Car trailers - what do you do with them? (1 Viewer)

[pizzajohn]

We're new to motor home ownership (AutoTrail Comanche) and, as my wife isn't too mobile we want to tow a car, on a trailer, so we can get about at any destination without manoeuvring 29ft of motor home in towns.

Our quandary is this, do sites/aires etc. allow trailers hooked up, or otherwise and, how can you secure them?

 

[iandsm]

I think sites will have individual arrangements but if you can't get your motorhome and trailer in one space on an aire do not put the trailer in the next space and thereby take up two. You might be ok on a empty aire with lots of spaces but try it on anywhere busy one and you will be very unpopular indeed and certainly asked to move the trailer in no uncertain terms. You would be better to confine yourself to the larger aires rather than the small ones that only take 5 or so but you will have to make a judgement on arrival. As for securing the trailer I think there are others who know the solution better than me.

 

[old-mo]

Just done a tour of Northern France and Northern Spain..

And out of 22 approx Aires we stayed at, there were less than 3 or 4 where we could have got the car on an "A" frame let alone our trailer..

It was seeing some of the Members lovely photo`s on Aires that made us decide not to take a trailer or "A" frame..

We have a disabled son, and usually take a car,,, but glad we did not on this trip...

Just for where some of the Aires are placed.. fabulous..

Some times it was knackering pushing a wheel chair every where.... But... a brilliant trip all the same..

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[Snowbird]

It all depends what am doing. If am touring I leave the car and trailer at home. If am long terming in one place, which am doing now, then I take the car and trailer.

 

[paintman]

I think a lot depends on how confident your are towing a trailer, or perhaps more importantly reversing. The last two years we have gone to Greece with my brother who competes in a enduro motorbike rally there, driving a 8 mtr motorhome with a 4 mtr trailer.

We don't usually book sites in advance as this trip is normally late August and September, by then many folk have returned to work so availability is usually ok. (other than Lake Garda which always seems busy)

Regarding finding a pitch that is big enough, what we normally do is park outside the site on the road (just in case there is not room to turn around if there are no suitable pitches) and walk to the reception and ask, often the staff can see the motorhome so they can give you an instant answer. Some sites have bigger pitches and some don't, this year we were quite fortunate and found sites that could accommodate us quite easily, but as I say this was late summer, I would guess it would be a lot harder in July.

Once on a site sometimes that's only the start of it, you have to manoeuvre your way to your pitch and then park up usually with an audience !! I tend to walk the route and satisfy myself that its all doable. Sites that have bigger pitches often charge more for them, only once did we have to detach the trailer this year, so we backed it up to a fence and padlocked it there with a substantial chain.

To summarise towing a heavy trailer requires extra thinking and planning, you really don't want to be turning into dead ends or narrow lanes (thanks Tomtom )

The trailer hitch normally has its own lock and ours is further secured by a motorbike chain connecting the trailer to the motorhome similar to this.

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John.