Nosey Lesson

I know this may well have been checked so if so please ignore me but last year while towing home from the Lake District we got a few bad sways on the motorway it was a clear day no wind ect and the van was loaded as it always was (never had any issues before) our car is a Volvo V70 well matched to our van and previous to this it had towed the van 1000s of miles with no issues even in very windy conditions. The car went in for its MOT the following week and it was found that the front tyres were very worn close to the limit. I got 2 new Yokohama tyres for the front and 2 weeks later we towed the van on a 400 mile round trip and the difference was amazing the van was stable no swaying and the car felt much more planted and in control. I now keep a very close eye not only on the tyre pressure but also the tread.

On some  heavily used roads that are in need of resurfacing can have "tram lines" caused by HGV wear can give the affect of swaying, as the van wheels tend to roll into the hollows which are wider than the width of the van wheels,and can be accentuated when being passed by other vehicles

On some heavily used roads that are in need of resurfacing can have "tram lines" caused by HGV wear can give the affect of swaying, as the van wheels tend to roll into the hollows which are wider than the width of the van wheels

I have experienced that on occasion

I meant in terms of towing ... not achieving the actual nose weight. 😉

I recall reading a suggestion that Bailey deliberately make caravans with a high ex-factory nose weight in the expectation that users will load them up with lots of stuff behind the axle(s).

Before going to the expense of changing the car i would try changing the tyres to a quality brand with stiff sidewalls. Also play around with the tyre pressures front AND rear. I cannot brleive 10kg on nose weight could cause such a big problem. Might be worth getting the rear suspension checked out too. My older generation A6 estate with fwd towed a Moonstone at 1625kg mtplm like a dream.

For 10yrs, until 2018, I towed a 7.25m single axle caravan (95% match) with my Mk3 Mondeo, that had a 75kg hitch limit. No issues, and did 20,000 miles towing during that time - including Spain many times.

Personnally I would be actively exploring various loading options (for both car and caravan), before trading in what should be a great towcar, to loose a shed load of money

Thank you all very much for your varied responses. I do appreciate an ex-works empty caravan nose weight is simply a guide however, if the guide weight is already over the car manufacturer design specifications for towing then it would be a no brainier (for myself) with selection of the towing vehicle.

I wouldn’t have thought 5 or 10 kg on the tow ball would make a big difference but on this occasion with this set up it certainly did and perhaps there were other contributing factors on the day.

Perhaps I’ve been ignorant and lucky over the past 15 years but  refreshed awareness has pushed me to take the safe route and have ensured our revised vehicle is more than capable of towing our van.

Thank you again and safe journeys to all.

I was responding to Whittakerr MM but generally we move every 5 days. I wold not wan to unload OH's wardrobe every time that we moved and reload on arrival 

Sorry if i missed something ET but your post quoted MM not me.