Caravans

[Bigjeeze]

As one of those drivers who often curses caravans - usually unfairly - can someone please explain the rules that apply. ie What speeds they are allowed to drive at on what roads and also whether there are any actual regulations about the type of car and the size of van being towed. I often see cars towing vans that look far too big.

[Ronnie W.]

Speed :50 on a Single carraigeway

60 on a dual or motorway

 

Weight : can only tow up to kerbweight but 85% is recommended

 

Mirrors : must have clear view up drivers side passenger side optional

 

If just passed test since licence rule change must sit towing test if total weight exceeds 3500 kg

 

if you see Bigjeeze in rear view mirror must pull over as soon as poss to let him pass :D

[dave_m]

there are some idiots about who flout the rules, its these ones you see in a thousand bits on the motorway!

 

which gives the rest of us caravanners a bad name

[bigdaddy]

I am not a caravan owner,,,,but i do tow a 15ft boat,,,,,,is it true when it starts to snake all over the place all u have to do is accelerate until it stops then slow done to the correct speed :o

 

 

 

Just something i read somewhere and i wondered if it was true :D

[Bigjeeze]

if you see Bigjeeze in rear view mirror must pull over as soon as poss to let him pass :o

Now that's a rule I heartily approve of!!!! :D :D

[johnb80]

I am not a caravan owner,,,,but i do tow a 15ft boat,,,,,,is it true when it starts to snake all over the place all u have to do is accelerate until it stops then slow done to the correct speed :o

 

 

 

Just something i read somewhere and i wondered if it was true :D

I used to tow a 27' glider trailer and that did use to snake from time to time. Giving it some throttle would pull it straight and stop the snake BUT, you had to have loads of power for it to work. At the time my tow vehicle was a Broadspeed Bullet (MKII Capri, 3.1 litre turbo'd).

 

Regards - John

[bigdaddy]

Cheers john,,,,,,The boat has never snaked or been a cause for concern,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but things like my question are good to know

 

 

 

 

u miss ur capri,,,,,,,,,i always wanted to put the 3.0l capri engine in the rally prepared VH Chevette, :o :D silly things u think of when u are young, free and nuts,,,,,,,,,,,,, :o

[johnb80]

The Capri was an absolute brute, it cornered like a canon ball (live rear axle), the turbo was very ill mannered with loads of turbo lag (1900 rpm nothing 1901 rpm max boost #8o) The one thing that was good, broadspeed fitted a keyswitch that allowed you to dump the turbo boost, it did however leave the turbo running at full boost speeds. On one occasion I was getting 'pushed' by a 3 litre Capri which was just marginally faster than the Broadspeed Bullet when the turbo was off. The max speed of the std 3 litre was around 125 and the BB around 122. Just as he got his nose in front, turn the key and it felt like someone had hit the back of you, it really did take off and totally pi$$ed off the other 3 litre :D

 

Mine did suffer a distributor problem that was only found after it had broken 2 cranks. The cranks were nitrided and balanced and they split nicely in the middle, after much investigation by Broadspeed they located a fault on the dissy that was firing a cylinder at the wrong time. It also damaged the turbo. They were very good and did all the repairs under warranty.

 

I must admit, I'm amazed on two counts, the first I actually survived this car (it was really mean and I was 20 yrs young) and secondly I never got any points on my license while I owned it!

 

Regards - JB

[Guest MATT jr]

on the B+E rule, having recently gone through it, i know a bit about it.

 

from speaking to people, there is a huge amount of people who either dont understand the cat B/B+E rule, or dont know about it!

 

if you passed after 1st January 1997 (like me and mumof4) then you only get cat B, which is any car/trailer (other rules apply), that does NOT exceed a total weight (add the two together) of 3,500 KGs.

 

if you only have cat b, and you are over the 3,500KGs, then you are no longer licensed, and therefore not insured.

 

one of the confusing elements i think, is that caravans fit in both these categories. if you have a light weight rig (under 3,500KGs), then cat B is fine, but it is easy to go over 3,500KGs.

 

if anyone who is reading this is thinking of doing the B+E test, pm me, and i can tell you a fair bit about it. (as i also found, no one knew what to expect from the B+E test)

 

also, dont go fully on what the caravan club tells you. they told us our galaxy kerb weight, was 1,700KGs. well we took it took a weighing station, full tank of fuel, car completely empty, and one driver - weight, 1,900KGs (about). the reason is, they only take the lowest possible weights of the car (the lightest in the range), they do not seem to take account of automatic transmission, or other factors.

 

MJR

[Guest MATT jr]

yesterday, i saw a vauxhall corsa towing a small caravan :D

 

seen a lot of caravans out and about with the bank holiday, i dont mind them!

 

it does annoy me, when people are towing with an unsuitable rig, not only is it dangerous, but they often dont have the power to tow their van at speed.

 

i haven't been towing long, but there has already been 3 occasions where, on the motorway, someone cant even manage 45mph, because either they cant drive, or (more likely) under powered, somewhat satisfying, when you float past them, doing 60, no bother lol

 

same goes for dual carriage ways.

 

iv even seen 1 caravan doing 70, in the 3rd lane! dont think he knew the rules! or correct lane discipline.

 

MJR

[Guest pablo]

I too saw a funny sight, on Wednesday.

 

Parked in a layby, Vauxhall Agila / Suzuki Wagon R (not sure which one it was) with a decent size van on the back.

