Advice on towing a twin axle

[IanMc]

We have just bought a twin axle caravan and was wondering if anybody could give us some advice on towing and reversing. We have towed a single axle for three years and wondered if there is any noticeable difference when towing a twin axle.

Regards

Ian

 

[Del_374232870]

Personally I find the twin axle to be more stable on the road , towing is little different to a single axle , just tends to be a bit longer. Reversing is a peace of cake as the van is less suseptible to steering changes and I find a lot easier to control. Our last van which was a s/a and towed by a manual Frontera always got put onto pitches and into storage using the motor mover. Now the mover is hardly used as we have an auto and a t/a. personally whilst we dont use the mover very much I wouldnt have a twin without a mover , as they are a sod to man handle.

 

[mo hamilton]

you don't need to manhandle a twin axle , just get good at reversing . I've managed to reverse uphill on an s bend right into the pitch(and I'm a woman!).

 

[Steve L]

Hi Ian.

We've caravanned for over 20 years and started with a tiny 10ft sprite and progressed up to a 20ft Link 575 made by Dean line. The van is 25 years old but still in excellent condition.

Towing on the road is much more stable with 4 wheels on the caravan. We notice only minor nodding up and down which is probably due to the linked axle design of our van which self compensates for bumps. Unfortunately modern twin axles don't have the axles linked so consequently you do get a fair bit of weight transfer when going over speed ramps, but having said that you should be doing that at slow speed any way.

Reversing is just the same as a single axle except I try to wake as wider turn as possible to avoid cutting up the grass pitches. Also by not turning in tight radius's you don't put as much side strain on wheel bearings.

As for manual handling, forgrt it. You do need to be reasonable at reversing and also have a motor mover. Again unless you have got an axle mounted mover then you will have to adopt your manouvering to suit. I use a Motor mover Bigfoot on our van which is fine in a straight line but does need a 66 point turn technique to turn the van. However, at half a mile an hour you do have plenty of time to react.

We tow our van with a Renault Laguna 2 Ltr which is front wheel drive, if you have a 4X4 then you might consider fitting a front tow ball to use the car to push the van as you will see better and have more control over it.

Over all though I would not like to go back to a single axle as a twin is more comfortable to tow.

Steve L.

 

[Del_374232870]

there are times when reversing is out of the question. On one of our favorite site we pitch between some trees and the only way to get the van is on the mover as you have to reverse between 2 trees 9ft apart then turn the van through 90 degrees as soon as the hitch is level with the trees. Great pitch when you get the van in but imposible without a mover. I agree that reversing is a lot easier but I like the added security of the mover for the few occasions when reversing is not possible,

 

[IanMc]

We have asked for a mover. It is a powertouch, not the 4 motor one. Looking forward to trying it out. we pick up on 26th April then first outing is to the Plassey at bank holiday.

 

[Del_374232870]

Its the heavy duty power touch that we have )not the 4 motor) and works fine. One thing we did though was change the battery to 110amp battery