Towing a long distance - Checklist of things to take etc

[danyeates]

Hi,

I'm towing my boat down to Cornwall from Lymington, so a good 4.5 - 5 hour run. We plan on doing this through the night as it will be cooler and therefore easier on the car engine.

I'm trying to put a list together or things I should take with me or check before we set off to ensure we're fully prepared and have no problems. I was wondering if you guys could help me...

The trailer is less than a year old and gets steam cleaned, shampoo'd, rinsed then regreased everytime it goes in the sea so it's in good condition - unlike most I see at work! Tonight I plan to remove the bearing savers and hubs to check the bearings and adjust the brakes so they're working at their best.

My checklist:

Spare wheels (car and trailer)
Wheel brace
Fluo jacket
Jack
Socket set
Spanner set
Screw driver set
Spare lighting lenses with bulbs x2
Grease
Jerry can of fuel (S4 only does 10-15mpg when towing around town, I'm really really hoping it will be more on a run!!)
Spare ratchet strap
Spare prop bag
Warning triangle

I'm drawing a blank now. Anything else you think I should take or consider, just in case! I don't like being unprepared.

Thanks for any help.

Dan

[The Moose]

Being a racing driver I do a fair bit of long distance towing. I recon just loads of tools etc.

How heavy is your boat?? When towing I carry a 12 tonne bottle jack so if I have a puncture I don't have to unload (more of an issue with a boat!!) as I'm a lazy git!!

I don't think time of day is that big a deal - hope not as I've got a fair tow on friday/Saturday...not as bad as one girl who comes from Grimsby (we're going to Dover!!).

Just go steady would be my advice.

Cheers

The Moose

[danyeates]

The Moose said:

Being a racing driver I do a fair bit of long distance towing. I recon just loads of tools etc.

How heavy is your boat?? When towing I carry a 12 tonne bottle jack so if I have a puncture I don't have to unload (more of an issue with a boat!!) as I'm a lazy git!!

I don't think time of day is that big a deal - hope not as I've got a fair tow on friday/Saturday...not as bad as one girl who comes from Grimsby (we're going to Dover!!).

Just go steady would be my advice.

Cheers

The Moose

Cheers buddy. Trailer is 1320kg with the boat on (just weighed it) so I can just tow it legally with my car (combined max gross weight is 3,440kg). I don't have the full B+E license so 3,500kg is my limit.

I'll take a decent jack so I jack up both my car and the boat. Although it seems I can only get the standard Audi scissor jack under my S4. Even the heavy duty slim jacks at work don't fit underneath.

[The Moose]

If you've got a new trailer I don't recon you're going to have any issues at all to be honest mate.

I wouldn't go down in the night for that reason personally - i think the upsides of that are outweighed by the downsides of driving tired personally.

Good luck - what sort of boat you towing??

Cheers

The Moose

[mat13]

Gaffer tape
wd40
cable ties

and I allways carry a spare numberplate for the trailer, there so easy to break and plod don't look to kindly on hand written plates these days.

[danyeates]

Rubbish photo but it's all I have to hand...this is my "rig"



It's a 6m Avon RIB with a Yamaha four stroke 150hp engine.

The only reason I want to tow down during the night is it's cooler. The car gets quite hot in traffic and I know it gets a lot hotter when it's towing. I've only ever used it to tow the 1 mile trip to the slipway from my yard so I'm a bit nervous about this heat we're having and the 5 hours drive. I'm sure it will be fine as it's rated to tow up to 1800kg but I'd rather play it safe. Should get slightly better mpg when it's cooler too.

Edited by danyeates on Sunday 11th July 12:33

[danyeates]

mat13 said:

Gaffer tape
wd40
cable ties

and I allways carry a spare numberplate for the trailer, there so easy to break and plod don't look to kindly on hand written plates these days.

Good call.

I've got a proper plastic plate made up but I may make up a stick on letter number plate just in case.

