Can any body tell me if it would be legal yo have a chequer plate 2mm box welded to the back bar of my caravan it would be 1250x600Dx680H.

Jaffa

I have 2 on bolted on to my rear bumper, 1 each side of the spare wheel, they are smaller than yours, [ 750Lx300Wx250H ] I do not put any Heavy items in them so they do not effect the vans handling at all, had them on the last van as well and in around 70000 k of travelling all was good and they are very handy,

Not sure about how you would go [ or trust ? ] Alum welding to steel bumper ?? That's why I bolted mine on ??

Thanks so much for your interest 

Jaffa

Thanks for y our interest 

Jaffa

Thanks for the info I intend to weld a bracket for it to site on and then bolt it to that so thank you.

Jaffa

Thanks.

Doug

Before I would go doing any thing regarding what you intend doing I would first ring my insurance company

as I know they look very dimly on anything in this regard.

If the worst was to happen you may find you have no cover,this is not just confind to caravans it also goes for motor homes. As the insurance company sees it as aditions or add ons.

Peter wrote --Any extra weight at the rear of a van WILL make it much less stable on the road.

Be very very careful

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Pretty broad statement there Peter ?? When we do not know what type of Van or any of the Weights involved ?? It is NEVER all the same ?? so it will always be Horses for Courses, and differing opinions ??  

WE HAVE 2 SMALLER than yours on the back  for light  things ropes etc

  inside i made 2 lexan washers full width and about 4 inches wide so

the heads of the bolts will not pull through the aluminium bottom

glued these down also

around the top got some sealing tape to waterproof when the lid closes

also drilled a few holes in bottom just in case

   all the best suenray

Jaffa wrote:

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Thanks for the info I intend to weld a bracket for it to site on and then bolt it to that so thank you.

Jaffa

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 That's exactly the way I have mine done. As far as lights go I also have additional high mounted, park, indicators and brake lights which I specified when we got the van built 10 years ago. I don't have a real issue with weight in the box as my wheels are set well back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFzrWHTG5e8

http://www.towingstabilitystudies.co.uk/stability-studies-game.php

I'm now wondering why spare wheels are places on the back of caravans.

Something that I think about when I see a vehicle towing a caravan, with boxes on the back of the van, and other items - gas bottles, spare fuel etc on the draw bar of the van, is how much "stuff" do people need to take with them. Do they really need everything they take, or are some of the items "just in case"?

For myself, we did a 20,000k trip quite a while ago now, towing a camper trailer with a 4wd - we took a 20litre container of diesel "just in case" - put in the tank of the vehicle when we got home!!!!!!!  Never bothered to take fuel again!

I am about to get my first van and am interested about such questions of weight, balance, legality.  But on weight and balance, surely if you put an equivalent weight at the other end (or equivalent according to the principle of moments) it won't affect the handling.  And isn't it covered by the rules regarding down weight on the tow ball?  Comply with that and you should be ok?  Or am I missing sth?

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:

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Any extra weight at the rear of a van WILL make it much less stable on the road.
Be very very careful.

Cheers,
Peter

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 Peter,
Give up Mate, you're banging your head against a brick wall.
Ozjohn.

Ozjohn , I was just thinking the same thing .

Giday the best ppl to ask is the registration from any state  along with your insurance company they  will be more than happy to help with answer .We are also going to be putting a tool box on the back of the van .

cheers Uncle fester

PS My wife has us on here as the hobbits I can never get in so I now have my own nic

Depending on the rear overhang, the weight of the box on the rear can increase 10 fold as the van moves up and down and/or sideways.
So 60Kg can easily become up to 600Kg.
OJ

Nomadicman wrote:

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I am about to get my first van and am interested about such questions of weight, balance, legality.  But on weight and balance, surely if you put an equivalent weight at the other end (or equivalent according to the principle of moments) it won't affect the handling.  And isn't it covered by the rules regarding down weight on the tow ball?  Comply with that and you should be ok?  Or am I missing sth?

 

 

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 There has been quite a bit written about the subject of Yaw inertia. (Van sway) and a lot of study carried out by Bath University, Bailey UK and Alko in Germany.
Collyn Rivers had also written some excellent articles.
Google - baileys of bristol caravan stability studies. The stability video is worth quite a few views.
Cheers, Ozjohn

I've read a lot of Collyn Rivers articles Ozjohn . It's because of the one about the yaw that I did not put a box on the back of ours .

And I was only thinking of carrying around 20 kgs . 60 kgs is a hell of a lot of extra weight hanging on the back of a van . That's over 10% of what some

tandem vans are allowed to carry all up .

Gerty,

when designing a van with spare wheel on back, any reputable van builder will factor in that weight and its location, and place other weight, wheels position etc, accordingly. When you add extra weight to the back, post-manufacture, you run a major risk of changing the tow characteristics and road behaviour of the van.

Here it is