So many times I've been overtaken by speeding caravans (1 Viewer)

[gus-lopez]

Didn't realise that as have all my life towed all sorts of things and of course at my age (over 21) never had to take any test to tow....so does that now mean that anyone say in their 20/30s etc have to pass this test to tow a caravan ???? Roy

More or less yes.

Forfar five East Fife four ..? Supposedly came from James Alexander Gordon on the Saturday night footie scores, not sure if that score ever happened though.

Yes he was quoted as saying that it was his nightmare score.

 

[Khizzie]

TBH as much as I love the west country that M5 with tuggers on it is lethal..and I am always glad to get off it ...Roy

 

[gus-lopez]

My boss in a previous life used to take pride in telling us he could sit at 80mph on the motorways in Scotland.
Twin axle caravan and Toyota Landcruiser Amazon.

Total Muppet !

I always thought that the towing limit was the same all over the EU till I came across the French where the limit is 130kph & 110kph when raining.

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[Spidey]

When we had our caravan we were obsessive about getting the correct nose weight. We would carefully load the van and make sure it was well under. Then towed at 60 on the motorway. Lost count of the number of times we watched people pull on site with their caravan and proceed to unload the contents of a house into their awning. Mind you we are stll obsessive about weights and only carry what we use.

 

[Charlie]

Forfar five East Fife four ..? Supposedly came from James Alexander Gordon on the Saturday night footie scores, not sure if that score ever happened though.

Nope try again ?

 

[pappajohn]

so does that now mean that anyone say in their 20/30s etc have to pass this test to tow a caravan

Not necessarily.
As long as the combined weight is less than 3500kg no further test is required.
Bit of a joke really....an average car of say 1500kg can safely tow (80% rule and depending on the cars train weight) 1200kg it's going to be a very small caravan.

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/driving-licence-rules-and-what-you-can-tow

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[Khizzie]

Not necessarily.
As long as the combined weight is less than 3500kg no further test is required.
Bit of a joke really....an average car of say 1500kg can safely tow (80% rule and depending on the cars train weight) 1200kg it's going to be a very small caravan.

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/driving-licence-rules-and-what-you-can-tow

Bit worrying though as a lot of 21ft caravans at my local dealers come in under 1200kgs with the lightweight materials of today ..could mean a lot more inexperienced tuggers will be hitting the roads ...

 

[Wombles]

Having been caravanners when we were younger & aware of dangerous it can be if your outfit, loading & speed aren't safe we were shocked how many overtook us on the M5 & M4 on our journey to & from Newbury. One was going well over 70 & the caravan had a wiggle on We kept our distance & amazed it didn't flip - all it needed was a side wind & that would have been it.

 

[Charlie]

Ere am then caravan fingies dangerous ? More dangerous than an A frame ?




















Now you knows I'm only joking

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[sedge]

Surely it's Forfar so far four?

Pete reckons anyway that to be safe on anything other than virtually a Roman road (flat as a pancake and dead straight) you need a goodly margin of error in the towcar's supposed towing and braking capability and the weight and stopping ability of the trailer whether is happens to be a caravan or whatever.

We were chatting with a tugger about a certain campsite in France that we both know and like. He commented that a certain portion of it he wouldn't be able to access with his rig because of the steep access road. It is ruddy steep, with at least one bend, and I said I wasn't even attempting it on foot. However there is a footpath through the wood on the slope which meanders somewhat, and is also on the gentler end of the slope anyway and I could manage that - but not in a hurry. The van would get down and back up there fine - but the swimming pool and all the other numerous 'services' being at the top - I may not really be able to enjoy the facilities so much, were we to camp down there. But that is by the by.

We were talking about some of the hills we've been up and down to get to places we want to visit or campsites we want to stay at - and if their combo can't get up and down that campsite hill - it seems to me that they are denied the opportunity to visit some of the places we just 'automatically' would go to without even thinking about it. And - you never know when that 'spare towing oomph' might be needed, do you?

Pete's towed all sorts of things with all sorts of towing vehicles. Our ruddy C4 is supposed to be able to tow a (suitable weight) caravan - but would either of us feel comfortable doing it for more than a couple of miles? I think not ..... a smallish trailer empty or with not a lot of weight in it maybe - but we don't make a habit of needing to transport lightweight bulky stuff!

Horses for courses, indeed.

 

[Charlie]

I was told that caravanners take an extra pair of pants if they are in a hurry driving ?

 

[Enword]

I always thought that the towing limit was the same all over the EU till I came across the French where the limit is 130kph & 110kph when raining.

Phew I'v always struggled to get close to 130 whilst towing the trailer, but in Kph it will be a doddle.

