# Nose Weight (nothing to do with Barry Manilow)



## Westysprinter (Apr 25, 2007)

I have a 2.8JTD Ducato Swift Suntor, it says in the manual for this particular chassis that the max nose weight should be 10KG. I have a 4 wheel trailer for pulling the westfield. How do I accurately measure the nose weight, what do I set as the reference point for zero? :?:


----------



## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

In the past I have used a set of bathroom scales (titter ye not) with a suitable length of wood to place (vertically) under the tow hitch and on top of the scales which in turn are on boards or whatever to bring the distances right for the operational ride height

Obviously the trailer needs to be loaded as for towing then just lower the jockey wheel until the height of the hitch is the same as it would be if hooked onto the tug and you have the noseweight reading on the scales

I would imagine it's going to be more than 10Kg though...

I guess you could roll the Westie back to get the correct value but this would be at the risk of having a tail-heavy trailer which could be unstable.

HTH

Cheers

Dave

Edit for spelling x2


----------



## 103932 (Apr 16, 2007)

Yep Thats the way i check mine and it works a treat, i did borrow a noseweight gauge once and checked it against the bathroom scales and they were both much the same reading. As Dave says i would also have thought you would need more noseweight than your Swift maual says.


regards David.


----------



## MrRob (Jan 15, 2007)

HarleyDave said:


> I would imagine it's going to be more than 10Kg though...
> 
> I guess you could roll the Westie back to get the correct value but this would be at the risk of having a tail-heavy trailer which could be unstable.
> 2


10Kg must be a typo? Id recon 100Kg was more like it.

Id advise getting the towbar check with a reputable towbar fabricator/fitter if your worried .... as your unlikely to find a data plate on one thats been made up and it might have been made up for a lightweight trailer.... Ive just had one work loose .... the holes drilled to attach it to the chassis had elongated within 2K miles of using a twin axle trailer ... it had been fine for a lighter (unbreaked 750kg) single axle for 15K miles !


----------



## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

For info, a trailers noseweight should be about 7% of it's laden weight.

I too believe the 10Kg is a typo and is probably 100Kg?

PS. Bathroom scales every time


----------



## Wupert (Aug 6, 2007)

Westysprinter said:


> I have a 2.8JTD Ducato Swift Suntor, it says in the manual for this particular chassis that the max nose weight should be 10KG. I have a 4 wheel trailer for pulling the westfield. How do I accurately measure the nose weight, what do I set as the reference point for zero? :?:


If you have your towhook at the correct height your *4 wheel *trailer should have very little nose weight.


----------



## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

Yeah - we all saw the 4 wheel bit but 10Kg is still very little

Cheers

Dave


----------



## passionwagon (Nov 13, 2005)

Westysprinter said:


> I have a 2.8JTD Ducato Swift Suntor, it says in the manual for this particular chassis that the max nose weight should be 10KG. I have a 4 wheel trailer for pulling the westfield. How do I accurately measure the nose weight, what do I set as the reference point for zero? :?:


 8O Possible typo which should be 10 % of towed weight. See CC club handbook for towing advice- still applies to a trailer. :wink:


----------



## MrRob (Jan 15, 2007)

Wupert said:


> Westysprinter said:
> 
> 
> > I have a 2.8JTD Ducato Swift Suntor, it says in the manual for this particular chassis that the max nose weight should be 10KG. I have a 4 wheel trailer for pulling the westfield. How do I accurately measure the nose weight, what do I set as the reference point for zero? :?:
> ...


BUT this configuration leads to pitching being induced my BOTH the van AND trailer simultaneously therfore considerably more stress is put on the tow bar assembly.... It has broken mine!!

IF the tow bar or chassis relay only able to accept a 10 Kg nose weight I would not hang my dog lead over it (when parked up) shez 24 Kg


----------



## motoroamin (May 22, 2006)

Yup, its a tricky one on 4 wheel trailers. The trailer needs to be dead level too - nose up and the rear tyres are doing all the work, nose down and the front tyres are overworked.

In reality as the outfit pitches the load on the nose/axles changes all the time. The 7% noseweight figure given is good advice and the standard for general trailer towing, but with 4 wheels on the ground, the level is equally important.

10kg has to be a misprint though. In practice, static noseweight of 50kg is the norm for a typical trailer or caravan. Less, than this and there is a real chance of the tail wagging the dog.


----------



## Wupert (Aug 6, 2007)

HarleyDave said:


> Yeah - we all saw the 4 wheel bit but 10Kg is still very little
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave


I think 10k is a typo.

Its almost certainly 100k


----------



## Westysprinter (Apr 25, 2007)

It deffinitely says 10KG for my chassis and 80KG for the other 2.8 chassis. I thought it was pretty low. both options can tow 1215KG.
The trailer is pretty level when hitched up. and she certainly tows well at lets say the legal speed limit :wink:


----------



## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

motoroamin said:


> clipped
> 10kg has to be a misprint though. In practice, static noseweight of 50kg is the norm for a typical trailer or caravan. Less, than this and there is a real chance of the tail wagging the dog.


Why does a low nose weight lead to the tail wagging the dog? Can't get my head around it.


----------



## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

If there is weight on the towbar/hitch the car suspension is controling the pitching etc. (most of the time!)
If no weight the trailer will be lifting the rear of the car for 50% of the time.
I assume that that will lead to an unstable condition.

Is there an engineer available please


----------



## Wupert (Aug 6, 2007)

EJB said:


> If there is weight on the towbar/hitch the car suspension is controling the pitching etc. (most of the time!)
> If no weight the trailer will be lifting the rear of the car for 50% of the time.
> I assume that that will lead to an unstable condition.
> 
> Is there an engineer available please


Yes

Its about the hight of tow bar and hitch.

But just as important is how you load the car onto the trailer.

6 ins out forward or back you could have probs.


----------



## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

EJB said:


> If there is weight on the towbar/hitch the car suspension is controling the pitching etc. (most of the time!)
> If no weight the trailer will be lifting the rear of the car for 50% of the time.
> I assume that that will lead to an unstable condition.
> 
> Is there an engineer available please


Right I see thanks for that


----------



## Wupert (Aug 6, 2007)

sallytrafic said:


> EJB said:
> 
> 
> > If there is weight on the towbar/hitch the car suspension is controling the pitching etc. (most of the time!)
> ...


       

If the car is a rear wheel drive and its rear in the air the air for 50% of the time there could be a slight problem.


----------

