Caravanning For Beginners | Towing Tips | Caravan RV | Caravan Tips
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
- #caravantips #towingtips #caravanbeginners
Caravanning for Beginners. Towing Tips For Beginners. Caravan RV. Twenty Top Caravan, RV and Trailer Towing Tips. Great tips for first-time caravan towing.
Towing tips on towing a caravan, RV or trailer. We've had a few caravans and tow car combinations so know a thing or two about towing. Ensure you tow safely by following our handy how-to advice vlog. Towing advice for caravan beginners. Caravan Tips for beginners.
CaravanVlogger website: www.caravanvlogger.co.uk
Skip to section you require or watch the whole thing of course.
00:41 Tow Car
1:33 Tow Bar Wiring
3:19 Pre Towing Inspection
4:40 Check Hanging Wire
5:01 Drain Water
6:02 Weight Distribution
7:20 Don't Pack Unnecessary Items
7:54 Don't Overload Rear
8:54 Tire Pressures
9:40 Check Wheel Nuts
10:31 Fit Towing Mirrors
12:14 Leave Enough Time
13:11 Take Time To Change Lanes
13:48 Wide Turns
15:19 Drive Carefully
16:22 Travel Off-peak
17:58 Avoid Cities & Narrow Roads
18:57 Drive Smoothly
20:03 Take Care Downhill
20:32 Cruise Control
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Great vlog Graham. Do agree, the holiday starts as soon as you are hitched up.Take your time and enjoy. Mark
Always great tips and advice Graham... thanks for sharing. Ian...
Some great Tips there Graham. I agree with Martin a Good and suitable Tow Car is key. I learnt the costly way. Thanks Phil🙂👍
Some really useful insight into Dealer Specials, Graham, always enjoy your work.
Thanks Graham, getting our first caravan soon and your channel has really helped with our preparations.
Thanks for watching glad it’s been of some help. Enjoy your caravan 👍🏻
What I have done is I stuck a wireless CCTV camera linked to a screen in the car using it as a rear view mirror behind the caravan. It helps backing on the pitch and also good to spot the numptys driving so close behind the van you cant see them in your mirrors. It also helps spotting pulling out gaps in traffic further away. Simple to fit and cheap on Ebay..
Good idea! Thanks for watching 👍🏻Graham
My dad has bought me one of these for Xmas this year. I’ll be glad once he installs it bc the number of times I automatically check my rear view mirror is amazing. And currently, all I see is camper. 🤪
Found these videos very helpful we are in the process of buying our first caravan and your content is spot on thanks for the advice saved me buying things i dont need
Great tips Graham. Vehicle specific wiring is essential on new cars due to CAN bus messaging. It needs to know when caravans are connected for example so it can turn off blind spot monitoring for example as the radars are fitted in the rear bumper. If this is not turned off it will constantly detect the caravan. It can also cause a whole host of CAN messaging errors which will start to display warning lights on the instrument cluster. 👍
Brilliant video, thank you! Picking up our first caravan in a week. I haven't towed for about 10 years so your tips are a great refresher. Also, love the channel, new subscribers here and can't wait to watch more 🙂 Cheers, Mac
Another great video, I was once class driver so I understand about taking corners & roundabouts wider and yes people do try and cut you up. We are so looking forward to getting our caravan when I finally retire.
Keep up the good work Graham
Michael
Thanks for watching. Hoping to retire myself in a few years. 👍
Great Graham going down steep hills engage a lower gear with foot off the accelerator so the engine helps to stop speed creeping up. And if it’s long and winding apply brakes on the straight before entering a bend this will ensure your stable in the corner. The hill at Rhuallt on A55 is a good example.
All good tips agree about the car match what looks good on paper sometimes is not good in the real world my Granada was hopeless changed to a lighter Mondeo was perfect thanks
Thank you for making this video. Extremely useful for beginners like myself.
Thanks for watching. Glad it was useful 👍🏻
Also great videos 👍👍👍 I am working my way through them all
You’ll want paying next 😂Hope you enjoy them and they are some use to you. Graham
Nice one Graham good tips to take on board shame about the rain coming over the top of the video thanks for the tips cheers .kev
Thanks for watching Kev. I’ve been unlucky with the rain in the last few vlogs 🤷♂️Graham
Honda recently fitted their detachable tow bar to our brand new CRV. We ended up taking it back 4 times for various errors they’d made - the last one being they got the wiring mixed up, so when the car indicated left, the caravan was indicating right!!!!
had a chuckle about that ,,,I do know how serious it could have been ...
