In this Ultimate Guide to Towing series, Robert Pepper discusses the all important topic of weight myths and distribution, including the safest way to load your caravan and tips on dropping those extra kilos.
Australia and most of the rest of the world are getting fatter, and this is a problem. It’s the modern malaise, and it’s terrible because it multiplies the risk of all sorts of ills like heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and more.
Weights have a similar effect on caravanning, except unlike humans, you can’t always tell just from looking if a vehicle is overweight. However, you will notice the effects sooner or later. And it’s not just total weight, it’s weight distribution. How and where you carry your gear can make a big difference to your towing safety and therefore your happiness on holiday.
Loading & weight myths
Now for some myths. The first is that if the car is powerful enough to pull the trailer, it’ll be okay. Not true. These days, pretty much any car is powerful enough to pull a heavy trailer, but that doesn’t mean it is able to safely control the trailer. See our previous article on weight limits, and whatever you do, stay under them
The second myth is that if you’re underweight, you’re okay. So for example, if your caravan’s ATM is 3,000kg, and you’re at 2,800kg, then all good, right? Maybe, maybe not. It’s all to do with weight distribution. It’s entirely possible to have an underweight, unstable trailer and even an overweight, stable one.
Reduce weight if you can
Weight is good, and weight is bad. Weight is sort-of-good when it’s in the towcar because for trailer stability, a great thing you can do is make the towcar heavier than the trailer. But it’s bad everywhere else as it’s obesity for caravans. It’ll make the car work harder and increase fuel consumption, although the main effect of weight is in acceleration and hill climbing. Once in a steady cruise, aerodynamics is the bigger concern. So reduce weight where you can, and here’s some tips:
Leave it at home
The easy, obvious way to save weight is simply not to take the item. Now I don’t like people judging others saying, “you don’t need that”, as that’s a personal decision. But we all take more gear than we need so maybe look at things you’ve not used for a few trips and drop them out.
Use lighter options
My big tip here is to visit a hiking shop and replace your 4×4 or caravan gear with hiking gear; cutlery, pots, chairs, tables, even things like towels. You might also consider lithium batteries, all-terrain instead of mud tyres, and smaller gas bottles. Every kilogram helps.
Use smaller gear
Do you really need two 90L fridges, plus slides, plus all the battery to power them? Capacity is interesting, you learn to make do with less, but when you have more you use the space. Size also means size – big fridges mean big compartments and big batteries, so there’s a multiplying effect. Similarly, when you reduce something in size you find other things can be reduced too.
Car-van duality
I have one fridge which lives in the car. That suits me, it may not be for you. But it does reduce my cost, weight and battery draw for the ‘van. I do however have lightweight cutlery and cooking sets in both, so I could go even further, but maybe you don’t need two big tables in each.
Dual-use products
You’ve got tools, can any of them double up such as a breaker bar which can be used as a wheelbrace? That said, some things are small, light and very important such as tyre pressure gauges so I carry three of those, plus spare valve caps.
A benefit of taking “fewer and smaller” is that packing becomes easier, and everything is more accessible. There is less need to pull out complicated systems or pack things precisely so they just fit, all of which means lower stress all round.
Does the location of the weight matter?
Yes, very much, back to the “light but unstable” warning. Where you want your weight on the towcar is central and low because that’s where it has the least effect of stability. So those of you running two people in a wagon – right behind the front seats is a great place for that heavy fridge or toolbox. On the trailer, you want the bulk of the weight over the axles, which is not the same as central, and also low. Unfortunately, both types of weight distributions are hard to achieve, but you should still try.
Where possible, shift weight from trailer to towcar for stability. Every kilogram you shift from trailer to towcar is a double win – lighter trailer, heavier towcar. But the towcar will be most stable if you get the weight ahead of the rear axle, and ensure all limits are met.
Watch this to see how trailer stability is affected by different weight locations.
Securing your loads
A moving load will cause problems; damage to itself or the compartment, and even contribute to instability. Most caravan compartments have some sort of tie-down system. For lighter, soft stuff like personal bags, a simple occy strap may suffice. For gear a little heavier, like a toolbox, you’d want a pull tie down strap. And for the really heavy gear like jerrycans or generators, a proper ratchet strap, and that’s double for anything on a roofrack.
Sometime a small cargo net does the job too. In all cases a high-friction floor like rubber definitely helps, and if you are packing things loose into a drawer, pack lots of things so they can’t move around, even if you fill out the space with foam or something inflatable. In fridges, glass breaks, so protect it, and there are even wine bottle protectors.
Accessibility
Frequently used gear needs to be easily accessible, for example basic tools, torches, and levelling ramps. Gear you won’t need regularly can be stashed away in harder-to-reach places, for example more specialised tools, manual control for the electric awning, jack, rarely-worn clothes.
Summary & method
Even if you’re a light-travelling couple with a big van it’s worth taking the time to consider what you’re taking, where you’ll load it and how it’ll be secured. Here’s a method:
- Make a list of everything you’ll take.
- See what can be dropped off the list, or made multi-use. Remember you always get used to less space and fewer things.
- Decide where it should go; heavy stuff central and low, ideally in the towcar, and consider accessibility.
- Go for a test trip, see what worked, what didn’t. Then revise.
You don’t want to let fretting about weights and loads get in the way of a good holiday, but on the other hand, investing a bit of time up front will pay off. You’ll feel more like just hooking up and heading off, and once there, life will be easier if you don’t need to unpack a load of heavy gear just to get to the thing you need.
