What do you keep in your front locker?
Our tiny caravan has a huge front locker. Not sure what to use it for. Even with gas bottle (we are only having one), spare wheel and corner steady winder, there is loads of space. I'm aware that I don't want to put too much weight in there and also noticed everything in there is well secured and strapped or clipped in. I realise I don't want anything rolling around in there which could damage gas fittings or cables for lights. Could things like levelling ramps/chocks/blocks for corner steadies go in there and if so how could I stop them causing damage in there? The waste water container supplied is a bit too big, but with a 45l fixed water tank, we probably want to keep the big one, it will have to go in the car. Any advice appreciated.
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Whatever you put in your front locker you always have to be aware of the impact on the nose weight. Your spare wheel is very heavy and if you can should be stored near the centre of the caravan. My front locker currently is home to - 2 x gas bottles, 1 x gaz bottle, groundsheet, waste water extension pipes, 2x plastic wheel raisers, aqua roll handle, 2x wheel blocks, a variety of wooden blocks, toilet chemicals in an old washing bowl, sponge and leather and a bucket! The nose weight is still 85 - 90 kgs (the max is with full gas bottles) of a maximum allowed 100kgs. They don't seem to move around when towing, well at the end of a days towing things are always where I put them!
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Thanks, the water bits and pieces sound good to put in there, I have bought some from Collapz. Good point that the spare wheel is heavy, but it looks like it is meant to be stored there. Everything has a place with secure clips. Also, the gas bottle will be on the right (currently behind the shed) and directly behind the gas bottle on the inside is the leisure battery. So I wonder if that is meant to balance the weight of the wheel. Wheels are small too, 13". We did a noseweight check when it was delivered, he had a 6kg gas bottle, but also some water in the fixed tank, which is just in front of the axel, and we got a noseweight of 62kg. Car has 75kg noseweight max. MIRO is 688kg, although I'm not quite sure what that includes. Max weight is 1000kg, although we aim to stick to 800 - 850kg and try and keep the noseweight near to 75kg. Car manual says max noseweight is 10%, the higher the better, so more than CC recommendations of 4-7%. We'll have to do some packing and noseweight check experiments, but overall we are going to travel as light as possible.
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There is lots of info re weights in the Club handbook. New caravans MIRO will include gas bottle, battery and spare wheel. You have 312 kgs payload which is very generous. Your nose weight must not exceed either weight caravan tow hook is rated or the car max nose weight whichever is the LOWER so it looks as though your car's 75 kg may be the max but check in your caravan handbook to make sure. For stability you should aim to get as close to the max nose weight as possible. My outfit has a max nose weight of 100kgs and I aim to tow at about 90 - 95 kgs; I adjust interior loading to get to this figure being careful not to put too much stuff to the rear of the caravan. Light stuff which does not mind getting damp in the front locker as it is not insulated and will probably have drain holes in the floor. I put my awning, aqua roll, water waste carrier and EHU Cables (I take 2 and they are surprisingly heavy!) in the car when towing.
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What do i keep in my front locker? - the answer is a lot.
For example,
Spare wheel, 6kg propane gas bottle, gorrilla buckets ( for washing clothes), chocks etc, inflatable canoe and other bits and pieces. Without all this i cannot achieve a sensible noseweight of 80 - 85kg.
If I had known at the time of purchase of the difficulties in achieving this noseweight I would have rejected the caravan as being unfit for use. Our version had the spare wheel stored under the caravan behind the wheel which gave me a noseweight of 40kg when the locker was filled normally (without the canoe). The following year the manufacturer had moved the spare wheell into the front locker.
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My answer is..... absolutely nothing!! We don't have a front locker! 😀😀
Actually we keep very little at all in our caravan. Just necessary kitchenware, bedding and personal clothes etc. Everything that is for 'outside use'.... i.e. water/ waste hook-up stuff, cadac, outside chairs and table, EHU lead, rotary washing line, anything at all to do with the wind out canopy (don't use an enclosed awning these days), all goes in the car. Not only does it save on weight in the caravan, but we actually find it easier...... it's easier to unload from the back of the Discovery than it is to get the beds and cushions upto unload from the caravan. Apart from a tiny bit of food for the meal on arrival, we buy all food when we get there.
David
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Interesting you have no front locker, what caravan do you have and where does the gas bottle go? You obviously have a decent amount of car space too. Our boot is not that big, but I have had a go at packing things and it looks like we have space in both the car and caravan for everything we need.
I am amazed how big ours is for such a tiny caravan. We will put what we can in the car, but since there is all that space in the front locker it seems a shame not to use it, especially for things we need outdoors. I have now ordered 2 gorilla tubs having measured the spaces in the locker and think they will be great for the Collapz bits and pieces. As we have a 45l fixed water tank, we have got some hoses and might try and fill it up at a motorhome water point on arrival if we can, as we have no external pump. We also got a Collapz watering can which should be useful too, especially since there are separate external filling points for toilet and water heater. The seat on one side has no space, it contains the battery, 12v thing and water tank. The one on the other side has a door for access from outside, so hopefully we won't be having to lift the bed up too much.
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I travel with nothing on the floor of the caravan. I have listed that which goes in front locker: other stuff such as table, aquaroll, waste master and EHU cables go in the back of the car. I can also fit the awning (Kampa as in the pic) in the car but, like DSB, we usually take a Fiamma Caravanstore roll out sun awning which is fitted when travelling. As they are light I carry the chairs under the fixed bed. There are only the two of us so plenty of room with rear seats folded or pushed forward as necessary.
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