Load the car or the caravan?

we have a skoda karoq 2ltr pulling a bailey orion only me and the good lady so back seats free so awning goes on there boot gets odds and ends plus beer and wine tows like a dream too 

Different tow car and we're a couple but table, chairs, awning if carried and any foodstuffs all travel in the car boot or rear seats.  Aquaroll travels in the shower compartment.  Wastemaster and gas bottles fit in the front locker.

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Let the gas bottle travel in its dedicated compartment in the caravan where it will be secure and have the benefit of sink vents in the event of any leakage. It’s far from wise to carry a gas bottle in your car which is why there are regs/recommendations relating to the carriage of inflammable products.

https://www.calor.co.uk/gas-bottles/advice/transporting

https://www.flogas.co.uk/transport-of-lpg-cylinders 

 

I've always thought the lighter the caravan the better?

Everything needed for the caravan lives in it like the aquaroll, wasteraster, gas, pipes for SP, and stuff for personal and clothes washing, bedding, a couple of towels, cutlery, and two lightweight chairs so it's always ready to go. It's all been carefully weighed and we're well within limits If we can be bothered then we might load clothes the night before but most times it goes in the car and unloaded at the site.

Awning wise, if we take one nowadays, we use the car as we have a Sorrento so either on the back seats or fold all the seats flat, likewise for any extra chairs or other stuff we might need.

To keep the caravan below the 1800 kg load limit the awning (if taken) goes in the Land Rover along with the small heavy items such as the power lead(s) and the spare LPG. [ No worry about gas drops - it's a Land Rover! ]  We even keep jars and tins in a box that easily slides out of a cupboard and into Land Rover, with another for wine and beer.

I also think weight in the car is best for stability. We could fit everything in the van for two with a month away and still not exceed max load, but we put stuff in the car.

Making sure nose weight for us is around 60kg [1200kg van] we load the van so we can use it without having to drag things about.

On the back seats as far forward in the car as possible goes heavy items such as awning if required, stacker box of food, large table and sometimes our chairs even though they are lightweight as we can access them quickly without having to delve under the bed.

In the boot goes larger items, such as second fridge, box of shoes etc.

 

Colin

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Our first van was only slightly lighter than our car at the time. This necessitated almost all our luggage and equipment going in the car, or in a roof box..

We have always adopted this loading policy-the van holds the usual chairs/table/aquaroll etc-and everything else, awning flooring food, clothing etc, all goes in the car-with as much as possible on the back seat-the awning always goes there-to get the load as central as possible..

As said, the lighter the van the better in general so long as the nose weight is OK.

 

but it's also been said on here that when collecting a new/new to you caravan or dropping off an empty caravan for servicing etc that the lack of weight is noticeable .... 🤷‍♂️