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In this section of our onboarding guide, we're going to shift our attention to the storage locations within your caravan. Similar to your vehicle, achieving a balanced weight distribution in your caravan is critical for stability, safety, and performance. To assist with this, LoadMate provides suggested storage locations based on your caravan's axle center or the center of the axle group for tandem caravans. In addition, we provide a way for you to customise an additional five locations, thereby making LoadMate adaptable to your unique requirements.
5. Personalise your caravans storage locations
Picture your caravan as a seesaw on a playground. In this analogy, the axle (or axles, in a tandem setup) acts as the fulcrum. If the weight is unevenly distributed — too much on one end or the other — it tilts the balance, just like a seesaw. For instance, placing a heavy load on the rear bar of your caravan (away from the axle and towards the back of the vehicle), can cause the front of the caravan (tow hitch side) to 'lift', which decreases the tow ball mass.
Conversely, if there's too much weight at the front of the caravan (near the tow hitch or trail bar), it increases the tow ball mass, potentially exceeding the maximum allowable weight on the tow vehicle's hitch receiver. This imbalanced load can negatively affect the handling of the entire setup.
This is why achieving a balanced weight distribution throughout the caravan is critical, and it's exactly what LoadMate helps you accomplish. The proper placement of your load is key to maintaining balance, ensuring a safer and more comfortable towing experience.
Invest your time now in identifying your primary load location points in the caravan. This preliminary work will save you time and headaches down the road. LoadMate will assist you in calculating your compliance weights and help you display and track your load distributions effectively.
Along with the five suggested locations, LoadMate allows you to create an additional five user-personalised locations. This feature gives you the flexibility to define up to 10 different load storage locations longitudinally in the caravan.
When identifying these locations, consider areas where major weights are typically stored, such as trail bar storage boxes, tunnel boots, water tanks, bike racks, storage cupboards, and so on. Aim for precision when dealing with major weights, but don't worry if you have to compromise on the exact locations for lighter objects.
Later, LoadMate will also offer the option to map where your loads will be placed along the latitudinal (width) and vertical (height) axis of the caravan. This feature will help you accurately manage your load distributions.
The measurements we focus on relate to the load location in comparison to the center of the axles. For a single axle caravan, this is straightforward; for a tandem axle caravan, you'll need to measure to the center of both axles.
Here's what to remember when entering measurements:
- Measurements from the tow hitch to the axles should be entered as positive.
- Measurements from the center of the axles to the rear bar should be entered as negative.
For each storage location, you can assign a reference name that's meaningful to you, along with its measurement location. It's helpful to start from the front and work your way towards the back of the caravan, as this sequence will assist you later.
Bear in mind that measurements should be taken from the exterior of the caravan. Accuracy is important, but don't stress about being slightly off. As the saying goes, "some data is better than no data at all!"
By the end of this section, you'll be better equipped to manage the weight distribution within your caravan effectively. By concentrating on the positioning of heavy items and ensuring accurate measurements, you're laying the groundwork for safer, smoother, and more efficient journeys. Your investment in time now will reap benefits later, as LoadMate will be able to calculate your compliance weights and track load distributions more effectively. In section 6, we'll discuss how to measure your individual load weights.
