Low towbar
 

Hi all we have just picked up our first caravan, an abbey 418 gts
i was told that these vans are nose heavy without loading.
problem is that my conny diesel tourer seem low on the tow ball when the van is on. the conny had new springs and shock a couple of years ago.
\the jockey wheel catches speed bumps at o mph are the swan neck tow bars higher? don't think i can live with this:shrug:

Don't think they are, have you pulled the jockey wheel as high as it will go ? Ie the side bars of the wheel,need to be in the slots of the jockey wheel tube,before raising it as high as it can go.. You can get drop plates,but not raise plates, in other words you can drop the tow hitch, but not raise it. Towing regulations apparently. The 75 has a low tow point anyway, both of mine have had a lower towing position. Abbey caravans are heavy.

Towbar
 

The jocky is at the top and in the slots, i wondered if anybody else has this problem

Have you slackened the jockey wheel assembly pinch lever off (when fitted to your car and not before) and lifted the whole jockey wheel assembly up and retightened?

It's not the jockey wheel, it's the tourer rear springs. They just aren't the right size in my view.

I had the same issue.

Measure the distance from the centre of the wheel to the top of the wheel arch when the car is unladen. Let us know in millimetres what it is.

I have fitted Grayston spring assistors and Mad helper springs. The problem is now gone.

In hindsight, I think heavy duty rear springs would have been a better idea.

Swan neck towbars are higher. I have two. I've no experience of tourers/caravanning but previous posts suggest springs are a big factor.

I had this problem, I fitted two Heavy Duty Springs from Euro Car Parts -no more problem.

What is the height of your tow bar ball from the floor?
I have measured from the floor to the centre of the ball and it is 415mm.

According to this blurb its about right.....

What is the correct height for the coupling head on a trailer or caravan?
A height of 385mm to 455mm is stipulated by the EC Directive if the trailer or caravan is in laden condition. Laden condition refers to a trailer loaded to the maximum specified mass in this instance. The mass must also be distributed evenly over the loading area.

I also have this problem. It meant that I couldn't use a leaf spring type stabiliser because the bracket on it lowered the ground clearance even further causing it to bottom out. I have fitted new standard springs at the rear but still bottom out occasionally. I wish I'd got the heavy duty springs.

I have a tourer,caravan and leaf Spring stabiliser,and had no bother.,afaik the springs and shockers are standard, had the car since Nov 14, so nothing modified in my ownership.

Low towbar
 

well after some research i found my caravan nose weight to be 100kg unladen
i wanted to beef up the springs but don't want to alter the geometry of the car
so if i spread the load when fully laden should drop the nose weight and higher the back end.
What do you reckon?? :shrug: