caravanning tips for caravans, dont get caught out while towing your caravan.
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- Опубликовано: 8 июл 2021
- caravanning tips for your caravan, while towing your caravan you need to make sure you are not breaking the law.
this summer when you go caravanning it is a good chance you will get stopped by the police.
here are some tips to avoid a hefty fine while towing your caravan.
www.thecaravanplace.com
#caravanningtips #Caravan #caravanning 
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If your caravan has a mover, remember that this is part of your payload.
failed to mention it is also illegal to have towing mirrors fitted when not towing so once you have arrived on site remove the mirrors
Didn’t know that, that’s a strange law
Really good topic and I think more important than ever as so many people started towing this year
Thank you both, you give some really sensible, good tips
Our pleasure!
If you're towing, you mustn't drive in the outside (fast) lane of a 3 or 4 lane motorway or dual carriageway. I was stopped 22 years ago for towing in Lane 3 of a 3 lane part of the M6 motorway. Don't do it!!😃👍
On a UK motorway there is no such thing as a 'fast lane'. The speed limit is the same for all lanes.
At last someone understands me lane 1 lane 2 lane 3 etc etc all driving lanes and same speeds just for overtaking slower vehicle's if possible. Channel 5 put a post mentioning the ( fast and slow lane) when will people get the idea of driving sensibly and safely.
Hi Mark some great advice there mate,I love the comedy sketch 😂......oh and by the way Footballs coming home!👈👍
Really interesting and helpful
Hahaha great bet 😂... think general guidance is that the MTPLM should not exceed 85% of the total loaded weight of the towing vehicle. Even if the vehicle can tow more up to 100% weight match, that would be reserved for experienced towers, whether you have pre 97 licence, b+e or restricted to total 3500kg. Ps. I've come across your channel recently and it's really good and fun to watch!!
Thanks for your comments. Much appreciated 👍
Tidy,
Although I think house prices may not fall noticeably, caravan and motorhome will probably return to normal due to silly campsite prices and British weather. Good video, one point... Although a van is covered while connected to your car.. If it leaves it.. It isn't!!!
Best to tow with a Transit big sign free driveway quotes on the side you will never be pulled over.
🤣
😂like it
If you have a cover on the front of your caravan make sure it doesn't cover any lights
Good point 👍
Great video ,. We are about to pick our first Caravan up at the end of the month, have been watching all your video's and have found them most helpful, keep up the good work.
Thanks Martin 👍
Good video.On the subject of weights. Make sure you calculate the figures of tow car, on its maximum gross weight. Our kerb weight is 1900kg but it’s max laden weight is 2400kg. Add a 1300kg caravan your over 3500kg . It’s also worth checking on the cars plate of its maximum gross train weight. ( car and caravan). Stay safe everyone 👍
Nose weight, get a spring balance, as well as staying legal just gives you such a better ride and gives you more control, also you could be physically over loading the tow ball and ball and risking a catastrophic failure.
Make sure your car is road worthy to tow
Yes they will look at the MAM, but they will put it over a weighbridge to check. If the MAM of the caravan is higher than the tow vehicles plated weight, they will look at the actual weight of the trailer. As long as your under, your legal, and the same for insurance. Sprite have a model with a 1508KG MAM, it's very concievable a 1500KG tow weight car will be used to pull it. As long as your 8KG off the max caravan weight, all good.
Very interesting seen many notions on towing weights and not really understood any that was simplistic. Just seen 229 likes keep it going🏴🏴🏴😁😁😁
When I got to 70 years old, I wanted to retain what I could drive before that age because I wanted to buy a Volvo XC90 and with my caravan weight would have taken me over 3500Kg because I thought I'd read where it said train weight (overall weight of car and caravan) but, what DVLA asked me was how heavy my tow vehicle was, he said it's not over 3500Kg is it, I said no, he said 3500Kg is what the tow car should not be over. I phoned up again to check if he was right or not, this time I got someone else answering the phone and when I put the question to him, he gave me the same answer. If you don't believe me check it out yourselves, because like you've said on here, I've also read in magazines saying the same as you. This wants getting sorted out so everyone understands what's the right way it's done. I'm not knocking you but it really dose want making clearer.
You didn't mention the tyres to check the dates on them as even if they have plenty of tread they are illegal if over 5 years old
Thanks Philip, there is actually no legal age on tyres, it is recommended that tyres are changed between 5-7 years, but legally it's just tread depth. 👍 Always worth changing at a maximum of 7 years though as it's not worth the risk of a blow out etc.
Wish I had a tenner every time I've seen caravans coming on to sites without towing mirrors could buy new caravan
I got stopped in Derby by the police after all the checks they just said my caravan cover was covering the bottom sidelights, so just had to pull the cover-up about 4 inches. What was a pain they took me to an old industrial estate far away from the road I was on, so sat nav then took me around Derby with the caravan on tow.
When i got the notification of a new video i got excited thinking it was a walk through of our caravan 😂😂😭😭😭 good info here though!
Sunday will finally arrive. I will get the video to you by then.👍
Cant wait! Thanks for the informative videos though
Also remember that if you are NOT towing you should remove your towing mirrors. Having them fitted without towing is also an offense that is liable to a three point fine.
Great tip 👍
per mirror ;)
Good tips! But no mention of tyres (age of tyre ect)
I think we had covered the tyres in the weeks before.
@@thecaravanplace Hi sorry I had not seen that! Very useful video's lot's of tips Keep them coming👍
Good one hopefully people watch it and take it in. But if a double act forming here eh. Italia Italia Italia.
It was an outdated rule, I think this makes much more sense. I am right on the limit of the existing rule. It seems this new change will mean you can basically pull anything as long as your car can handle it. (e.g. towball limit/towing power/train weight)
Yes thats correct, still no date on when it changes yet. Thanks for watching and commenting 👍
It is a pity that the Union Flag in your office is upside down. Assuming the hoist to be on the left hand side, tghe broad white stripe should be at the top.
I thought that, but perhaps the door frame is meant to represent the flagpole on the right!
great video and very helpful. Are weigh bridges worth having a test at?
Hi Tony, if you feel you are close to the maximum weight I would say it is. 👍
Can you look at on board alarm units l have a non working Sargent 330 is not working ? .good job keep it up , Barry my new Van is 2010 coachman special 460/2 from Glossop dealership. .....
Hi Barry, if you search the sargent web sit it should have a guide of things to check, or their customer help is very good too.
One way people dont realise that they have unintentionally added to the weight of their car is to fill the fuel tank right up , a copper watched me do it in a wagon then pulled me on to a weighbridge , i was over loaded but only just so therefore not prosecuted but it could of been a different story
Bit naughty of the police, but they are only going to get worse this summer.
I mark you mentioned B+E Licence on this video. I'm I correct that training has stopped now just for newbies who have pasted there test recently. I passed mine 1995 before the theory test started
The test has stopped but you can still go on a course, the government have just launched a campaign to try to get people to take the towing courses and learn how to tow correctly. www.caravanclub.co.uk/advice-and-training/training-courses/caravan-towing-courses/
The link above is for the caravan club courses.
It will soon be illegal to breath every 5 seconds; anyone not holding their breath for at least 5 minutes will be fined £1000 and/or a week in lock up. Rules; for the guidance of wise men and obedience of fools. I have towed my ageing Avante 505 with motor mover for the last 12 years and not once have I been pulled over. I suppose it is the luck of the draw when it comes to the dibble. Mine has a mt weight of 1500kg's and the avante weighs just over 1100kg's with motor mover. However, on occasion I have been known to fill the fridge and bags of groceries in the car, along with awning and so on, bringing it close to the max weight. For me it is not the weight per se' it is the damage to the clutch that should be considered. If you have a mini one and tow something or attempt to tow something far heavier, it will shred the clutch in no time, unless it is automatic of course, but even then the talkie converter can run hotter eventually damaging that! I recently fitted a new leisure battery and lost ALL 12V! On grabbing the multimeter I managed to find that the power supply/charger had blown - 3 resistors! Rather than replacing them I bought a new unit instead and now it is running fine again. The electrics on older caravans can be a pain in the proverbial to say the least but I would imagine the newer models to be even more of a headache should they go capput. It is crazy how easy it is to go over-weight and not realise it, but if your car is more than capable, then it should not really present a problem, providing the brakes, clutch and driver are in good condition..lol
Don’t forget tyre treads and age
Hi there just watched your video and you didn’t mention tyres all the best colin
Yes Tyres. Thanks for your comment 👍
Yes, you should definitely have some!! Don't leave home without them.
