Caravan and towing course

doublejj · Member

Caravan and towing course

dING · Senior Member

No doubt plenty need to learn how to reverse ect

I was on the Bass straight ferry a few years back

When for some reason it had to berth backwards

The consequence was everyone had to reverse off

I have never seen such a shambles in my life and

It resulted several hours later in the crew taking

Over and reversing them off else we prob would

Still be there watching the antics and kerfuffle

Olley46 · Guru

doublejj wrote:

Hi
Has anyone done a caravan and towing course and found it to be of benefit. While I have towed a number of caravans before they have not been an 18ft full size van so am finding towing this one a new experience.
I am looking at what Metec offer here in Melbourne and am tempted but at over $500 I want to be sure that I will be getting value for money.
Regards
John
Hi John
This is only my opinion,if you have towed caravans before there won't be much difference towing your 18 Footer,all you have to remember is when you are turning to take a wider swing,and being a full roof van be causious of your height when fuelling at service stations meaning the canopy at fuel stations,and also paralell parking watch for low trees and shop veranders, I would be putting that $500.00 plus into fuel and have a longer holiday go for it John you can do it.
Lance C

moamajohn · Guru

John.as I had not had a large van [over 20 ft] for many years.Prior to picking it up I did a bit of a tour around to find a large open area that was fairly quiet. I ended up going into an industrial estate on a sunday morning ,nice and peaceful and placed some markers out and spent 2 hours playing.All good and the confidence came back.Try it and perhaps save some dough. John

doublejj · Member

Thanks guys - good food for thought! I am happy towing the van - a Geist XK535 18ft - but sometimes it feels as though it is, or is about, to sway. I guess I was wondering whether the towing courses talked about this and how to avoid it.

Cruising Granny · Guru

If you don't do the course please try to keep you van as close as possible to the fog line.
One of the greatest hazards to other motorists is vanners hogging the road and riding the centre line. No matter what your towing speed, just hold the pace and let the traffic decide when to overtake.
Truck drivers and pilot vehicle drivers experience so much frustration by someone towing the "pride and joy" totally oblivious of their impact on the motorists they are supposed to share the road with.
Don't forget to fit towing mirrors, and to actually use them to get an idea of what is behind you.
Note, cameras don't give a broad enough field of vision to the rear and are not the legal rear vision device.
If you've towed before, towing the bigger van shouldn't be a problem, as long as you make allowances as recommended by Olly46.
Safe and happy travels to you.

doublejj · Member

Sorry Guru - what is a fog line?
I have good external mirrors and a camera on the back of the van. Sight is not a worry - swaying is!

Gerty Dancer · Guru

$500 seems a high price for a course, have you checked out Tow-Ed?
We did a course with them, having already done some towing, and it was extremely helpful. And yes they included the causes and prevention of swaying.

PS.. the fog-line is the unbroken white line along the left-hand side of the highway. I learned the name of this line on our towing course.

-- Edited by Gerty Dancer on Friday 2nd of May 2014 05:07:31 PM

deverall11 · Guru

John, make sure you have a CB radio so you can communicate with trucks and work together.

silverfoxes · Member

hi doublejj, we have a Geist and never had a sway problem, just practice and careful loading,and enough load on the ball,no problem. good luck.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Some good advice provided above doublejj. However, I gather you seem to have a fear of van sway. Is this because of a 'tentative trial' which showed the van has a penchant for sway?

Perhaps this site will give some help - http://www.towingguide.com.au/content/towing_your_trailer.html

The whole site has good information, so go to Home after this page and read it all through.

Despite the cost, I always think there is value in being exposed to 'experienced experts' and gaining a broader knowledge. So I would still consider it valuable to find a towing course and complete it.

This mob have a good reputation - not sure of their costs though - http://www.tow-ed.com.au/venues/

Again, visit Home for the full story.

Cheers - John

Kisha · Senior Member

LOL, I think that sounds like one of my manouvers lol.....Kisha

hako · Guru

My two bobs worth is that you should really try and discover why the van seems to be swaying and then do whatever is needed to prevent the sway - this probably will be a mechanical device of some sort to prevent the sway. Loading the van to prevent sway certainly works but if for some reason you misload the van one day you then have a van that will sway....unexpectedly. Better to do whatever it takes to make sure the van cannot sway, otherwise your trips will be nightmares as you will always be on edge.
Good Luck.

TopCat · Veteran Member

Hi doublej,
I have a 20ft Spaceland van and Nissan Navara and handle the towing well. I don't know what your type of van looks like, however, I use anti-sway bars attached and have no problem with swaying.
Do you use these bars?
As for driving courses, I completed a defensive driving course over a two-day course at Armidale in the 90's.
The only difference was it was part of my job requirement and was paid thru my work.
I had a 94Nissan Patrol with a 5 metre van in tow during the exercises.
It taught me a thing or two on the skid pan at 80k an hour.
The information sessions were also of benefit so from what you are telling us, it may be worth your while.
cheers
Terry

-- Edited by TopCat on Saturday 3rd of May 2014 09:21:16 PM

BarbandDaz · Senior Member

We did the course with RACQ and for the near $500 4 years ago - it was money VERY well spent.

I wouldn't be as confident as I now am if I hadn't done it..

doublejj · Member

Hi guys

Thanks for all your replies. While I am still weighing up the benefits of a driving course I think we have fixed the 'swaying' problem - which may not really have existed, it might just have been the van bouncing around a bit.

Anyway - I put the van tyres up to 50psi and the BA Falcon back tyres to 40, front 36 as per the handbook when towing. Checked the van nose weight and got it to the required 100kg. All in all the van towed much more comfortably which made the trip much more relaxing. Having a rear-view camera as well is a great help.

So for the time being I think I will leave it at that and just enjoy being a part-time grey nomad.

Cheers

John

Woolly · Senior Member

After witnessing what I saw today some could do with doing a course. Was watching people leave the park here today with a small 4wd and about a 18ft van, to go through the gate the driver had his partner guiding him through.

I know this is unusual except that the gate is made to get large 5th wheelers & large motor homes through, the driver probably had 6+ foot clear on each side, the poor guy crept through with partner giving him directions the whole time, surely that is why there is rear view mirrors on vehicles.

-- Edited by Woolly on Friday 9th of May 2014 05:56:25 PM