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[mitzimad]

i was once towing a banger on a converted caravan chassis that started to throw me all over the road i was towing with a leyland fg 420 which had a top speed of 45 its amazing how much the trailer can move the towing vehicle despite the weights

 

[Baldeagle7470]

Tail wagging the dog!!
Just another reason to own a Motorhome.
Sure @Don Quixote will put me right but seem to remember something about a 90 kph limit on towing in Spain?

 

[Adbt]

Watching that video there is absolutely no evidence that that caravan rig was speeding . Preposterous assertion spouted out with no evidence by the Speed Stasi ?

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[vwalan]

no . use the b+e then you can have a tow vehicle at 3.5 ton and have a trainweight of 11-12 ton . much better than c1+e.
tuggers rule .

 

[Jim]

Preposterous assertion spouted out with no evidence by the Speed Stasi ?

Who knows if he was speeding? I said "Looks Like" The other comments are about being overtaken by speeding caravan rigs where the evidence is your own speedo or sat nav.

I suppose speed did play a part in as much as the accident would not have happened if he was stationary So what do you think caused it?

 

[Puddleduck]

Looks to me like he pulled in to sharply and failed to straighten up. Speed could have been a factor but it's difficult to tell.

Towing takes skill and concentration.

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[vwalan]

as been already said speed is always the cause in an accident . if nothing moves we dont get accidents .

 

[Puddleduck]

as been already said speed is always the cause in an accident . if nothing moves we dont get accidents .

And we all die from starvation

 

[vwalan]

no we die from cramp . because we have to stand still. hee hee

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[Adbt]

Speed does not kill ......... It's the massive deceleration that does the damage

 

[sdc77]

It does look like a speed issue doesn't it. It looks like the lorry was probably doing 50 or so.. he has overtaken the lorry (speed here) and lost control either from the buffeting or misjudging length. Speed limit was 60mph and he must have been close to that . Innapropriate speed for the road or traffic conditions is a recipe for disaster
Hardly a reason to call comentators 'speed stasi'.
Speeding poorly towed caravan stasi would probably be more accurate.

Ahh here's another one ..

 

[funflair]

Well that's me guilty, towed a caravan behind a Shogun for 1000's of miles, the speed quite regularly crept up to 70+ but it just sat behind good as gold, I'm not suggesting it's sensible and whatever speed you are travelling at you have to be aware of potential dangers. We were properly loaded well maintained good tyres etc etc but things can still go wrong.

Modern caravans have electronic stabilisers that can detect a sway and apply the brakes on the caravan to straighline it and keep everything in shape.

Martin

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[Lorryman100]

As a former tugger IMHO it all depends on the rig set up. My set up was a tow vehicle weighing in at 3 tons towing a twin axle 23ft caravan coming in at 1850kgs with a nose weight of 115kgs. Yes I did break the law on occasions doing 70 to pass a line of trucks etc and felt in total control of my rig with no wagging of the dog etc the whole time, unlike the Moho even with the addition of air assist suspension which still wallows a bit when overtaking vans or trucks. Whether it was down to the set up of having a heavy tow vehicle with a twin axle trailer to my own invulnerability of previously driving arctics for a living I couldn't tell you other than the rig was planted to the road otherwise I would have been doing a lot less than 70. JMTW.

 

[trophychap]

Martin said,
Modern caravans have electronic stabilisers that can detect a sway and apply the brakes on the caravan to straighline it and keep everything in shape.

Those things only work I believe if the tow car electrics have it enabled (usually a dealer mod to get it to work) Something to do with the ECU or some other such gismo!

 

[Chris]

I always try to avoid speeding tuggers passing me.

Tip- when you see wally tanking it in the middle lane, apply pressure to the right foot just long enough to thwart the manoevre and then revert to normal driving.

Repeat as necessary.

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[funflair]

Martin said,
Modern caravans have electronic stabilisers that can detect a sway and apply the brakes on the caravan to straighline it and keep everything in shape.

Those things only work I believe if the tow car electrics have it enabled (usually a dealer mod to get it to work) Something to do with the ECU or some other such gismo!

You are thinking about electronic trailer stability on the likes of Land Rover Discovery, I was referring to the AL-KO device which is stand alone and operates the caravan brakes (sorry can't remember it's name).

Martin

 

[Mel]

You are thinking about electronic trailer stability on the likes of Land Rover Discovery, I was referring to the Alco device which is stand alone and operates the caravan brakes (sorry can't remember it's name).

Martin

Alko ATC

 

[trophychap]

Point taken Martin. I don't know anything about that one, I was thinking about most modern caravans having a stabiliser built into the hitch. I didn't know there was an electronic device as well.

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