Tags – How to Weigh a Caravan
When you are towing a caravan, it is important to make sure that the weight is evenly distributed.
This will help to prevent any accidents and keep you and your passengers safe while on the road.
In this blog post, we will discuss how to weigh a caravan and find the right balance for your vehicle.
What is Towing Capacity?
Before you learn how to weigh a caravan, you need to know what number will tell you that you’re overweight.
Simply, towing capacity is the maximum weight a car can tow legally.
But even then, it might not be safe or pleasant to do so, especially with a caravan or trailer with a boxy profile.
Often, the towing capacity will be found in your car’s handbook. If it’s not there, don’t worry you can easily work it out yourself too!
However what you should know is: the maximum width for any towing vehicle is 2.55m and the maximum length, 7m for a trailer towed by a vehicle weighing up to 3,500kg.
How to Load a Caravan
If you’re not sure how much weight your luggage will add to your touring caravan, the safest guideline is to avoid exceeding the maximum weight limitations on the side of caution.
It’s not just the weight of the caravan that matters when it comes to safe and stable towing; it’s also how that weight is distributed; manufacturers recommend placing heavy items at the bottom, near the axle.
Heavy items distributed throughout the caravan might affect its stability, especially in strong winds and on rough roads. The top regions of the caravan should be used to store lighter objects.
Weighing a Caravan
With towing capacity covered, let’s look at 2 ways you can use to determine the weight of your caravan.
1. Local Weighbridge
The easiest way is to find a local weighbridge near you, and call ahead to check they can accept you.
Then simply tow your caravan to the weighbridge, with all its usual contents that you would travel with.
Once you’re there, you’ll be asked to drive onto the weighbridge plates, and you’ll want to make sure that all of your wheels and the jockey wheel are on the plate – unhitch, and drive off.
Then, the operator will take the reading, give you a printout, hitch up again and be on your way in no time!
As long as you are within your towing capacity, you don’t need to do anything. However, if you are over then you’ll need to remove some items to lighten the load. For instance, clothes, food, camping chairs etc., can be placed in the towing vehicle instead.
2. Portable Weigh Pads
The second option to consider is a portable weigh scale, where you simply put it on the ground and drive over it with each wheel of the caravan.
Then, the portable weigh pads store that data until you have measured each wheel of the caravan to get a total weight figure.
Plus, it’s a great way to display the weight for the left side of the caravan and compare it to the right so you can then redistribute the weight inside accordingly.
As we mentioned earlier, for a pleasant on-road performance, you want the weight to be evenly distributed.
For accurate readings at home, drive onto the portable scale slow and steady, and it’s absolutely vital that you take the reading on a flat and level surface.
For more information, please get in touch today.
In the meantime, take a look at our Portable Weigh Pads here.
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