Touring - Pannier setup for long tour?

A quick question here.
Last year I did the Southern Tier with the Lone peak panniers.
2 small front and 2 large rear.
This year I want to slim down so I got a Carradice Camper long flap and 2
small front panniers.I want to use the Camper long flap as my clothing and miscellaneous
bag and put my thermarest on a rack under it.
The front 2 bags to be used for kitchen and the rest.
Will that be too much up front?
Or should I try to keep more heavy stuff in the back?
I want to keep as much weight off the rear tire as possible.

why dont you just put the small panniers on the rear and leave the front with as little as possible,is there a reason why you want everything up front

Actually testing has shown that about a 60/40 split with the 60 being on front low riders is the way to go. The back wheel is already carrying the majority of the load when you plant your butt on the saddle. When I run 2 panniers only they go on the front, when running 4 I load the light stuff in the back and the heavier stuff on the front. The Carradice in the back and the kitchen stuff in the front would work for me.

Aaron:)

After trying most traditional pannier setups I long ago settled on two front panniers and a rear rack stuffer for all of my tours on and off road including the Divide Ride. A front weight bias reduces rear wheel problems in my experience and does not create front wheel ones.

Thanks for the info guys!
I had a feeling it would work better but I knew someone had to
have tried it before.
That's definitely the way I'm going this tour.

Your setup has been used before and many people swear by it....so relax!

I'm sure your knees will be greatful of the lighter load.