Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: martin12760460 on 19 November 2007, 08:23:52
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Finaly i have a omega !!
I do have a minor technical problem though :( the tow bar noseweight limit set by vauxall is 75 kilo my caravan has a nose weight of just over 100kilo i know that it is technicly illigal but i dont want to change my lovely car or van . i just fitted a witter with alko ball ,has anyone any thoughts or advise please.
thanks
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Its 75Kg (which is actualy above average for a tow setup).
Just adjust the distribution of weight in the van to alter it.....
Are you sure your nose weight is 100Kg.....can you lift the nose of the hitch...?
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I have a abby gts418 2007 nose weight is stated as 103 kilos i did ask the caravan dealer is the car suitable and he did a tow match he said the outfit was a good match < only when i had the witter towbar fitted did i find out the bar was onlly 75kilos ,Does my omega have self leveling ?2000 w reg 2.5cdx
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nose weight is a maximum - choose the lowest
so load it to 75kg
If you get a vehicle with 150kg nose weight load it to 100kg
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Congrats on the purchase :y
Can't confirm for certain on the self levelling, is your car a facelift? Estate? Your dealer was right though when he stated the omega was one of the best tow cars! Can you take the gas can out of the front to reduce weight?
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If I remember rightly, the ideal recommended noseweight for a caravan is 7% of it's MTPLM (Maximum Permissable Laden Mass - or it's max weight in English!)
When we had a caravan, it's MTPLM was 1340kg (sad how I remember all these details... :-[ )
So, divide it by 100 gives us 13.4, and times it by 7 (to give us the percentage) = 93.8kg
The hitch on the van was stamped as having a 100kg max, and our 4x4 we used to tow with had a max noseweight of 150kg. So, we were ok to go with a noseweight of up to 100kg.
If you go below this "ideal" 7% noseweight, it will obviously affect stability to a certain degree, so you just need to be a bit more careful when towing. I found this out when I was taking our caravan in for servicing - we had to empty the caravan 1st, and when towing it on the motorway to the servicing place, it seemed a lot more affected by passing wagons. As a matter of interest, I checked it's noseweight when I got to the servicing place, and it was just below 70kg.
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the van has 2 bottles in fron so yes i can im sure i can reduce it a fair bit and i suppose icould load the van with the weight distributed just aft of the axle ,i will just have to keep with trial and error .
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Sorry, but I know nothing about towing caravans, and have no idea if self-levelling suspension has anything to do with nose weight...... but for the record self-levelling rear suspension was standard only on the Omega Elite, and optional on all other models. Look under the boot of your CDX, if you have self-levelling suspension then you should see the hose coming from the air pump into the top part of the shock absorber.
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Not elite and no pump :( in that case it hasnt thanks,
looks like i wil have to save for another disco :-/ or change the van :'(
i thought at last i had the best outfit but i cant tow illigaly i drive for a living problem is i love them both anyone any solutions ? apart from second car ! :-X
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Not elite and no pump :( in that case it hasnt thanks,
looks like i wil have to save for another disco :-/ or change the van :'(
i thought at last i had the best outfit but i cant tow illigaly i drive for a living problem is i love them both anyone any solutions ? apart from second car ! :-X
What?
Set it to a nose weight of 75Kg (any more and you wont be able to handle the tow hitch anyway!) and drive happily....
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Just need to get a spring balance (or bathroom scales under the jockey wheel).
Get as much weight as you can over the axle of the trailer rather than at the extremities and if the nose weight is too low (I'd keep it between 50 and 75kg personally) shift stuff forwards. The combination will handle much better when balanced than with a load of nose weight anyway.
Certainly preferable to get the weight distribution right than to put up with a Disco :-X
What is the total weight of the trailer?
Kevin
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caravan weight is 1480 kilos mtplm with afects
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weight ok makes 92% max but tow hitch accorrding to swift group is 103 kilos
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weight ok makes 92% max but tow hitch accorrding to swift group is 103 kilos
Yes but, that is the obsolute maximum weight the nose of the caravan hitch can tolerate without damage....not the weight you have to operate it at...
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Where do you get a nose weight of 103 Kgs from ??
There are no limits stated on the Swift website and the limit in the handbook is the MAXIMUM for the A-frame, not the actual noseweight.
The car/towbar limit is more important as you will damage the towbar/attachment points if you exceed this .. Omega limit is 75 Kgs.
So adjust the noseweight to around 70 kgs .. I find this to be about the best ... Abbey 416 here :)
HTH
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Here is an extract from the swift handbook (page 15)
LOADING AND DISTRIBUTION OF
WEIGHT IN THE CARAVAN
Do not exceed recommended maximum
loading for your caravan.
1. Load heavy items low down near the
floor and mainly over or just in front of
the axle(s) (Fig. A).
2. Load evenly right to left so that each
caravan wheel carries approximately the
same weight.
3. Do not load items at the extreme front or
rear since this can lead to instability due
to the ‘pendulum effect’.
4. Load remainder to give a suitable
noseweight at the towing coupling.
Check noseweight.
Note: Do not overload car boot.
And suitable is close to 75Kg in the case of your setup....
And I cant beleave that I have just looked at a caravan website :'(
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Here is an extract from the swift handbook (page 15)
LOADING AND DISTRIBUTION OF
WEIGHT IN THE CARAVAN
Do not exceed recommended maximum
loading for your caravan.
1. Load heavy items low down near the
floor and mainly over or just in front of
the axle(s) (Fig. A).
2. Load evenly right to left so that each
caravan wheel carries approximately the
same weight.
3. Do not load items at the extreme front or
rear since this can lead to instability due
to the ‘pendulum effect’.
4. Load remainder to give a suitable
noseweight at the towing coupling.
Check noseweight.
Note: Do not overload car boot.
And suitable is close to 75Kg in the case of your setup....
And I cant beleave that I have just looked at a caravan website :'(
You'll be buying one soon ... :)
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Just load it to 75kg and it will be fine ::)
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Buy a good nose weight guage - one that fits into the caravan ball socket. Go for 70 Kg to 75Kg max. Measure it every time you tow the vehicle unless you are only manouvering.
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thank you all for help and advice when the weather is drier i will try and find the best conclution .
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Just another point to bear in mind - if you take bikes with you on your jollies with your caravan, I would advise against a towbar-mounted bike rack, as they also add up to the max noseweight. So, from 75kg max, if you have 20kg worth of bikes on there, that leaves 55kg for the van's noseweight...
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na put the bikes in the van while "traveling" ;)
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DO NOT go above your recommended nose weight of you car, if it says 75kg then you should always aim for that figure, closer the better. NEVER go above it, you WILL snake if loaded incorrectly.
:y :y :y
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Here is an extract from the swift handbook (page 15)
LOADING AND DISTRIBUTION OF
WEIGHT IN THE CARAVAN
Do not exceed recommended maximum
loading for your caravan.
1. Load heavy items low down near the
floor and mainly over or just in front of
the axle(s) (Fig. A).
2. Load evenly right to left so that each
caravan wheel carries approximately the
same weight.
3. Do not load items at the extreme front or
rear since this can lead to instability due
to the ‘pendulum effect’.
4. Load remainder to give a suitable
noseweight at the towing coupling.
Check noseweight.
Note: Do not overload car boot.
And suitable is close to 75Kg in the case of your setup....
And I cant beleave that I have just looked at a caravan website :'(
I know where there is one for sale, knew you could not resist the caravan web site.
Happy camping ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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no not camping CARAVANING ! warm and dry !! ::)