Finding out our ball weight on new van was 320kg( car rated 350kg) without any gas(2 x 9kg) 3 x 95lt water tanks empty (2 in front of axle, no room behind axle for 2) or any of our items to go into front full boot, the builder(a well known brand) suggested moving batteries(3 x 120amp AGM) from the front boot onto the rear bar(this will be upgraded to suit). With batteries repositioned(temperarily on bar) and the 3 water tanks "filled", new weight now 285kg. Not happy about this but what choice do we have!
My questions are
1 :are there any unseen problems with having the batteries in a secure box on the rear bar. All other electrics, inverter and battery charger I believe will remain in boot.( I am aware larger cables will be required)
2 : are there any other issues, re weights or battery position that I have missed
I am now a little nervous about the changes, we appear to have to accept, even though it is not really what we wanted. "Very" dissappointed they were going to let a van go out of their factory with the knowledge it would have been vastly over weight when gas and water was filled.
regards
Ian
Peter_n_Margaret said
09:37 AM Dec 8, 2015
Putting heavy items at the ends of a van will create dangerous instability. DO NOT DO IT.
-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Tuesday 8th of December 2015 09:40:08 AM
wasn_me said
10:12 AM Dec 8, 2015
Positioning three 120 a/h batteries at the rear of the van will increase yaw (sway) effect dramatically.
Can they be placed over the axles somewhere, even if an external door has to be installed to access them.
Cheers Pete
Wanda said
10:47 AM Dec 8, 2015
Thanks for input so far, no other choice as far as battery position, will not fit under van "alltogether". I guess on the back of van they are counter balancing to some degree the front! I have spoken to RAA and their opion is that it "should" tow ok, not sure who else one can contact for correct advise. The axles(tandem) are set back as we have a front door, so limited room behind axles. No room either, I am told, for one tank between axles.
thanks
Ian
Yuglamron said
11:03 AM Dec 8, 2015
Bailey are one of the largest Caravan Manufacturers in the UK ,and this YouTube video will explain why "Balancing" your load by putting weight at both the front and back, affect the stability of your Caravan and Tug.
You haven't mentioned what the weight of the van is, unloaded and loaded, nor the length. What vehicle are you using to tow it. And is it a custom build?
Tow ball weight should be about 10% of the caravan weight.
Weights at the extreme ends of the van can cause what they call a pendulum effect, best avoided.
Cooper12 said
08:50 PM Dec 8, 2015
What was the advertised ball weight of the van? Are you within your GCVM?
KevKim37 said
09:18 PM Dec 8, 2015
If it is possible do some checking to see whethr a Battery Box can be fitted in the floor so the Weight is as close to or over the axles. I fitted extra 2 x 100Ah in an Alloy box fabricated by a mate , measured floor space between Chassis Rails/Cross Beams, cut floor to suit then dropped box just Forward of the Front Axle.
With a Screwed/sealed lid and external vents this kept the Towball weight vet close to the previous figure. Yes there was an extra 66 kgs on the LHS of the van but it didn't cause any handling issues as the Weight was below the chassis centreline.
I have now reduced the 400Ah of Battery weight from 132 kgs of AGM's to approx 70 kgs of Lithiums and overwhelmed with there Performance.
Our van has Cafe Dinette on that LHS so this was fitted under the floor still allowing storage between the seat and floor internally.
Cheers Kev.
PeterD said
02:18 PM Dec 9, 2015
The other thing that has not been considered is that battery chargers should be fairly close to the batteries. There are some chargers like the Morningstar solar controllers that have an extra pair of terminals to run voltage sensing wires direct to the battery. This is to compensate for the voltage drop in the cables. Yes the voltage drop in the cables may only be a few points of a volt but this is significant for the charger measuring the battery voltage. If you are going to shift your batteries then shift the charger as well.
Neil n Chris said
02:34 PM Dec 12, 2015
Another option, I've taken, change to lifepo4 battery set up, one third the weight and the batteries can stay in the front. It is a lot more cost initially but in the long term is better economically. Always a trade off!
Aus-Kiwi said
07:35 PM Dec 13, 2015
Maybe trap door through the floor in a box ?? Under seat etc..
Good morning all
Hopefully this is ok for this section!
Finding out our ball weight on new van was 320kg( car rated 350kg) without any gas(2 x 9kg) 3 x 95lt water tanks empty (2 in front of axle, no room behind axle for 2) or any of our items to go into front full boot, the builder(a well known brand) suggested moving batteries(3 x 120amp AGM) from the front boot onto the rear bar(this will be upgraded to suit). With batteries repositioned(temperarily on bar) and the 3 water tanks "filled", new weight now 285kg. Not happy about this but what choice do we have!
My questions are
1 :are there any unseen problems with having the batteries in a secure box on the rear bar. All other electrics, inverter and battery charger I believe will remain in boot.( I am aware larger cables will be required)
2 : are there any other issues, re weights or battery position that I have missed
I am now a little nervous about the changes, we appear to have to accept, even though it is not really what we wanted. "Very" dissappointed they were going to let a van go out of their factory with the knowledge it would have been vastly over weight when gas and water was filled.
regards
Ian
Putting heavy items at the ends of a van will create dangerous instability.
DO NOT DO IT.
www.youtube.com/watch
http://caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/caravan-dynamics/
caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/making-caravans-stable/
Cheers,
Peter
-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Tuesday 8th of December 2015 09:40:08 AM
Positioning three 120 a/h batteries at the rear of the van will increase yaw (sway) effect dramatically.
Can they be placed over the axles somewhere, even if an external door has to be installed to access them.
Cheers Pete
Thanks for input so far, no other choice as far as battery position, will not fit under van "alltogether". I guess on the back of van they are counter balancing to some degree the front! I have spoken to RAA and their opion is that it "should" tow ok, not sure who else one can contact for correct advise. The axles(tandem) are set back as we have a front door, so limited room behind axles. No room either, I am told, for one tank between axles.
thanks
Ian
Bailey are one of the largest Caravan Manufacturers in the UK ,and this YouTube video will explain why "Balancing" your load by putting weight at both the front and back, affect the stability of your Caravan and Tug.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFzrWHTG5e8
Tow ball weight should be about 10% of the caravan weight.
Weights at the extreme ends of the van can cause what they call a pendulum effect, best avoided.
What was the advertised ball weight of the van? Are you within your GCVM?
If it is possible do some checking to see whethr a Battery Box can be fitted in the floor so the Weight is as close to or over the axles. I fitted extra 2 x 100Ah in an Alloy box fabricated by a mate , measured floor space between Chassis Rails/Cross Beams, cut floor to suit then dropped box just Forward of the Front Axle.
With a Screwed/sealed lid and external vents this kept the Towball weight vet close to the previous figure. Yes there was an extra 66 kgs on the LHS of the van but it didn't cause any handling issues as the Weight was below the chassis centreline.
I have now reduced the 400Ah of Battery weight from 132 kgs of AGM's to approx 70 kgs of Lithiums and overwhelmed with there Performance.
Our van has Cafe Dinette on that LHS so this was fitted under the floor still allowing storage between the seat and floor internally.
Cheers Kev.