More Caravan accidents.

Peterpan · Guru

RE: More Caravan accidents.

neilnruth · Guru

Gooba I think you've done the wisest thing by booking into a towing course. Gerty's advice about parking parallel in a side street until you are able to park confidently is good. Maybe another option would be to find a paddock (not sure where you live) and do some practice in it. Also take some small trips to country areas where life is not so busy. If you don't feel confident enough until you can do your towing course, maybe just leave it parked until then. Unless your confident you are not going to enjoy the caravan experience. It will come. And in the meantime, only make short trips. All the best.

wendyv · Guru

Gooba,

1. Downhill towing can be scary. On long and/or steep downhill sections, it is best to control your speed by using a lower gear, rather than just rely on brakes, which will get hot too quickly. I have read that a rough rule of thumb is to use the same gear going down as you reckon you would need to tow the van up the hill.

At the top of somewhere that is truly steep, like the road down the range from Toowoomba in Qld., we would stop at the top and engage low range on the Landrover, and then use a low gear in that.

2. Get into the habit, whenever you stop for a break, go round the rig and touch test every wheel to make sure there is no overheating. Hot van wheels can indicate problems with the brakes, and/or bearings.

3. Do not overload! Know the real weight of your van - not all van weights match what it says on the compliance plate! You need to see it go over a weighbridge yourself. Know what tow weight, and towball weight, limits apply to your vehicle. Stay comfortably within these, bearing in mind that it is easy to add at least another 300-400kg weight with what you put in the van to go away. Pack the heavier items low down, and over or forward of the axles.

4. Do not let yourself (driver) get "pushed" beyond the speed that you feel is comfortable, by following traffic. If you get a line back, just let them wait behind you until you get to a passing lane, or a decent stretch of straight road, or somewhere where you can SAFELY pull over to allow passing. Use passing lanes to let following traffic get past - do not become one of those hated vanners who speed up on the very stretches of roads that will let others get past you!

gooba53 · Guru

Thank you again for the tips and advise. it really is appreciated!

neilnruth · Guru

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this...load your van equally. If you have the weight of fridge on one side, balance it with equal weight on other (eg yours might have the stove on the other side). Look at the van and work out where all the load is. You'll probably notice that most weight is over the axle. Don't put a lot at the front and not much at the back etc. Keep everything balanced as near as possible. The van will ride and tow better.

Plendo · Guru

I have not towed for a few years, but before that I towed a lot, everything from box trailers, up through camper trailers, to trailers with rally cars on them. Being born and brought up on a farm probably helped because I learned about trailer dynamics at an early age.

Having said all that I know my skills are out of date, I also recognise that towing a large van behind a 4WD will present different challenges to everything I have done before.
I intend to look for towing courses, not the ones that teach you how to reverse, but the ones that teach you how to set up your rig, what to avoid, how to manage the different situations we will meet on the road.

We also have the luxury of being able to buy what I think is probably among the best set up rigs on the market.

Now finally, I would like to take issue with something someone said earlier, and I quote:

"Its not always a problem with the driver.
Some problems can occur like:
Sudden sharp bend in the road, unexpected obstacles, lane changing, high winds, rain and adverse weather, buffetting and being overtaken by oth, sudden braking, deceleration on steep declines, sudden avoidance of road user, animal, pedestrian or debris on road
Poorly loaded caravan
Low tyre pressures"

If these issues are not the driver fault, then who's fault are they?

To me it is the drivers responsibility to set up the rig, and to drive to the conditions.

rosco532 · Senior Member

gooba53...(if you are still reading....)

As you say you are picking your van up shortly firstly ask the manufacturer whether or not your present vehicle is suitable to tow the van you are buying...

Its a mistake I made buying a 23ft van that weighed just on the limit...empty and assumed that by owning a Patrol I was bullet proof and could tow anything....I later found out that because the Patrol was an ''Auto''...I could only tow 2.5 ton...

All of a sudden...NO insurance and ran the risk of being pulled over on a weigh bridge and being fined..

Enjoy your travels

Wizardofoz · Guru

gooba53 wrote:
I have got to admit I'm a bit confused. I know I asked for help. I said we were booked into a towing course. How did everyone else get experience? I want to be safe and keep other road users safe. That's why I asked. I guess I'm a softie and was expecting some encouragement like from Gerty Dancer.

Gooba, I am on my 1st ever trip in a caravan and am on a 10 week excursion to Karumba and back from Sydney. I was very nervous and reticent about towing this 21' van 1st up for so long despite having towed aboat for a couple of years, however, I did a towing course 2 weeks prior to leaving and to be honest, it was the best investment that I have ever made, the lessons learnt were invaluable and the confidence built from it, were amazing.

Thus far, 15 days into the trip and currently at Longreach, the towing has been a dream and quite easy in comparison to my original beliefs. One must always be aware and constantly alert, but on the whole it all boils down to common sense and patience, the course you are doing is worth double the price you are paying for it and will alleviate 95% of your concerns and doubts.

I have had a couple of minor incidents but nothing that was major or insurmountable, that's part of the learning experience.

Enjoy the experience and your journey, you will love it and the help and advice that you receive along the way is all too readily offered and available, you will never be alone and friendless out there, all you have to do is talk to people!

-- Edited by Wizardofoz on Tuesday 11th of June 2013 11:22:57 AM

gooba53 · Guru

I know I said it before but I really want to thank all those people who have taken the time to answer my call for help. please be assured my husband and I will consider all the advise given. The towing course, rear cameras, clearview mirrors, Alko ESC, BT50, loading advice, adjusting driving to conditions advise and all the other recommendations, our dream to be out there enjoying this country seems cautiously attainable. Thanks again. We will be careful. We don't think it will be just hook up and go, we get it, have to be so aware of the surroundings. Just got to get the van now, mid July, and put it all into practise.

Thanks again smile