Caravan tips anyone
Discussion
When disconnecting the caravan from the tow bar does any suggest I lower the corner feet? When disconnecting the caravan this evening it rolled forward with the handbrake on which nearly cracked my bumper.
Do the mirror extensions always vibrate such much. At 55mph they were almost useless. The are the aero3 I think
Do you drain the water before travelling or just when it's getting cold?
Finally any easy tips on cleaning the skylights? Guessing ladders?
Thanks all.
Do the mirror extensions always vibrate such much. At 55mph they were almost useless. The are the aero3 I think
Do you drain the water before travelling or just when it's getting cold?
Finally any easy tips on cleaning the skylights? Guessing ladders?
Thanks all.
Your handbrake should hold your van, I'd get it looked at. There should be no need to lower the steadies.
I've got Milenco Aero mirrors and while they're not as steady as the car mirrors they're still useable up to 65 ish.
I always drain the water, some friends of mine don't bother.
I've got a step ladder and one of those extending brushes (about £10 from Maplin) for cleaning the roof, it works well but is a bit of a faff to do the entire van roof.
I've got Milenco Aero mirrors and while they're not as steady as the car mirrors they're still useable up to 65 ish.
I always drain the water, some friends of mine don't bother.
I've got a step ladder and one of those extending brushes (about £10 from Maplin) for cleaning the roof, it works well but is a bit of a faff to do the entire van roof.
Echo the above, it shouldn't roll forward. Might need adjusting a little - when was the last time it was serviced?
Always tend to empty the hot water tank as it's normally right at the front of the caravan. 10 litres of water = an extra 10kg of nose weight.
I have Milenco Grand Aero mirrors and they're perfectly useable up to 70+, albeit with some movement.
As for cleaning the sky lights, it's quite a good idea to get a small step ladder, open them wide and clean the part of the roof that the roof light covers when it's shut from the inside.
Always tend to empty the hot water tank as it's normally right at the front of the caravan. 10 litres of water = an extra 10kg of nose weight.
I have Milenco Grand Aero mirrors and they're perfectly useable up to 70+, albeit with some movement.
As for cleaning the sky lights, it's quite a good idea to get a small step ladder, open them wide and clean the part of the roof that the roof light covers when it's shut from the inside.
I'm with MattS above. When reversing, the brakes are disable on the van, if the drawbar is compressed when you unhitch on a slope there will be some movement before the brakes grab. In normal use compression of the drawbar applies the van brakes, hence the mechanism for disabling them when reversing.
Mirrors again as others have said, should be fine, might be the type you are using.
Regarding water, always drain to shed excess weight. Steps and brush for the roof lights.
Mirrors again as others have said, should be fine, might be the type you are using.
Regarding water, always drain to shed excess weight. Steps and brush for the roof lights.
Thanks all,
Yes it is the drawbar. So if I have reversed it in. Then just pull forward.
Milenco aero 3 mirrors seem built well but when I drive it next, I will get the other half to video it then send it over to milenco.
Why do they put the water heater at the front. Nice and handy to have this full when you arrive so you don't end up with just 30 litres of water in your Aqua-roll.
Parked up in France now after driving through the night. Caravan was picked up on Thursday. Tows nice and no real problems yet!! Oh oh!
Yes it is the drawbar. So if I have reversed it in. Then just pull forward.
Milenco aero 3 mirrors seem built well but when I drive it next, I will get the other half to video it then send it over to milenco.
Why do they put the water heater at the front. Nice and handy to have this full when you arrive so you don't end up with just 30 litres of water in your Aqua-roll.
Parked up in France now after driving through the night. Caravan was picked up on Thursday. Tows nice and no real problems yet!! Oh oh!
Rosscow said:
Tyre Smoke said:
I always leave my onboard tank and hot water full, I find it tows better. But I am towing a twin axle with a Range Rover.....
I'm amazed that you notice any difference - 40kg of water with a 2.5 ton tow car and probably near 2 ton caravan?! The max nose weight the Rangey can take is 150kgs, but the Sterling is something like 100kgs, I've never bothered to check but as long as the van is loaded properly, the weight is largely irrelevant - well it's not, but for a Rangey and the van it doesn't make a lot of difference.
The important thing is not to load everything either in the back or the front of the van, it makes me properly cringe when I see vans waving their arse up and down the motorway because they only go out once a year and are loaded totally wrongly.
Never pass up the opportunity to post this (very overloaded on the way home from Le Mans) properly trimmed van...
The important thing is not to load everything either in the back or the front of the van, it makes me properly cringe when I see vans waving their arse up and down the motorway because they only go out once a year and are loaded totally wrongly.
Never pass up the opportunity to post this (very overloaded on the way home from Le Mans) properly trimmed van...
Tyre Smoke said:
The max nose weight the Rangey can take is 150kgs, but the Sterling is something like 100kgs, I've never bothered to check but as long as the van is loaded properly, the weight is largely irrelevant - well it's not, but for a Rangey and the van it doesn't make a lot of difference.
The important thing is not to load everything either in the back or the front of the van, it makes me properly cringe when I see vans waving their arse up and down the motorway because they only go out once a year and are loaded totally wrongly.
Never pass up the opportunity to post this (very overloaded on the way home from Le Mans) properly trimmed van...
I agree - you've not really got a lot to worry about with your set-up. The important thing is not to load everything either in the back or the front of the van, it makes me properly cringe when I see vans waving their arse up and down the motorway because they only go out once a year and are loaded totally wrongly.
Never pass up the opportunity to post this (very overloaded on the way home from Le Mans) properly trimmed van...
It seems to be worse with single axle caravans and smaller tow cars, or tow cars without adaptive suspension.
We have a very similar size/weight caravan to you, but obviously a smaller/lighter tow car (still a big car compared to most though). Wouldn't be without my air suspension though!
Here's ours fully loaded:
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