might be a stupid question???

milo · Guru

might be a stupid question???

Loffty · Senior Member

Milo. it may appear that the wheels are at the back, but in fact they are closer to the centre of the van for weight distribution.

The A bar makes them look to the rear.

If they were any further forward the rear wheels would go skyward smile

If another set of wheels were put at the front it would need to be on a turntable and be a lot harder to manouver..

Just a couple of thoughts from me biggrin

Ole_Grizzly · Senior Member

Actually I reckon Milo has good vision, as some caravans do have wheels placed further to the rear than central placement.

Quite often from my experiences..(which are not many) a rear kitchened van has wheels closer to rear for that weight distrubution, and it sure does make the visual of a longer length from tow hitch back to first wheels..

But then again it might be the 'jungle juice' having some confounded effect on my perspectives..lol

Cupie · Guru

A key decision for the caravan manufacturer is the placement of the wheels/suspension.

I suppose that it is all about weight distribution. ie. the majority of the weight being as close as possible to being directly over the axel group but achieving around 10% of the weight on the tow ball.

My front entry van has the suspension positioned close to centre.

I have observed that most rear entry vans have the wheels much closer to the rear. I expect that this is because most of the heavier fittings like kitchen, fridge food storage lounges etc. are located towards the rear.