famcunni Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Am thinking of changing my car to one of the new Berlingo's and matching this to a new Sprite Alpine 2 berth with a MTPLM of 1170kg. The kerb weight for the Berlingo 1.6 diesel 90hp is stated as 1407kg with a max weight of 2040kg. The max towing limit is 1300kg, though it has a rather low towbar nose weight of 55kg. If I have done my sums right I think as far as the 85% rule is concerned its close enough. The $64000 question is regarding the nose weight. An 1170kg van would need a minimum nose weight of 46.8kg by my understanding, which only leaves a margin of 8.2kg until maximum nose weight is reached. By running with the nose weight at around say 50 to 52kg, would this have any detrimental effect to the handling, or could it be considered as 'sailing too close to the wind to be safe and practicable'. Is there such a thing as an 'Optimum nose weight' for this caravan and where would I find this information. I have scoured the spec sheets and can't find any mention. Grateful for any tips or advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famcunni Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Had a response from an e-mail to Swift that sort of confirms my fears that 55kg noseweight is a bit light and may lead to unstable towing, so have binned the idea of a Berlingo (shame, had good service out of my old one over 4 years and 85000 miles) Back to the drawing board again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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