[agent006]

danyeates said:

The only reason I want to tow down during the night is it's cooler. The car gets quite hot in traffic and I know it gets a lot hotter when it's towing.

Personally I'd get whatever is making it run hot, fixed. 10c of air temperature difference isn't going to save your engine if the cooling system is shot. Also bearing in mind that you'll be topping out at 60 (won't you?) on the motorway so it's not particularly strenuous work. Plenty of people see their best MPG when towing.

I'd be very surprised if you didn't get stopped by every police car you see if you're towing a boat around at night.

[danyeates]

agent006 said:

danyeates said:

The only reason I want to tow down during the night is it's cooler. The car gets quite hot in traffic and I know it gets a lot hotter when it's towing.

Personally I'd get whatever is making it run hot, fixed. 10c of air temperature difference isn't going to save your engine if the cooling system is shot. Also bearing in mind that you'll be topping out at 60 (won't you?) on the motorway so it's not particularly strenuous work. Plenty of people see their best MPG when towing.

I'd be very surprised if you didn't get stopped by every police car you see if you're towing a boat around at night.

Yeah, the thought about the police has crossed my mind.

My car has never overheated or gone over halfway on the temp gauge and I'm sure all is ok with it (it's just had a full service and health check at MRC Tuning). I would just rather not stress it by stopping and starting in traffic, in heat, with the air con on etc. And I don't want to be stuck in the car, when it's hot, killing the clutch stopping and starting.

I would never tow with the car if it wasn't 100%.

Edit to say, I may have exaggerated earlier when I said my car gets hot in traffic. It's just I only ever hear the fan come on when I'm towing, which happens to be around town. That's to be expected I suppose. The fan has never come on without the boat on the back.

Edited by danyeates on Sunday 11th July 15:15

[Iain328]

If you want the trailer's wheel bearings to last then get the wheels balanced. Also make sure its tyre pressures are right.

[danyeates]

Iain328 said:

If you want the trailer's wheel bearings to last then get the wheels balanced. Also make sure its tyre pressures are right.

Balancing - that's an interesting point. Never thought of that seeing as I normally only tow 1 mile. I'll check the tyre pressures as a matter of course.

[maser_spyder]

Spare wheel bearings for the trailer, just in case.

Not really a roadside job (for the faint-hearted), but might get you out of trouble for what they cost.

Apart from a couple of spare ratchet straps, what you've already mentioned is all I used to tow a 3 ton boat back from the very south of France.

1000 miles unladen, 1000 miles with 3 tons.

5 days, all in, including a day in the sunshine. 2000 miles and no hiccups until we pulled out of the ferry port in Portsmouth and the road was so bumpy it felt like we were going over. 20 mph up the motorway because of the state of the road surface.

[Steameh]

Couple of litres of water? Couple of litres of mixed water a screenwash?

[maser_spyder]

Steameh said:

Couple of litres of water? Couple of litres of mixed water a screenwash?

Well remembered, we were on a much longer journey in to the unknown, so took a small amount of automatic transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, oil, coolant, and some 2L bottles of water.

Also my 'normal' kit consists of gaffa tape, radweld (just in case!), tow cable, jump starter, snow chains, winch, zip ties, spanners, pliers, cutters, screwdrivers, fuses, large Maglite, jump leads, kneeling mat (for the snow chains), builders gloves, liquid gasket, WD40, rope, spare bulbs, warning triangle, high vis jackets and 2L of emergency drinking water. That's about everything required for long distance towing and a winter in the alps.

And yes, you should see the state of my boot.

[FamilyGuy]

maser_spyder said:

Steameh said:

Couple of litres of water? Couple of litres of mixed water a screenwash?

Well remembered, we were on a much longer journey in to the unknown, so took a small amount of automatic transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, oil, coolant, and some 2L bottles of water.

