The caravan thread

User avatar
Richard
Posts: 945
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:03 pm

Re: The caravan thread

Post by Richard »

Remember when Brad Pitt was in Snatch? And he played a VERY Irish Traveler?

Mental
User avatar
JonMad
Posts: 2676
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:25 pm
Currently Driving: 2015 Swift; 2012 Yeti; 2006 Fabia

Re: The caravan thread

Post by JonMad »

V8Granite wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 12:08 pm
JonMad wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 9:56 am This is just helping persuade me I need a *really* heavy tow car.
Definitely not needed but with a twin axle loading is even more important than with a single imo.

Load up car, put caravan on, drop jockey wheel onto bathroom scales and measure nose weight. I put 150kg on the Defender but from memory cars are 75 or so?
Why more important on twin axle, out of interest? Is twin axle generally more stable?

Our Yeti is 80kg nose weight. The ML is 140kg https://www.thetowcarawards.com/tow-car ... ml350-cdi/
Left over crest; tightens.
drcarlos
Posts: 1352
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:17 am

Re: The caravan thread

Post by drcarlos »

I have now sold my Senator Oklahoma. Wife finally decided last week he wanted a new one and after my attempts to reseal seemed to work it I advertised it on eBay for a bargain price with the previous ingress listed. An older couple turned up (the guy claimed to be a Dj/Lawnmower mechanic/ex Caravan tech) with a damp meter and decided that he could fix it properly and it was a bargain price so took it away. Without the ingress it was probably worth another 2k but we'd had it since 2012 and it's cost us about £700 a year in depreciation at that rate, which against what we've had from it in holiday value is probably 3 x that a year.
It's left me with needing a new one for this weekend (I am running the lawnmower racing world champs) and I must have something for holiday in August. So I have paid a deposit on something sight unseen at a dealer (it's coming down from Preston tomorrow) at 11k. It's another Bailey but one of the newer Alutech body vans (so no wood in the walls to absorb water and no plastic end panels to crack), same fixed bed, but with a proper shower which I use loads after racing. Apparently I need to check in the gas locker for leaks from the handles but that's it and nice and easy to check.

I missed the last post on a twinaxle, they are generally considered more stable (but improper loading especially back loading to get the nose weight down will make anything unstable) but the new singles with the new TCS chassis and hitch head stabilisers are very good too, my old Senator was very stable (even without the TCS), but I used to load it on the axle everytime. Incidentally the only person I know that has got into a snake and has one written off as it rolled and also dragged the car into the central reservation was on a twinaxle. They could have be complacent or arrogant or both though as I have no idea if they knew how to load it. I've towed hundreds of miles and lots at speeds in other countries that would earn me a large bollocking and fine with a single axle with no issues.
I could tow a twin easily but they are not as manoeuvrable and getting in and out of tight field entrances could lead to damage. They also really need a motor mover as they are not easy to manhandle like a single. Careful consideration is needed as if you really don't need the space they are not worth it.
User avatar
JLv3.0
Posts: 4784
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 11:42 am

Re: The caravan thread

Post by JLv3.0 »

Your wife is a he? Each to their own eh 👍🏼
drcarlos
Posts: 1352
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:17 am

Re: The caravan thread

Post by drcarlos »

JLv3.0 wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 11:46 am Your wife is a he? Each to their own eh 👍🏼
Well spotted :lol:
User avatar
Sundayjumper
Posts: 6166
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:04 pm
Currently Driving: Peugeot 406

Re: The caravan thread

Post by Sundayjumper »

JonMad wrote: Wed May 15, 2019 11:25 am
V8Granite wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 12:08 pm Definitely not needed but with a twin axle loading is even more important than with a single imo.
Why more important on twin axle, out of interest? Is twin axle generally more stable?
A twin (or triple) axle is definitely harder to manoeuvre by hand (i.e. trying to steer it) so I'm assuming that also makes it harder to unsettle while moving. Next time you're over my way you can try moving my trailer with all four wheels on the ground, then again with the jockey wheel all the way down so that the front axle is off the ground.

V8Granite wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 12:08 pm Load up car, put caravan on, drop jockey wheel onto bathroom scales and measure nose weight.
Slight over-simplifiacation ;) Unless the jockey wheel is directly below the towball, you'll over-read the nose weight that way. Because leverage. But probably not by a huge amount.

Multi-axle trailers need to be loaded & hitched with care to make sure they sit level, so that the load is spread evenly between the axles. If the hitch is too high or too low you might overload one of the axles, which AFAIK would be the same offence as overloading the trailer as a whole. The trailer will be plated with a total weight, and a weight per axle, and you mustn't exceed those figures. e.g. mine is 2600kg gross and 1300kg per axle.

The nose weight on multi-axle trailers is also quite sensitive to the hitch height. A single-axle trailer can pivot easily about that axle and it doesn't make a huge difference. A multi-axle trailer's effective balance (?) point will vary as the load between the axles changes.

I might have to draw a diagram....
User avatar
Sundayjumper
Posts: 6166
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:04 pm
Currently Driving: Peugeot 406

Re: The caravan thread

Post by Sundayjumper »

Generally, more nose weight will make the trailer more stable, but because of leverage (again), weight on the tow bar will result in less weight on the front wheels of the car. A FWD car with it's arse on the ground due to a boot full of gear and too much weigh ton the hitch is asking for trouble.
drcarlos
Posts: 1352
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:17 am

Re: The caravan thread

Post by drcarlos »

Sundayjumper wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 12:38 pm Generally, more nose weight will make the trailer more stable, but because of leverage (again), weight on the tow bar will result in less weight on the front wheels of the car. A FWD car with it's arse on the ground due to a boot full of gear and too much weigh ton the hitch is asking for trouble.
It can also result in quite catastrophic damage to the caravan chassis too, although this is extreme.

I noted the point about the hitch height on the twin axle trailer being critical. I was following a trailer a few years ago that had about 8 mowers on it when we went to Belgium for the weekend when he had a blowout on a front tyre. When I looked it looked as though the nose of the trailer was far too low. I guess the tyre blowout was due to excess pressure on the front axle rather than overloading as the mowers we way less than the max load on the trailer.
V8Granite
Posts: 3894
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2018 11:57 am

Re: The caravan thread

Post by V8Granite »

A twin axle itself is more stable but if you don’t have your hitch height set nicely you end up loading and unloading an axle as you drive down the road, if it has any bumps. I’ve found that after I picked up an empty Brian James trailer to move the Merc, once I set my hitch height it was a lot better but I only set it after I had got the trailer home to put the car on.

The jockey wheel is not far from the hitch so is accurate enough.

I envy the Americans being able to tow 20,000lb trailers with big dually Pick-ups, that would be great fun.

Murica etc etc

Dave!
Post Reply