The noseweight is the force exerted by a caravan on the towbar of the car which is pulling it. The weight varies depending on the design of the caravan and the way it is loaded. In most cases, there is little that can be done about the design, aside from changing to a different caravan, but loading has a big influence on the stability of the caravan, and consequently is very important. An appropriate nose load is vital for the stability of your outfit on the road.

UK and European specification caravans have the axles positioned slightly behind the centre line of the chassis, putting more caravan in front of the wheels than behind. This is necessary to provide the nose-heavy characteristic which, in turn, gives greater towing stability. That's all very good, but if careless loading creates excess noseweight, it can lead to the towcar dropping too low at the rear and will result in odd handling.

The noseweight limit of your tow hitch is often found stamped onto the towbar data plate, but if not, your car's handbook should be able to provide the information. Noseweight doesn't just have an upper limit. EU law dictates a trailer must exert a downward force on a towcar hitch of at least 25kg. That's not usually a problem unless your caravan is carelessly loaded, with heavy items placed a long way back inside the van.

Related to noseweight is the issue of towball height. Regulations specify that the height of the centre of the towball should be between 350 to 420mm above the ground. If your hitch drops below 350mm with the caravan on the car, you should get your car's suspension checked or possibly reinforced with firmer springs, if they are available for your car.

Caravan and accessory dealers sell special gauges to check the noseweight. Alternatively, you can use bathroom scales and a length of wood. Place the scales directly under the coupling head, then cut the piece of wood so that one end can sit on the scales, the other can support the hitch head of the caravan while the caravan is level. With the handbrake applied, raise the front steadies and then the jockey wheel. The weight shown on the scales is the noseweight.