Load your caravan as if you were going away and take it to a public weighbridge. I reckon most are way over their legal limit. Not only could it get you in trouble with the law but also might invalidate your insurance. So check your all up weight and make sure you are in limit. Check you licence, not everyone will be qualified, especially if younger. And don’t be afraid to get sone professional training. Car drivers generally don’t use their wing mirrors enough, so some training will give you some confidence and make you safer.
well done
Hi Graham, Lots of valid points there in particuler the towbar/wiring. I would always go for the factory fit if I was ordering a new car. The wiring is then integrated and like you say activates safety features on the car such as trailer stability programme as well as having ATC on the caravan. I always use cruise control set at 61mph otherwise you get stuck behind lorries and end up doing 57 ish. Which A6 did you have? I have the A6 Allroad and it tows perfectly and for nearly seven years now. Thanks for a very informative video. Rob
Robs Wise Ways Thanks for watching. We had 2.0 diesel SE saloon. Yeah the all road would have been better. It towed like the car was too light, although it wasn’t. Graham
Thank you. I will be a first time tower this year and I am a little nervous.
Your suggestion to use cruise control is great as I have heard mixed opinions about using cc while towing.
Thanks for watching. I use cruise control all the time when towing, I think it’s safer. On motorway I set it to 60 or a bit below to stay behind a lorry. You’ll be fine, just take it easy drive at your own pace, don’t feel pressured by anyone. 👍🏻
Thanks
You forgot about some very important tips, check the nose weight of the caravan is not exceeding the lower limit of either the tow bar fitted or the car's max allowable nose weight in kg, measured on a nose weight gauge. After hitching up but before putting the stabiliser arm down, check that the ball insertion indicator is showing and while it is, wind the caravan hitch up a bit with the jockey wheel winder, to ensure that it is also lifting the towing vehicle rear up, using something like your motor mover key arm as a height measure against your towing vehicle to 100% ensure it is connected properly to the towing ball. Then put your stabiliser arm down, then attach your breakaway cable before plugging in your electrics, without the cable dragging on the road, then raise, store and tighten the jockey wheel up.
Check that your motor mover wheels are clear and locked away from the tyres on both sides and the electric motor mover switch is turned off.
Another check is making sure that the roof TV aerial is retracted and in the right attitude to air flow as well as all roof vents being closed and locked.
As well as the weight of the towing vehicle, I am finding that my car being low slung is stopping it from being a good tow vehicle because of the unopposed aerodynamic effect on the caravan over the low roof of my car, so much so, that I am getting a tow bar fitted to my campervan because it is heavier yes but covers more of the front of the caravan leading to a good aerodynamic air flow over the whole rig. I was also told that vehicles with a wheel directly in each corner are better at towing than something like a saloon with a large overhanging boot, which my car also has and is another reason to change to my campervan for towing the caravan.
I have a 3t car and a 1.6t caravan, fully laden about 2t. Tows without any problems.
Good one that
Hi Graham, Some top tips there, I wasn’t aware of the car specific wiring which makes sense. When we bought our first caravan we didn’t have a very good tow car, there were a few scary moments 😳 correct Car and van match is crucial for safety, comfort and your nerves 😂
Great vlog.....Was Mandy washing the caravan while you were filming 🤔🤔 Cheers Martin 🙂
No she wasn’t washing the caravan I was using your yard again 😂 thanks for watching
I use the stick on towing mirrors that use suction cups that attach to the mirror on the car and a security band around the car mirror on case it drops off - they don’t need adjustment and you can save yourself a divorce trying to get the mrs to adjust the passenger side. I also had issue towing with and Audi A4 - same issue as you with overtaking lorries. Now have a 4 magic Merc GLC and it’s bullet proof
Yeah GLCs are great aren’t they! Very underrated...
Cheers
Always useful to go through these tips - the cruise control downhill particularly useful - I'm in Florida and a newbie, unable to enjoy the Bailey Madrid and Kia I bought in the UK last autumn for this year - hopefully next year - depends if the CCP unleash SARS-3. I did enjoy the vlog but the woman knocking to either come in or get out a little distracting :)
Long list of tips but all make good sense. Some of these are relevant to motorcaravans (aka motorhomes). Wash my mouth out 😂 Trev
Thanks for watching Trev. It was a long list hindsight I should have done 2 vlogs if 10 😂😂😂 Motorcaravan 🤷♂️ was you try to avoid my motorhome detector 😂Graham
Thought you may block my comment if I used the alternative word to motorcaravan. An interesting question for “The Caravan Club”, I still call it that. When did they change calling a motorised caravan or motorcaravan to a motorhome ? I can definitely remember the times when it was a motorcaravan or a campervan, not a motorhome. Yes, I am old 😂😂. Trev.
