Before hitting the road, you want to make sure your car and caravan are levelled. You want to check this on a flat surface once your vehicle and caravan are fully packed and ready to go. Three things you need to check are:
1. Weight and height on the vehicle
This information can be found in the vehicle manual; however, most owners can unintentionally overload their vehicles so it’s always best to do this once your car is completely packed. One of the best ways to weigh your car is by using public weighbridges.
2. Weight of the van
Before towing your caravan, you must understand the weight distribution inside the caravan, you want to ensure its evenly distributed throughout the van for safe towing.
Heavy items must not go before the axle, medium items want to distributed throughout the van and lighter item towards to the top/ roof. This will help keep you caravan level which will also keep your tow bar and car at level too.
Just like your vehicle, using a public weighbridge is the most accurate way to weigh your van.
3. Trailer Ball Load
Once you have weighed your vehicle and caravan separately, it’s time to hook the two up and see how they sit. If they sit up it an arch shape you want to raise the tow ball up to meet it, if they sit downwards in a ‘v’ shape, you want to lower the tow ball to meet it. When both vehicle and van are weighed correctly the ball weight will be levelled.