Hello Mark, This may come across as a bit complicated, but bear with me. When I go to a weighbridge I can weigh the total outfit when hitched up, the car alone unhitched, the caravan alone unhitched, the car when hitched to the caravan, and the caravan when hitched to the car. In the latter two examples the nose weight will be added to the car weight and deducted from the caravan weight. So if the noseweight is 100Kg the car will weigh 100Kg more, and the van 100Kg less than the unhitched weights.
Which is the proper method of weighing, and will the police insist on the outfit being unhitched before going on the scales?
So not 100% but my understanding is, they will weight the caravan disconnected and make sure its not overloaded, weigh the car without the caravan to make sure its not overloaded, check the noseweight unhitched then add everything together car and caravan weight to make sure the gross weight isn't overloaded. I believe this is the correct way to check but not 100%
@@thecaravanplace Thank you for the detailed explanation. There is a lot more to to check than I expected.
Hi there mate,great video.Any chance you could check some weights for me?.. thought I had it cracked but now I'm not so sure!🤦🏻♂️
Have a check on your v5 if its for your car. I will put the link for the specifics as we have done a video. If caravan let me know and I can check 👍
👍
@@thecaravanplace after doing abit more reading, I think I'm overweight for the B category I hold. I thought it was the weight combined but it's the MAM of both..puts me 250kg over. B+E needed asap. 2250kg + 1500kg🤦🏻♂️
What tow car website to check if the car is compatible with the caravan free and easy
If you have the car check your v5 for the max braked trailer weight, remember to check the mass weight also which is what the empty weight of the car is as you don't want to be towing a caravan which is way over the mass weight of the car. Then google the caravan, or google towing weight for car and then google caravan mtplm weight. Hooe this helps. We do have a video on how to work out your tow car weight.
Just noticed the union flag you were standing in front of was upside down
Was hoping nobody would notice 🙈
Sorry it’s something I always notice a lot of people around where I live have a flag flying and it’s surprising how many have it wrong
@@thecaravanplace I thought the doorframe was representing the flagpole on the right, so it is therefore correct!
(Can I get a discount now? :) )
So how come trucks can safely tow trailers weighing more than the cab unit? And other cars like Ford rangers (2t) can pull 3.5 t. It doesn’t completely make sense that u can’t tow something heavier than the pulling vehicle.
Like I say its legal to do it but unsafe. And if the max braked trailer weight is lower than the caravan weight then you will possibly get in trouble. But like you say the commercial vehicle and some cars have a much heavier weight for towing and more than the kerb weight. So its just trying to make sure you are safe, thats the important thing.
It depends on what brakes you're running on the trailer. The most likely and legal braking systems for trailers and caravans etc. available in the UK are pneumatic or hydraulic. It's gonna be expensive to fit them but you should fit them to keep the combination safe.
Towing a trailer higher than the mass of the of the vehicle is not gonna be a lot of joy in that set up. I can see why it's recommended you don't do it. In order to tow big weights, the braking system of the trailer has to operate with the brake pedal. The Americans and Australians use electric brakes. In South Africa we use Pneumatic or Hydraulic brakes, but even then the hydraulic brake of the trailer/caravan has to have its own pump as piggy backing on the master cylinder/ABs pump of the car is illegal. It's an expensive task all around.
Interesting, do you have any anti snaking devices in south africa? We have hitch head stabilisers that slow down any sway, but if the caravan is heavier than the car even this wont do much to be honest. The air brakes make alot of sense.
@@thecaravanplace the caravans imported from the UK and in the EU have the anti snake devices. Who knows maybe in the future I'll also import a caravan from you
The union flag is the wrong way up
The best about it, I made sure which way around it should be about 10 times before doing it and still managed to got it wrong 🙈. I noticed about half way through doing it.
The flag is still wrong if you turn it around ! No wonder you couldn't get it right !
How about tire dates
It's not the law unfortunately, just a safety recommendation.
Sorry for putting a negative comment on a good video but the flag that is painted on the wall is upside down
Thanks for rubbing it in. 🤣🤣
Come on Italy
🤣🤣 save me a few quid. If England win it will be worth it.
True
your union flag is upside down!!
We will get around to changing at some point. Thanks for noticing lol.
Nose weights
I think this video implies the police are money grabbing, where nearly everything you have pointed out is safety related.
Repaint the flag.