Pegasus 426 Nose Weight Problem

[Woodentop]

Just changed our Pageant Majestic for a (2010) Pegasus 462. I was a little surprised when hitched up at the dealers (i. e. empty van) that it pulled the back end of our Passat estate down a bit.

 

Have now loaded van with resident items (i. e. no clothes) and weighing the nose shows 126Kg!!! Apart from the gas bottle, (steel) sat tripod and dish, and scissor jack in the front box, cables in one of the front side boxes there is no real weight forwards of the wheels (OK, motor mover as well.) I emptied the front boxes (centre and side) and put the 6Kg nearly full gas bottle in the shower and it reduced the weight to about 110Kg. I know from weighing myself that the scales used are about 7Kg high, but this still leaves the van way over both the 100Kg Al-Ko limit and the 85Kg ball limit on the car.

 

Now I know that clothes (right at the back) will counterbalance a bit, but I can't see it getting the nose down to 85.

 

The Pageant had 6Kg and 3. 9Kg gas bottles, all the electric/satellite/sanitary kit in the front and that would run at under 60Kg (the limit for our last car, an Octavia.)

 

Am I doing something wrong, or is the Pegasus just heavy on the nose? Any hints on reducing the weight gratefully accepted.

[JTQ]

Am I doing something wrong, or is the Pegasus just heavy on the nose? Any hints on reducing the weight gratefully accepted.

 

Possibly believing you can put the EHU cable, satellite kit and jack up front?

 

Edit: I did some calcs about relocating the mover aft of the wheels and that if I recall yields about an 8 kg improvement.

Edited December 2, 2012 by JTQ

[John_b_45]

Ouch!

[xtrailman]

Alutechs are nose heavy, especially the Unicorns.

 

Put all heavy items behind the axle, and if necessary have nothing in any front lockers, inside and out.

Edited December 2, 2012 by xtrailman

[ericfield]

That doesn't sound right. Assuming your shower is at the rear. ..

 

If you moved the full gas cylinder from the front to the back you should get 2x weight shift at the hitch. ( -weight at front + same weight at back)

If you ONLY got 16kg improvement then 16kg /2 = 8kg. .. Which doesn't seem right for the weight of a full cylinder?

[Rogerbu]

Just changed our Pageant Majestic for a (2010) Pegasus 462. I was a little surprised when hitched up at the dealers (i. e. empty van) that it pulled the back end of our Passat estate down a bit.

 

Am I doing something wrong, or is the Pegasus just heavy on the nose? Any hints on reducing the weight gratefully accepted.

 

There is a long history on Bailey Caravan Talk of complaining about the noseweight of the earlier Alutechs. My Olympus 464 has the same problem. I loaded everything to the extreme rear and managed to get the noseweight down to 75Kg to match the Avensis I was towing with. However with the load at the extreme rear, it was like driving with a pendulum behind me.

 

Eventually I gave up and changed to a 4x4 with a noseweight limit of 100kg. Much easier to achieve and now tows very comfortably.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Rogerbu

[Terrytraveller]

Hi Woodentop,

I have the 462 and have the same problem with noseweight. To get the noseweight to 75Kg I place both the gas cylinders in the car, empty the two front lockers, all tinned food,bottles of geer! wine & spirits into four B&Q collapsible plastic crates, and place them just rear of the axle inside the cvan. The wardrobe in the rear is full of my wifes clothes and one pair of socks for me. I have a mover forward mounted from the axle underneath the cvan, and a 9Kg solar panel mounted on the roof at the rear of the cvan. The cvan is just inside the weight limits imposed on the cvan by Bailey, the van is extemely stable in high winds and passing trucks when towed by my last car, a Hyundai i30 diesel 1. 6 CRDi Estate with rear spring assistors which weren't really necessary. I now tow with a Hyundai Santa Fe CM 2012 with SL rear suspension, and sometimes wonder if the cvan is still there.

Regards Terry

[Rogerbu]

Terry

I now tow with a Hyundai Santa Fe CM 2012 with SL rear suspension, and sometimes wonder if the cvan is still there.

Regards Terry

 

Terrytraveller - I guess that with the Santa Fe you are now towing at 100Kg NW rather than your earlier 75Kg with the i30.

If so, like me you have found that the stabilty is excellent at 100KG NW. (My Oly 464 and the Peg 462 are the same size body etc on the same chassis).

[Terrytraveller]

Hi Roger,

I do now carry the lightweight 6kg gas bottles in the Gas Locker instead of the car, I still load everything else in foldaway crates placed on top of the rear axle in the cvan or just behind it, or even in the car. The noseweight is between 80 to 95kg and the outfit is really stable, yes - really pleased with the Santa Fe - if only it would do 65 mpg like the i30 solo - although when towing the Santa Fe is more economical than the i30 in some circumstances, in headwinds for example.