Also my 'normal' kit consists of gaffa tape, radweld (just in case!), tow cable, jump starter, snow chains, winch, zip ties, spanners, pliers, cutters, screwdrivers, fuses, large Maglite, jump leads, kneeling mat (for the snow chains), builders gloves, liquid gasket, WD40, rope, spare bulbs, warning triangle, high vis jackets and 2L of emergency drinking water. That's about everything required for long distance towing and a winter in the alps.

And yes, you should see the state of my boot.

I'm assuming this post is a subtle leg-pull.

For the cost of all that's been suggested and the extra weight I'd propose a cheaper option of AA membership (or equivalent) If you've a well maintained car (which the description of your trailer maintenance suggests you'll have) and a trailer looked after that well then the chances of trouble seem very slight. I can't see why you'd want to equip yourself to the rafters for such a low level of risk of something going wrong. And if you want peace of mind the AA can always carry more in a van than you can in your boot.

[maser_spyder]

FamilyGuy said:

maser_spyder said:

Steameh said:

Couple of litres of water? Couple of litres of mixed water a screenwash?

Well remembered, we were on a much longer journey in to the unknown, so took a small amount of automatic transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, oil, coolant, and some 2L bottles of water.

Also my 'normal' kit consists of gaffa tape, radweld (just in case!), tow cable, jump starter, snow chains, winch, zip ties, spanners, pliers, cutters, screwdrivers, fuses, large Maglite, jump leads, kneeling mat (for the snow chains), builders gloves, liquid gasket, WD40, rope, spare bulbs, warning triangle, high vis jackets and 2L of emergency drinking water. That's about everything required for long distance towing and a winter in the alps.

And yes, you should see the state of my boot.

I'm assuming this post is a subtle leg-pull.

For the cost of all that's been suggested and the extra weight I'd propose a cheaper option of AA membership (or equivalent) If you've a well maintained car (which the description of your trailer maintenance suggests you'll have) and a trailer looked after that well then the chances of trouble seem very slight. I can't see why you'd want to equip yourself to the rafters for such a low level of risk of something going wrong. And if you want peace of mind the AA can always carry more in a van than you can in your boot.

For a trip to Cornwall, yes, this was a tug of the leg.

However, I do slightly longer trips, south of France for the boat, and I spend the winter in the alps. 2000+ mile round trips, in fairly tough conditions. Actually, apart from the water, it's mostly all in one crate tucked away on the very back row of seats.

Most of the kit is small and lightweight (zip ties, tape, spanners, etc.). Things like the jump starter wouldn't be required in this country, but if you're stuck in minus 15 in the alps with no way of charging the battery, it's well worth carrying the starter at less than 2Kg. Actually, my Austrian neighbour borrowed it one day, so it has been used.

The other slight problem in the alps, is that you get a lot of tourists who get stuck on the hills and expect the chap with the big 4x4 with proper winter tyres to tow them out.

A chunk of the other stuff is required by law in some/most European countries. May as well keep it in there when I'm in the UK, just in case.

My final reason for having all the kit is that my French and German is pretty good, but I'd struggle telling an Austrian AA man that I needed some AQM for my automatic transmission. No doubt we'd get there in the end, but probably easier just to have half a litre tucked away already.

For Cornwall, nothing other than was previously mentioned, apart from wheel bearings, would be on my list. It's really not that far, and no distance from civilisation at any leg of the journey.

[Iain328]

danyeates said:

Iain328 said:

If you want the trailer's wheel bearings to last then get the wheels balanced. Also make sure its tyre pressures are right.

Balancing - that's an interesting point. Never thought of that seeing as I normally only tow 1 mile. I'll check the tyre pressures as a matter of course.

I don't think its an issue unless you want to tow for long distances at reasonable speeds. Had the wheels of my small trailer balanced last year before a long trip with it despite people telling me not to bother.

The guy at the tyre place was somewhat shocked by the amount of weight he needed to use to get them to balance up.