Hello
I would like some advice about packing for towing.
We are 2 adults, 2 teens and four bikes and hoping to make it to France.
- should I invest in a nose weight guage?
Bikes are on the car roof. Small tent for the girls. Are we too ambitious?

I am a very boring driver ...

I always use a weight guage to avoid that whipping up and down which is most annoying. I use around 60/65 kg which is great for me. Most times I have it right before weighing but better to be safe and I just use a cheap Kampa guage they are probably not the most accurate but better than none .

Don't trust the plastic noseweight gauges. We inherited one with our '01 540 and when we bought the Milenco BS gauge we found the cheap plastic one was registering well over the actual weight. This meant that we were actually running light on the nose and the heavier the noseweight the better, subject to the component limits.

From a quick check, a 2 litre Touran has an 1800kg towing limit, so it'll pull any Eriba Touring as the max the heaviest of them should weigh is just 1400kg. The car's noseweight limit should be in the handbook and you should always have the van's noseweight
below the lowest of the three limits car, hitch and towbar.

We've been to France with as a family with a Touran with both our Folding Camper & Puck L. Just a couple of observations that we have made.

Take out the middle seat, it stops the kids squabbling, lowers car weight & allows extra storage.

With bikes on the roof the sensors at the peage kiosks may think that you are driving a Class 2 vehicle whereas towing a Puck you should be in Class 1as it is below the 2mtr height & the bike height should not count.

thank you - we've taken out the middle seat before and might do again - good reminder. thank you