Possum3 wrote:

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 Note that this will adversely effect the stability of your caravan, 

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 My emphasis.

Van stability is as much or more about "yaw stability" as it is about ball weight. The "dumbbell" effect. You CAN NOT add weight to the rear without reducing stability and the longer the van the less stable it will be for the same weight added.

(2) Stability of Towing a Load with Dr Jos Darling - YouTube

Cheers,

Peter

Branchie wrote:

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Thanks mate.. the van is large anyway (22ft) the rear bar can carry 180kg.. I will ensure that the weight distribution is carried out correctly to ensure i do not go over weight, and more importantly cause sway issues..

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 Hi KevinIf you are at all interested in safe travels,don't even think about putting anything like 180kg onto the rear bumper of your caravan.        As already mentioned by Peter,yaw is the issue.My van is quite a bit shorter than yours,and when I started out sorting my weights etc I decided that a 3200kg ATM van,with 300kg towball weight,behind a 3650kg car,could handle carrying a generator box on the rear bumper,along with a 35kg generator and tools etc,no worries total weight on bumper about 50kg. Off I went on a 200km test run through the roads around Kilcoy. Bad move,as the van was moving around badly whenever I "flicked" it to check stability,so I immediately removed the whole lot,and put it in my shed. There now is a small aluminium box on the bumper,and it contains only my water filter set-up,wheel chocks,diesel heater exhaust hose,grey water drain pipes,and a small towrope.If a short van,with only 50kg on the bumper,can move a 3650kg car around,I can only imagine what a 22' van would do with 180kg on the bumper.Another consideration is that your rear overhang,or distance from middle of van's axle group to rear extremity cannot exceed 3.7 metres.Most vans have the axles slightly rearward of centre,but if your axles are in the middle of the van you have nearly 3.4 metres overhang. You're not going to fit much of a toolbox in 300mm. Cheers

P.S The second of these two photos is of a van that was involved in an accident that killed 3 people,being the driver and two passengers.As you can see,there seems to be a lot more weight behind the axles than in front? The car and van both overturned after becoming unsettled when a truck overtook them.The owner of the van had been warned by the caravan supplier that the setup was dangerous,but advice was ignored.It is both unwise and unsafe to have big weight on the rear bumper of a PIG trailer.(Caravan).The other photo may be of a van owned by the local idiot?

Long Weekend wrote:

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The photo of the Galaxy seems to be as it was built with no changes made by the owner. Perhaps a production fault by the manufacture in that the A frame was put on the wrong end?

(Hmm, no that wouldn't do it because then the door would be on the wrong side.)

Given that it is an obvious fault by the manufacture, are there any other of that model van out there on the roads?

Murray

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Hi Murray. The owner insisted that the van be custom built that way,despite the manufacturer advising against it. Other photos show that there was NO towball weight,but the builders finally drew the line when the buyer wanted the AC unit to be installed at the rear,over the bedroom.Van was picked up in Melbourne,and was on the way to owner's home,in Adelaide I think? Killed him,his wife,and teenage daughter.Very sad,but I posted picture to warn Kevin about having  weights on the extremities of a van.Have 180kg on rear bumper? No way,Jose.Cheers

I reckon they could be -- nice .

Good "spotting"....!

KB

KJB wrote:

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I reckon they could be -- nice .

Good "spotting"....!

KB

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 Hi Kerry.Do you think that perhaps the name clearly displayed on their sides could possibly  be a clue? Just saying.Cheers

Long Weekend wrote:

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Thanks Yobar. It is good to know that there is not another one like that out on the roads just waiting to at least have an accident or worse kill someone.
As a matter of interest, how far did they get before the accident?
Murray

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This "Accident",if you could call it that,occurred waaaay back,in about 2004 I seem to recall,and happened somewhere in South Austalia,so they covered a bit of ground.Jaahn may recall,as it was he,I think,that helped me identify the van when I first posted this photo some time ago.Cheers

The tool box is 600x300x300 from bunnings. About 10 or 15kg of tools etc.

This is how I did it. IMO 10 or 15kg is unlikely to be a great concern unless you already have stability issues.

Whenarewethere wrote:

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Some Nyloc nuts under there may be worthwhile.

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 To stop anybody "borrowing" my toolbox,I welded the angles to the bumper,and used bolts with nyloc nuts on the inside of the box.The toolbox I have is a similar type to Neil's,although slightly larger.Cheap and nasty,but does the job! Cheers

A different type, but they are.