Load the car or the caravan?
We have a Skoda Kodiaq towing a Lunar Lexon 560. So a good lump for a tow car and a long, tall, single axle caravan. We are a couple. This means there is plenty of space in the back of the car and also carriage/ storage capability in the van.
The question is; given the option which we have, to give best towing characteristics, where would you put your stuff, particularly the heavies like awnings, gas bottles etc
Whichever, the van would be loaded correctly and the nose weight checked. (Leaving aside the practicalities of a near empty van versus stumbling over your stuff)
Comments
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Different tow car and we're a couple but table, chairs, awning if carried and any foodstuffs all travel in the car boot or rear seats. Aquaroll travels in the shower compartment. Wastemaster and gas bottles fit in the front locker.
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Let the gas bottle travel in its dedicated compartment in the caravan where it will be secure and have the benefit of sink vents in the event of any leakage. It’s far from wise to carry a gas bottle in your car which is why there are regs/recommendations relating to the carriage of inflammable products.
https://www.calor.co.uk/gas-bottles/advice/transporting
https://www.flogas.co.uk/transport-of-lpg-cylinders
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I've always thought the lighter the caravan the better?
Everything needed for the caravan lives in it like the aquaroll, wasteraster, gas, pipes for SP, and stuff for personal and clothes washing, bedding, a couple of towels, cutlery, and two lightweight chairs so it's always ready to go. It's all been carefully weighed and we're well within limits If we can be bothered then we might load clothes the night before but most times it goes in the car and unloaded at the site.
Awning wise, if we take one nowadays, we use the car as we have a Sorrento so either on the back seats or fold all the seats flat, likewise for any extra chairs or other stuff we might need.
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To keep the caravan below the 1800 kg load limit the awning (if taken) goes in the Land Rover along with the small heavy items such as the power lead(s) and the spare LPG. [ No worry about gas drops - it's a Land Rover! ] We even keep jars and tins in a box that easily slides out of a cupboard and into Land Rover, with another for wine and beer.
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I also think weight in the car is best for stability. We could fit everything in the van for two with a month away and still not exceed max load, but we put stuff in the car.
Making sure nose weight for us is around 60kg [1200kg van] we load the van so we can use it without having to drag things about.
On the back seats as far forward in the car as possible goes heavy items such as awning if required, stacker box of food, large table and sometimes our chairs even though they are lightweight as we can access them quickly without having to delve under the bed.
In the boot goes larger items, such as second fridge, box of shoes etc.
Colin
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Our first van was only slightly lighter than our car at the time. This necessitated almost all our luggage and equipment going in the car, or in a roof box..
We have always adopted this loading policy-the van holds the usual chairs/table/aquaroll etc-and everything else, awning flooring food, clothing etc, all goes in the car-with as much as possible on the back seat-the awning always goes there-to get the load as central as possible..
As said, the lighter the van the better in general so long as the nose weight is OK.
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I suppose it's easier on the way home with a new van. You just have to convince your lovely other half that you need to buy a load more new gear from the accessory shop to ballast the van out correctly for safety reasons.
Colin
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We generally put anything heavy in the car. Otherwise our packing regime is if it is used in the caravan it travels in the caravan. Otherwise it goes in the car so the van floor is not cluttered and we can easily stop en route for lunch if necessary.
So, in the van we have clothes, bedding, towels, toiletries, fridge food, day to day stuff like tea, coffee and cereals, pots, plates and cutlery. Some paperwork and bits and pieces in the front drawers, under the front seats are a few catering items such as a lightweight small electric oven and an electric cooking pot.
Under the bed we have any bulky but lightweight stuff, spare toilet rolls, and our bread machine.
Front locker has the gas bottles and the wastemaster, and a few pipes for using serviced pitches.
We do have a large payload available .
In the car, with back seat down, we have the awning, EHU cable, leg winder, levelling boards and blocks, outside tables and chairs, Aquaroll, coolbox, a box for any heavy food items such as a few tins , and stuff like my camera, binoculars, and i-pads.
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+1, sound safety point that is sometimes overlooked until too late👍🏻. I load my vehicle to the roof.
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I would never put gas bottles in the car for safety reasons.
Other than that, we would carry the bulk of stuff in the caravan to achieve a reasonable nose weight. I don’t like a light nose weight so tend to keep it within about 10% (below). Whatever can’t then travel in the van, due to payload and nose weight went in the boot. A trip to the weighbridge is well worth it, IMHO.
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With the meagre user paylosd of most caravans these days, it is really easy to overload the caravan. For tbis reason, we tend to carry lots of stuff in the car. Fortunatly, we have a large car and when ee go away in tbe caravan tbere are only the two of us and a small dog....
David
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