CARAVAN TURNED OVER

[rustic]

Originally Posted by cosmic

I think the problem i have is that the van is to light,it's only about 750kg to 900kg,14foot long,i load it correctly with all the heavy stuff either over or just infront of the axle,things like tinned foods clothes go in crates on the floor! i have some kitchen scales for the nose weight.

What is the max nose weight for a swan neck on a Terrano 2 2.7 TDi?

Looks as though you are doing everything right, a lightweight caravan could be your problem.
You will find the Terrano a safer tow car not just because of its weight, but also as it is higher will help to slip-stream the caravan.
The hitch weight for a Terrano is 75-100kg

Some differ depending on the towbar type and manufacturer, but are generally in this range.
If you use a stabiliser that grips the ball, be aware that this not only wears the friction pads but also the ball, there is a minimum size for the ball so measue it in several places with a digital vernier.

my dad has laguna estate hes had it yrs now ( p reg ) he was told it has a very low nose weight for such big car so 75kg could be a low estimate for a t2

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

the nose weight for a terrano 2 is 100 kg depending on make of bar, it is for mine which a factory approved witter design. caravan club recommend 7% of van's gross weight though again depends on what maker of van says is max for caravan chassis.

[JonathanM]

the noseweight for our van, MTPLM of a fraction under 1200kg works out at around 85 kg, and with an alko stabliser it is pretty stable - better than towing with the wifes Picasso, at any rate. I bought a noseweight guage when new tovanning, and don't check the weight every time, because a weekend away often has the same kit loaded in the same way, so the noseweight should be constant. however I do make more of an effort to check it when driving to the continent & especially on the way home, i have seen it close to the 95kg mark. Strangely the van seems more stable with a heavier noseweight, taking it only 25 miles when empty for an annual service is much scarier!!


Richard, good to see you back on the forum again, lots of posts to catch up with I'm sure!!

[keeny]

allo
ive been towing for 25yrs now but this is my opinion
i ones got into a mess my caravan was all over it was that bad i could see it side of my eyes, saying u slow down thats the worst thind to do, you got to swing into the caravan at the same time u speed up i was straghtend up no prob. if you slow down the swing will get the better of
you, what would happend when riding a bike with no hands slow
you will wobble all over the place, but if you speed up youwill
straghtend up, top gear mention this, no arguments on this
we all human with our differents, like i said this is my opinion
love u all remember VERY VERY SAVE JOURNY..... :smile: 8) : :wink:

[rossco]

Its quite amazing I find that you don't need a license to tow a caravan or trailer on a car but you do for a truck towing a trailer.
Ok the trailer is not motorised but you need a license for just about anything else on the road.

What I'm getting it what you guys are talking about and thats people just not knowing that they have a trailer on the back and what havoc they can create with one.

A simple test would probably cut out half the accidents with trailers.

Over here the limit is 90 kmh with a limit of 95 kmh and then you get the ticket for speeding.

We had a case of the safety chain not attached went down the road and the trailer jumped off the tow bar, killed a child injured another both walking on the footpath.

The drive didn't know about the safety chain and that it had to be attached to the vehicle.

Went up on a manslaughter charge and ended up in prison.
Certainly got the message out until the next time.

[andrewk]

Originally Posted by rustic

Caravan stability is affected by poor loading, we used to have a caravan long ago, pre-mav days, we loaded as much as possible over the axles and low down, when we got to site we then spent 10 minutes replacing everything in the corrrect place. No big deal, we never used a stabiliser, and we towed a 14 foot caravan with a 1700cc Austin Ambassador, never had a sway even on the motorway.
Stabilisers are often mis-used by placing them on un-stable combinations, with people thinking that this will be safe, how wrong they are.
I would be very concerned if you are having to tighten the stabiliser to make things right.

My worry about stabilisers is that they give many folks an unwarranted belief that they prevent snakes - so they drive faster and hence are less safe rather than more. Frankly, if you feel uncomfortable when towing with a vehicle like a Terrano or other Nissan 4x4 because the outfit feels a bit skittish without a stabiliser then you have a problem to solve - and fitting a stabiliser isn't the solution!!!

You might find this interesting. One significant conclusion is that stabilisers tend to damp small oscillations but not large ones - which is worrying - and that they have little or no effect on the critical speed at which snaking would take place.

See: http://people.bath.ac.uk/en8cjk/Caravan.pdf

Cheers
Andrew

[keeny]

to what roscco said about test 4 towing, no need to there b no diffference
people past their driving test still cause accidents and still no road sence :P :evil: :arrow: