Can you get out of the deal on the van you were going to buy?  What about the salesman?  Didn't he advise you about the suitability of your car and caravan match?  Pretty bloomin naff dealer if he didn't and I would walk away personally.

The first thing we were asked at our local Bailey dealer was what were we going to tow with.

Ali

Paul, the weight of the caravan and car and 85% calculation and the noseweight issue are two separate things.  What noseweight can your tow hitch take and what noseweight is the van you are looking at?

It seems as if you are fine on the car/van weight ratios but you haven't explained what figures you have been given re the noseweights.

Ali

hi paulfr,the dealer is talking rubbish,thats like saying load car with 10 bags of sand you can pull anything.the car will have its own weight limits.i regard this statement as dangerous coming from a dealer.good job you knew better.this may help.good luck with the search for your caravan.

from PC mag........Caravanners' A-Z

Thanks Michael - very useful link !

Ok have found out that our car has 1,600 MPTLM limit and has a 80kg noseweight limit. Would we therefore be ok to tow the Lunar Lexon DS which is 1,400 MPTLM so well below our limit ?

I have checked out the specifications but can't find the noseweight ? Any help appreciated...

http://www.lunarcaravans.com/caravans/lexon_spec.htm

Thanks..yours confused ! 

Seems like the MPTLM is fine but you need to check out the noseweight.  Email lunar they will be able to tell you.

Ali

Paul it seems from other threads I have read on here recently that you can influence the noseweight quite a bit with careful packing anyway.  Hope you manage to find a good match and get your caravanning hols underway.

Ali

found this,if you cannot find it i would work on 7% of MTPLM or ring lunar

Lunar Lexon DS

Nothing about noseweight though.

Ali

Thanks Michael but that suggests noseweight would be 98kg. Does the 7% also apply to the max towing weight of car (if so 7% of 1,600 is 112 kg ) ? Why is this all so confusing !!??

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/A9222E4F-7BDF-4EE3-B535-3DBC8208F6B3/0/GettingStarted.pdf

See here, from what I can make out the 7% is the ideal figure for stability, not a hard and fast rule of any kind.  It looks likely though if you want to achieve that sort of figure a 4 X 4 is essential!!

Ali

No problem Paul, let us know how you get on.  I don't even tow my van funnily enough but have done so in the past.  We only bought it a few weeks ago and it is sited for now although I am buying a 2 litre Primera which is a better match than my Almera as we do intend to upgrade at some point.

ali