Towing Guide - Flipbook - Page 5
Optional equipment
Items made available by the
manufacturer over and above the
standard specification of the caravan,
e.g. spare wheel, air conditioning, motor
movers etc.
Personal effects
Those items which you carry in a
caravan and which are not included
in the MRO or optional equipment
(e.g. leisure battery, clothes, crockery,
cooking utensils, bedding, portable TV,
portable radio, footwear, books, awning
and food).
In the UK the caravan minimum
personal effects payload for NCC
approved caravans is calculated from
the following formula. 10L + 10N + 50.
Where:
L is the body length of the caravan in
metres and
N is the number of berths.
The + 50 is to take account of items
such as cooking equipment, plates and
the leisure battery.
Note: Non NCC Approved caravans may
not have the additional + 50kgs added
to their payload.
Actual laden weight
The actual weight of the caravan
when you use it including its optional
equipment and your personal effects.
You need to know this weight because
it will determine whether you are
legally or illegally towing, and also
within your caravan towing experience.
Later in this guide we tell you how you
can calculate or otherwise determine
the actual weight of your caravan.
Hitch limit
The maximum vertical static load that
the towing coupling can bear, stamped
on a plate on the coupling. See also
the caravan drawbar limit, sometimes
printed in the owner’s manual.
Hitch height
The height of the centre of the coupling
hitch should lie in the range of 385mm
to 455mm above ground level with the
caravan laden and floor level front to
back.
Noseweight
The downforce that the caravan’s
coupling head imposes on a car’s
towball, measured by a noseweight
gauge - when stationary it should
never be greater than the towbar /ball
or hitch limit values, whichever is the
lower.
NCC Caravan Towing Guide 5