Nose weight
Comments
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No I don't think so Colonel, Swift deigned the van to take the rear cycle rack and obviously made sure it was stable by countering the weight at the rear by some method at the front. Pendulums have all the weight at one end, have weights at both ends and it is not a pendulum any more, more like a see saw?
If there was no issues regarding stability they must have got it right?
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”obviously made sure it was stable by countering the weight at the rear by some method at the front”
Got any evidence for this fact?
PS Not sure why you referred me colonel, I have no association with the military and you are one of the Keyboard Warriors of this forum.
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no, but I would expect Swift to have done their homework and not produce an unstable van.
Sorry wrong forum, my mistake, meant nothing by it. Btw you calling someone a keyboard warrior is ironic, lol
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Funny that another recent thread you jumped down some else’s throat for not producing facts and just conjecture. Another case of do as I say not do as I do. I notice the you didn’t explain why you called me Colonel I assume it wasn’t a term of endearment.
The cycle carrier fitted to the back of Swift group vans is optional. Perhaps you can explain how this balancing mass that you are speculating about copes with the loaded and unloaded conditions?
Careful reading of my post would show that I didn’t claim that the cycle carrier made the caravan unstable merely it was at odds with previous advice. In your excitement to slap me down you failed again to grasp my point either by accident of designp
Regarding my comment about keyboard warrior. How is it that so many of your posts are Deleted User by the moderators?
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QED! I would say you have proved your keyboard warrior status by that post boff? jumping down throats, slap, failed to grasp, posting porkies, and what about your Deleted User posts?And where was I posting a fact?
Did I use any impolite language to you?
PS I did explain why and even apologised, missed that is your haste?
I'll repost: Sorry wrong forum, my mistake, meant nothing by it
Anyway I'll stay on topic and polite, even if it's optional the weight will have been taken into account at the design stage. I really think that is pretty obvious. Are you saying that a respected manufacturer would produce an unstable van?
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If you can't get your mind around double ended pendulums, then think of dumbbells and flywheels.
Any weight away from the axle increases the inertia, unfortunately by the square of that distance, so if you put it twice the distance away it acts four times as powerfully.
So what, well doing that lowers the frequency the van will sway at, so what again, well the more likely you are to encounter it to start swaying. Really simple, if that natural sway frequency is way higher than any swerve, passing bow wave or multiple bow waves like from car transporters, then the unit will tow stably, and auto correct. Adding to that flywheel by mass towards either end, risks lowering where you encounter instability. Therefore, doing so, absolutely lowers the margins of instability.
The gamble becomes is it still adequate for all life throws at it and are you always going to be lucky? Me, I prefer the biggest margin I can get.
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The reality is indeed very much more complex, and a big factor is the towing vehicle's mass, but I was trying to help those who struggle with the concept, believing towing with big rear end masses comes without stability ramifications.
I could have gone into a whole host of factors affecting the towing stability, though that would further complicate the discussion. But what I said stands alone as an irrefutable fact, a mass hung on the van's rear end lowers the wholes critical frequency, so comes closer to possibly being encountered.
I make no claim it can't be done, it is, but with the stated ramification.
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I have a land Rover with a tow ball max load of 150 KGS. I tow an Elldiss Avante whose tow hitch has a maximum download of 100 KGS.
My question is this, are there any figures available from caravan manufacturers as to what the 'Nose Weight' is when a caravan is new and ready for delivery?
My experience tells me that the difference between an 'empty' caravan and the nose weight maximum is very narrow. I have trouble getting my nose weight down to 90+ KGS. I suspect that most of the time the nose weight is 100+KGS.
I carry the awning, poles, chairs and other bits and pieces in the car.
I would love to see a nose weight of 80 KGS sometime, but short of stripping out fixtures and fittings that the maufacturer installed, I fail to see how I will achieve this.0 -
Are we to suppose, from your post, that caravans where the manufacturers build caravans with enough weight to the rear of the axle to create a sensible nose weight, are safe. But an owner achieving the same balance by redistributing weight, creates a risk of instability?
John, move 10kg of your payload from the front to the back and you’ll solve your problem. That’s all it takes, and believe me your van won’t turn into an unstable, dangerous demon.
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