I bought this car because of its reputation. I love it.

I went to the expense of having a Westfalia detachable Swan neck Tow bar fitted.

 

I bought an old 19 year old caravan - a Fleurette Tamaris Poptop Caravan.  It was delivered to my home.

I attach the van and it tilts nose-up.

 

Does anyone know if it is the van or the car that is the problem?

 

I have not tried loading the car yet, but that will only make the van level and car nose up?

 

 

 

 

Edited 13 July, 20178 yr by 1WightKnight

Towbar height on the car should be between 350 and 420mm from the ground with the vehicle in a 'laden' state.

 

As for the caravan, it should be between 385 and 455mm with the trailer in its laden state.

 

It's 'normal' for a caravan to have a slight nose down with the car level assuming both are within spec.

14 hours ago, langers2k said:

Towbar height on the car should be between 350 and 420mm from the ground with the vehicle in a 'laden' state.

 

As for the caravan, it should be between 385 and 455mm with the trailer in its laden state.

 

It's 'normal' for a caravan to have a slight nose down with the car level assuming both are within spec.

Thank you for your help. I will use this as a guide, but have a look at these photos with neither laden with anything. I have a 4" difference between front and back.  10" at the back corner from the floor - but much less from the corner steadies.  14" on the front corner. It appears I would have to load my car to have the back of it down to pull the caravan down.  I'm thinking I need to change the swan neck set up and put a straight forward normal tow bar and bracket then I could use a drop plate.

Things are different here in 'Straya, but that caravan looks really low to me.  Has the suspension collapsed or sunk?  That wouldn't get into and out of service stations here in AU without scraping.

 

Hope some of the continental types can give you some advice.

3 hours ago, wokwon said:

Things are different here in 'Straya, but that caravan looks really low to me.  Has the suspension collapsed or sunk?  That wouldn't get into and out of service stations here in AU without scraping.

 

Hope some of the continental types can give you some advice.

 

Same thoughts from New Zealand (must be the time zone eh?). The caravan looks low. Your tow bar ball height looks fine to the untrained eye.

 

My GP tells me that a gradual lowering of ball height can be expected at my age, and I fear your caravan springs are suffering the same 'age related' sagging. I am not an expert though.

 

Luckily, your springs can be reset to the original height.

 

https://www.caravanworld.com.au/features/1106/20-ways-to-level-your-rig

Edited 14 July, 20178 yr by williamshatnerspants

Here from sunny Wales.

It is a few years since I towed a caravan but again my first impression was : -

 

The caravan looks low. You can't see the top of the wheel by some margin and the jockey wheel is not far from the ground either.

If your van is not "loaded" (weight) then at 19 years old the suspension has had it.

Edited 14 July, 20178 yr by Danny 57

Our van is slightly nose down if anything with a Westfalia swan neck. I think the 'van ride height is low.

Caravan does look low and suspension needs checking almost certainly.

You can get that jockey wheel higher than that can you not?

 

What is the situation with the caravan tyres.

Right size, right pressure, & how old are the tyres?

Looking at the many photos on the net of this van, they all seem to be very low with the nose high when mounted on the car. Perhaps it is a feature of this van?

I agree with Pesmog. Looking at this video your wheel height seems normal and seems to show the nose up a bit, certainly the horizontal stripes seem a little off with the scenery horizontals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evTEdHdoFCk

Do you have a user manual? If not try this. seems the top of the tow ball has to be 16" from the floor.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6p89jkc1cf8cquy/Tamaris%2037TST%20manual.pdf?dl=0

Came across this - don't know if it's still running. They may have an answer(?)

WWW.thefoldingcaravanclub.co.uk

Fleurette now seem to solely make Motorhomes but maybe it's worth an email to them (Google search, French company?) Sorry can't be any more help.

Edited 14 July, 20178 yr by Charade

if its a westfalia hook may be able to get hold of one with a different height, 9000000 on the yeti firum had similar probs I seem to recall some time ago maybe pm him for his solution

Greetings,

Out of curiosity, have you checked the nose weight of the caravan, either with a proper gauge or a piece of wood and bathroom scales. My Superb towbar has a nose weight of 80kg, which is easy to attain with my 'van. Even with the car packed to the gunnels and 3 people in, the nose seems to alter little if at all.

By the time you've put your gas, awning, pots and pans, beer, slippers etc. into the van it could well bring your nose weight up and level the van.

To find the nose weight of your van, there should be an identification plate riveted to the A Frame - see the manual section A1 I linked to in an above post.

AndyW

 

nb - Ref the picture of your setup, could it be the van tilting up slightly is exaggerated by the car tilting slightly downwards - or is that a lens aberration?

 

Just come across this discussion, may be of interest

https://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/technical/53677-caravan-tows-with-nose-up-attitude?limitstart=0

 

Edited 14 July, 20178 yr by Charade
added discussion address.

Thank you all so much for your interest and your ideas.

I think all are valid and I will check all of them.

I also have a suspicion that the caravan is on a trailer frame as it is a special van that is only 6 feet wide, and under 750kg.  German Albe hitch, which do not seem to be put on caravans these days.

 Tomorrow I will create a practice load of the car and see what happens.

Thank you all - I have some work to do now.

 

Carpe Diem

I had exactly the same issue with my 2007 Octy2 Scout with a dealer-fitted Westfalia towbar that has a bolted-on swan-neck ball. Towball height 510mm. Van hitch height 360mm. Caravan is a very similar Trigano Silver 380 poptop. The ride height of the van looks just as low but it has new suspension so that's just how it is. Before mods it towed very nose high and was quite unstable even with a supplementary stabiliser bar fitted.

Have fitted hitch spacers - 160mm long 4"x2" box steel tube with anticrush tubes and new hi-tensile M12 studding and locknuts. Just like adding two 2" Towsure spacers on each side between the hitch and the drawbar frame. Those don't appear to have crush spacers though, and the bolt holes were the wrong spacing for my Alko hitch. Before and After pics to follow if requested and I can figure out how to attach them!

It has made such a difference to towing stability that it's like a different van now its nose is 4" lower. There are no issues with jockey wheel ground clearance but that may be the Scout's higher ride height. 

I'm looking to replace the current bolted Westfalia swan-neck for a compatible lower ball as a more permanent solution. Any suggestions on a source?

Edited 30 March, 20197 yr by tintinandcharlie
Added info!

Looks fine to me, a couple of cases of France's finest vino in the boot and you be happily scraping both the car and caravan over speed humps all over Europe!