difference to the noseweight.



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