Love your videos Graham. You seem to be getting your wucking murds fuddled more than usual. 😁😂😉
Thanks for watching. Haha I sometimes editing them out 😆
Don't edit them too much. They could end up at just 30 seconds each. 😉
Haha 😂 true 👍🏻
thanks for all this info. but basic cruise control in my experience does not prevent the speed from creeping up going down hills. i think the adaptive kind slows down if there is traffic ahead though but never driven it.
Thanks for watching. The last 2 cars I’ve had with cruise control definitely slow the car when going down hill for example. It actually applies the breaks to keep it at that speed. I’ve seen the break lights in the reflection on the caravan. Obviously not on all cars then ?
@@CaravanVlogger ah interesting. I have a Hyundai i10 (2014) and a Ford Transit Connect van (2017) and neither will brake. To be honest i wouldn’t want them to to waste brake pads and fuel but then different when youre towing i suppose. Thanks again
Hi Graham, thanks for all your useful tips. We are trying to choose our first caravan and can’t seem to shake the fear that if we get anything longer than 17ft we worry at not being able to handle it driving, cornering etc. Any tips on how to overcome this so we can go for the caravan we want rather than a small one we then change in a year?
Thanks for watching. It doesn't really matter how long the caravan is, it will always follow you. The biggest thing to bare in mind is when turning, however, it's not a problem at all. Take a roundabout as an example, all you need to do is just take the roundabout a little wider than you normally would. As you drive around it, just check in your towing mirror that the caravan wheels aren't about to clip the curb. I've don't this myself, if you think it's about to, just straighten up a little bit. I angle the towing mirrors so that I can see the caravan wheels in them.
When turning left at a T junction, again, just take it a little wider, really, you don't need to take it much wider, like I say, the caravan will follow.
Also, a longer caravan tends to be longer after the wheels, so if it's 17 or 24 foot, it doesn't really make much difference. If you remember you're towing a caravan and that you need a little more space when turning, you'll be fine.
You could book yourself on a towing course and I think that would put to rest any doubts you had. Once you're used to it, it all becomes second nature. Remember to take your time, don't be rushed by anyone and you're bigger than them, so they need to give way.
I've not really encountered issues, what we do is check google earth for what the roads look like around the site. We also use a sat nav that avoids smaller roads (you enter the size of the caravan and the sat nav does it's best to avoid anything too narrow)
The only other real challenge is getting the thing on a pitch. I've taken away all the pressure by getting a mover mover fitted, most of the time I don't even try to reverse on a pitch (sometimes I do if I'm feeling confident, or there's no one around - can you imagine "Oh look there's that caravanvlogger chap, he can't even reverse!") but just use the motor mover to back it on.
The only other thing I will say, you can't upgrade the size of a caravan you have to buy a new one. Sounds obvious, but more important is the weight of the caravan vs the weight of the tow car. That's the secret to happy, stress free towing.
Good luck, if I can do it, anyone can....
Hi I'm currently looking for a suitable tow car and enjoyed your vlog, very informative.
My tow car will be a used vehicle. But I'd like to know if you have any experience of towing with both auto and manual cars and if so would you recommend one over the other? If so which? And what are the pros and cons? Thanks 😊
Thanks for watching. I’ve only ever towed with an automatic and it’s very good. I don’t really think there’s any disadvantage/ advantage using auto or manual when towing. My vlog on Thursday is a review of my tow car FYI
@@CaravanVlogger thanks for the response much appreciated. I look forward to your next vlog. Many thanks 😊
Hi. We are in the process of buying our first family caravan. There is myself my wife and our 6 year old daughter so have been advised to go for a 4 berth rather than a 2 berth. Our family vehicle is a Toyota Rav 4. Would that be suitable to tow a caravan?
Hi Edward, thanks for watching. It certainly would be. However, tt really depends on the weight of the caravan.
Have a look at towcar.info/ you can put in your car and caravan details and it will tell you if it's a good match or not.
I have another vlog that will help you understand caravan weight czcams.com/video/SoYPs3VJhPk/video.html also, if you don't know already, we have a website. I'd recommend starting here: www.caravanvlogger.co.uk/caravan-beginner-guide-and-tips-2021/
Hope that helps? Graham
thanks very much for your reply. Much appreciated. Look forward to starting our caravan adventures and watching more of your videos. Thanks again.