 

Van looked mid to late '80's to probably reasonably light, but i had a look at the max towing weight, 650 Kg.

 

Now i wouldn't want to to tow 650Kg with a 1.0 or 1.2 Vauxhall Agila, and i reckon the caravan was probably about 800Kg.

 

Madness.....

[lazyb5]

Hi guys i thought speed on a single lane was 60 oops. I never go more than about 57mph gal seems happiest at that and most economic 27mpg. Had a couple of minor snakes on way home at easter.I blame a high wind as i had loaded the van same as i always do. Anyway the first minor snake i left the cruise on and sat it out. The second one happened when going down hill with a speed camera at the bottom so i had to brake funny thing is the snake just stopped real quick so i`m going to brake if i ever get a snake again :blink:

[katman]

also, dont go fully on what the caravan club tells you. they told us our galaxy kerb weight, was 1,700KGs. well we took it took a weighing station, full tank of fuel, car completely empty, and one driver - weight, 1,900KGs (about).

I have a 97 2.0 GLX and a few weeks ago took all the seats out to go to the tip with some rubbish. Wieghed on the way in and out.

 

My car with just Driver and Passenger seat (plus me sitting in the car) was 1700kg

 

I am about 110kg so I suppose 1700kg could be about right for an empty 2.0 Galaxy.

 

If you put 7 people like me in there though you would be upto 2500kg before you hooked anything to the back :angry: :blink:

[AndeeeH]

Taking the seats out will lighten the load by 18kgs/seat, worth thinking about when working out a safe towing weight. :blink: Andy.

[Guest MATT jr]

aye - ours had all seats in, driver, and tank of fuel, but nothing else, ie, we didn't have mums suit case in the back!

 

MJR

[Grumpy]

For a video showing the benifits of correct matching of car / caravan, see the following video.

http://www.assz80.dsl.pipex.com/caravan.wmv

 

(cut and paste to your browser) (or click...)

Edited May 2, 2006 by Masked Marauder

[tim-spam]

If you start to snake, the last thing you should do is accelerate - this is likely to make things worse, and is one of the myths that lead to unnecessary accidents. A snake is best corrected by holding the steering wheel as still as possible and lifting your foot from the accelerator until the outfit slows to a speed at which it is stable once more. If you are going down hill, you may have to brake, but this should be done as lightly and smoothly as possible. However, the most important thing is to have a correctly matched outfit and the correct nose weight on the trailer / caravan - a stabiliser is also a good idea, but this should not be used in an attempt to correct for a poorly matched outfit. This will make snaking much less likely in the first place.

[Guest MATT jr]

grumpy - LMAO!

 

Tim-spam - that's exactly what i have been told to do, in the event of a snake. although i have not got into one yet.

 

MJR

[bigdaddy]

Grumpy,,,,,,that was brilliant ;) ;) :D

[tim-spam]

I have experienced a fairly noticeable snake only once. It was a few years ago, and I was towing a twin axled car transporter trailer with a car on the back at the time. I had used this several times before and found it to be extremely stable, but a couple of weeks before the snaking incident, someone else used the trailer and clonked the kerb very heavily, knocking the front nearside wheel out of alignment - it was only after this fault was identified that he owned up! So, after driving the thing through London and getting onto the M1, I accelerated up to around 55mph, and the snaking started quite suddenly and dramatically. I lifted off the accelerator and the snaking stopped at around 45mph.

The result was that I had to drive all the way to Newcastle at 45-50 mph instead of the usual 60 mph - not well pleased as you can imagine!

[Grumpy]

I once towed a twin axle car transporter trailer carrying an Opel Manta with an 84 Audi Avant 2.2. Unfortunatly I had reversed the Manta onto the trailer so that the weight of the engine was to the rear, this set up would start to snake if you got close to 50.

 

The M23, M25 and M3 seem very long at this speed! Not as bad as Newcastle though.

 

With my caravan I tend to keep as much weight out of it as possible when towing, I also keep the overhead lockers empty and ensure that the nose weight is correct, it all seems to help.

[Scorpiorefugee]

Re the snaking.

 

I no longer tow but I have some experience of this problem.

 

Rule one is don't listen to anyone who says accellerate out of it. It may help in some cases but if it doesn't......

 

Rule two is to ignore the caravan, take your foot off the accellerator, point the car into some space and hold the steering wheel steady. I've done that from the passenger's side twice and IT WORKS!

 

Rule three is to buy and fit a stabiliser. Don't be a hero or a smart arse. They make a hell of a difference are for the well informed as well as wimps.

 

None of these is any good if you do not take good advice about setting up a stable rig in the first place.

[Smilge]

Re the snaking.

 

I totally agree! Setting the rig up in the first place is the way to go. My first piece of advice is that if the rig is prone to snaking, the weight distribution of the caravan is mainly towards the rear which causes lateral acceleration. The outfit will try to counteract this acceleration but due to the load momentum, (Momentum = Mass x Velocity) this will increase. Second piece of advice is to measure the hitch weight when the van is fully loaded (bathroom scales) and ensure that it does not exceed the vehicles maximum hitch weight. It should be around 1/2 the max hitch weight (eg Max 70Kg Ideal 35Kg). Any less, then its a sign that there is too much weight to the rear of the van.....any more and you will damage the rear suspension of the car.

 

Hope this helps