Ok everyone I need your assistance. I'm having a bit of a discussion with hubby. We are towing a 2 berth VanMaster 1996 model with a Chrysler 300C Automatic which is fine. Now hubby is panicking about the amount of gear we take away with us, He says you can tow a small trailer at the back of the caravan BUT I say you can't. Who's right? Anyone know
Caravan and Trailer Towing
- Thread starter lucylogic
- Start date
Not unless you are a licensed showman, ie, a fairground operator or such.
But I can sympathise with hubby. My wife thinks the caravan has expanding sides!
But I can sympathise with hubby. My wife thinks the caravan has expanding sides!
I'd hate to have to reverse such a rig.
We have a simple rule, if it won't fit in our car then it doesn't go.
We have a simple rule, if it won't fit in our car then it doesn't go.
If it were legal others would do it. Not sure how you would fit a towbar to the back of a caravan anyway, as there is generally nothing there to attach it to. I would have a look at what you take and say do we really need it as it sounds as if your packing has got out of hand.
Wise words from everyone.
No you can't When we go away without the children there are an awful lot of empty lockers which means we would struggle to fill the lockers in a two berth.
What exactly is being packed that he's worried about?
No you can't When we go away without the children there are an awful lot of empty lockers which means we would struggle to fill the lockers in a two berth.
What exactly is being packed that he's worried about?
Lucy ,
You seem to have a decent enough car for towing why not upgrade to a 4 berth if you could , which would give you more storage and possibly have room left over then you wouldn't have to worry about putting the trailer on the back of the caravan (if its doable)which I wouldn't fancy doing
Craig
You seem to have a decent enough car for towing why not upgrade to a 4 berth if you could , which would give you more storage and possibly have room left over then you wouldn't have to worry about putting the trailer on the back of the caravan (if its doable)which I wouldn't fancy doing
Craig
lucylogic said:
When we take our granddaughter and the dogs away the car gets very tightly packed, such that I wasn't happy in case we got a puncture and I had to remove the spare wheel et al. Then someone told me that there are things that can be put on the car's roof; they are called roof boxes and it's transformed our trips away.
(TIC)
otherclive said:lucylogic said:
When we take our granddaughter and the dogs away the car gets very tightly packed, such that I wasn't happy in case we got a puncture and I had to remove the spare wheel et al. Then someone told me that there are things that can be put on the car's roof; they are called roof boxes and it's transformed our trips away.
Thats a good one , forgot about that option !! Cheaper to !!
I have often thought about this senario, a traler towing another trailer,
Come on Prof , where are you on this , please.
Come on Prof , where are you on this , please.
EH52ARH said:
Thank you for your interest in my opinion, :cheer: As it happens I don't have a highly formulated opinion on this subject as it hasn't come up before. However I do recall that many years ago a caravan manufacture did suggest a caravan with front bogey axle, which made the outfit a double articulated system, but I'm not sure why it never caught on, it may be the trailer could not be categorised in the context of normal car towing, or it may have been too radical for the consumer, and too expensive. And reversing has already been mentioned. Other issues could have been it would be more difficult to level on site, how do you establish nose load (Hee Hee :lol: ) In fact for the proposal in the OP reversing would be very difficult becasue a small trailer behind the caravan would for the most part be hidden from the drivers view, until it was basically too late
Mechanically it could be done, but it has its problems, I don't know if it would be legal behind a car and caravan (and I'm not spend time checking)
So you're pulling a trailer on the back of your caravan which is being pulled by your car, what is to say that if something should go wrong with the trailer, it starts to Snake or a blow out , you would not feel it from the car because it is pivoting on your caravan, before you know it that said trailer could be flipped and you would not know anything about it which could cause carnage ?
Just a thought ... :dry:
Craig
Just a thought ... :dry:
Craig
Things might be worse because you probably could not see the second trailer if it was narrower than the caravan.
Raywood said:
My point exactly I think it's dangerous but you could rig a camera up to the back of caravan and have it on the screen in the car to keep an eye on the trailer, I'm a good driver but unsure if I'd want all that on the back of my car , still a bit mmm....
Ha , I've just Googled them and had a look at some pictures, they look like Yachts on Wheels !! :lol:Dustydog said:Maybe it's time for the reincarnation of the double decker caravan
Craig
It's only a matter of time.
Airbus revisited it and produced the A380. Just think what Bailey or Swift could do. After all motorhomes have a double deck :evil:
It's only a matter of time.
Airbus revisited it and produced the A380. Just think what Bailey or Swift could do. After all motorhomes have a double deck :evil:
Dustydog said:
Yes but look where Airbus stand now on the A380? Collapse in orders over the last 2-3 years.
Going back to original question, as a HGV driver and qualified transport manager I can tell you that it isn't a permitted vehicle combination unless (as correctly stated) you have a showman's license or a police escort. Both are not really practical!
I agree with the comments about reversing such a rig too, it would be a nightmare especially if you couldn't see the small trailer. (The caravan would behave like a tow car so if you reversed the caravan around a corner to the left the small trailer would go right)
Have you considered fitting roof bars and a roof box for extra storage?
I agree with the comments about reversing such a rig too, it would be a nightmare especially if you couldn't see the small trailer. (The caravan would behave like a tow car so if you reversed the caravan around a corner to the left the small trailer would go right)
Have you considered fitting roof bars and a roof box for extra storage?
It is cetainly not allowed ordinarily. But I would add that the Army also can, or at least used to be able to. My Father-in-Law was a driver of one of these outfits :-timhowarduk said:
... athough arguably the limber and gun combination were more like a single long wheelbase 4-wheeled vehicle with a steerable front axle.
timhowarduk said:
As a kid I made a lot of Meccano model vehicles (typically about 15" long) and I remember manoevering such a combination. Even with the advantage of top viewing, it was just about impossible to reverse even in a straight line for more than about half a length.
If it were allowed - the sensible thing to do would be to uncouple the smaller trailer and manoeuvre it by hand. But that is a hypothetical situation.
Thank you all for your comments. I had really good laugh at some of them :lol: Of course you can't tow anything behind a caravan. My hubby had said it 'tongue in cheek' but I had so much on my mind about getting away for our weekend away to Twinwood for the bank holiday amongst a lot of other appointments and stuff with him retiring that I hadn't seen the smile on his face when he said it I'm sure if anyone else asks the question they will get their answers from this posting. Manythanks once again
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