Regards Terry

[Roger3596]

We had the NW weight problem on our 2011 Peg2. Car has a 80kg NW limit. So we carried nothing in the front of the Peg2 and the bulk of the stuff in the car including the gas to give us 80kg, where it was very happy in tow. Which was fine as there is only us two and the dogs in the back.

 

This morning I did the NW on our new U2 for the first time before taking it to storage. No problem at all and bang on 80kg. Pleased Bailey sorted it out and that was one of the reasons we changed over so soon.

Edited December 5, 2012 by Roger3596

[xtrailman]

Looking at the latest version of the Q5 brochure today.

 

New noseweight limit of 100kg for all models.

Edited December 5, 2012 by xtrailman

[Roger3596]

Looking at the latest version of the Q5 brochure today.

 

New noseweight limit of 100kg for all models.

 

I never understood why it was so low. Good car

[david 1220]

Hi Woodentop,

I have the 462 and have the same problem with noseweight. To get the noseweight to 75Kg I place both the gas cylinders in the car, empty the two front lockers, all tinned food,bottles of geer! wine & spirits into four B&Q collapsible plastic crates, and place them just rear of the axle inside the cvan. The wardrobe in the rear is full of my wifes clothes and one pair of socks for me. I have a mover forward mounted from the axle underneath the cvan, and a 9Kg solar panel mounted on the roof at the rear of the cvan. The cvan is just inside the weight limits imposed on the cvan by Bailey, the van is extemely stable in high winds and passing trucks when towed by my last car, a Hyundai i30 diesel 1. 6 CRDi Estate with rear spring assistors which weren't really necessary. I now tow with a Hyundai Santa Fe CM 2012 with SL rear suspension, and sometimes wonder if the cvan is still there.

Regards Terry

​ Hmmm, -one pair of socks --- doesn't this man change his undies ?

[Gaz40]

Looking at the latest version of the Q5 brochure today.

 

New noseweight limit of 100kg for all models.

 

Interesting point

[Terrytraveller]

​ Hmmm, -one pair of socks --- doesn't this man change his undies ?

Not since my wife gave up driving. .......

[Guest]

Any proper camper knows that you can get four days out of a pair of pants (forwards, backwards, inside out forwards & inside out backwards). Similar with socks, you just have to swap feet

[Roger3596]

Looking at the latest version of the Q5 brochure today.

 

New noseweight limit of 100kg for all models.

 

I emailed the Head of Audi UK having got nowhere with Audi UK customer services. So I'm now in conversation with Audi UK Executive about this change and why it only applies to the new lighter Q5 with the exact same factory fit tow bar.

Westphalia make the tow bar and their tow bars have a 100kg NW limit. The same tow bar is on the Porsche Cayenne and that's got a 100kg NW limit.

Will see how I get on? I always thought it was a strange limit given the weight and power of the vehicle.

NW is not an exact science. I've got two gauges both give different readings. ......which one is right? And when you start moving the NW lightens but to what. ........no one knows lol

[xtrailman]

 

 

I emailed the Head of Audi UK having got nowhere with Audi UK customer services. So I'm now in conversation with Audi UK Executive about this change and why it only applies to the new lighter Q5 with the exact same factory fit tow bar.

Westphalia make the tow bar and their tow bars have a 100kg NW limit. The same tow bar is on the Porsche Cayenne and that's got a 100kg NW limit.

Will see how I get on? I always thought it was a strange limit given the weight and power of the vehicle.

NW is not an exact science. I've got two gauges both give different readings. ......which one is right? And when you start moving the NW lightens but to what. ........no one knows lol

 

Yes i was put off the Q5 when it first came out due to the 80kg NW limit, i wasn't really surprised to see it now at 100kg, although the roof load limit is only 75kg.

 

Still the only diesel worth having appears to be the 3 Litre version, as the 2L 175bhp model only has 280 pound feet which to me isn't enough, compared to a SF or Mazda CX5.(NW for CX5 is 88kg, just managble for a U1)

 

I was also surprised to see the diesel auto was 7 speed, while a petrol version is available with a 8 speed.

 

The nail in the coffin for me is the long options list required to get the spec I'm used too, puts the car over 36K for a 2l diesel, silly money for my 6K annual mileage.

 

Still i might have a test drive.

Edited December 6, 2012 by xtrailman

[Roger3596]

I got the Peg 2 NW to 80kg which had the same heavy front like the U1 and it towed perfectly. Hardly knew it was behind us cruising in 7th gear. Never affected by other vehicles on the motorway and could still out accelerate most cars from a standstill even when towing the caravan lol.

 

But yes it's typical German and nothing is included in the basic price but everything works. Should be even better with the lighter U2.

Seen a few now towing caravans but no 3. 0 like ours