Never towed a van and got scarred by snaking!

[Beachball]

Just to clarify when I stated unloaded I mean is no pots and pans, cutlery crockery, bedding etc. in it. I am surprised that you carry all that in your car but that is your choice.

Just to say we don"t take any pots and pans we have brought stuff that is microwave safe and i do my poached eggs in but cutlery and crockery in the car for safety, Sleeping bags and porch awning are put in the caravan a couple of days before we go away

 

[Buckman]

Formula 1 drivers reckon you can get some slipstream effect 100 to 200 yards back, but it gets stronger the closer you are, and that' with small slippy cars. lorries punch a much bigger hole in the air.

In France and Spain they like riding so close to the rear of the caravan that you cannot see them in the rear view mirrors. I now look for shadows behind me.

 

[Hutch]

In France and Spain they like riding so close to the rear of the caravan that you cannot see them in the rear view mirrors. I now look for shadows behind me.

I have a rear view camera, on the caravan, very handy to know who is hiding behind the van.

 

[DaveA1]

Not sure how easy it is these days to avoid motorways without hitting town centres, which to me are worse. I tend to drive at the speed of the HGV's, more because it is more economical than anything else. It can be a bit daunting having them overtake you at first, but you do soon accept this, and generally they tend to be better drivers than those in Transits and many cars.

As I mostly do, stay with the lorries on the inside lane, seems to be less tiring, and at a true 56 mph my speedo reads 60 mph so I'm keeping my speed up. mmmmmm

 

[Buckman]

I have a rear view camera, on the caravan, very handy to know who is hiding behind the van.

View attachment 2991

What I would really like is with camera that is wireless, recharges through a small solar panel mounted on the roof so no wiring through caravan and a monitor that clips over the rear view mirror in the car.

 

[Lutz]

What I would really like is with camera that is wireless, recharges through a small solar panel mounted on the roof so no wiring through caravan and a monitor that clips over the rear view mirror in the car.

A bit of wiring to a permanent 12 volt source of supply in the caravan is no big deal. Done it in half an hour.

 

[Buckman]

A bit of wiring to a permanent 12 volt source of supply in the caravan is no big deal. Done it in half an hour.

It may not be a big deal for you, but our preference is the wireless route for very good reason.

 

[Beachball]

I have a rear view camera, on the caravan, very handy to know who is hiding behind the van.

View attachment 2991

very neat job

 

[Lutz]

It may not be a big deal for you, but our preference is the wireless route for very good reason.

Mine's wireless, too, actually it's WiFi, but it still needs a 12 volt supply.

 

[Buckman]

Mine's wireless, too, actually it's WiFi, but it still needs a 12 volt supply.

I understand that which is whyIi thought of a small solar panel mounted at the rear to charge the battery in the camera.

 

[Raywood]

I am not advocating slipstreaming, this can be dangerous although it possibly has some effect even at a safe distance. In practice the amount of power needed to overcome wind resistance roughly doubles with every ten mph increase in speed so a bit of care with the right foot helps a lot.

 

[Bluetonic]

Agreed, I really need to try and remember this and just go with the lorries instead of doing the Elephant racing thing and overtaking them at 4 mph faster. is it worth the extra dinosaur juice for a 14 minute earlier arrival time?

 

[Buckman]

Agreed, I really need to try and remember this and just go with the lorries instead of doing the Elephant racing thing and overtaking them at 4 mph faster. is it worth the extra dinosaur juice for a 14 minute earlier arrival time?

We find towing at 58mph perfect for our Jeep and caravan. Also more economical and relaxing.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I am not advocating slipstreaming, this can be dangerous although it possibly has some effect even at a safe distance. In practice the amount of power needed to overcome wind resistance roughly doubles with every ten mph increase in speed so a bit of care with the right foot helps a lot.

The drag due to air resistance is not quite that simple, It actually follows the square law, so it if you double your speed the air resistance goes up by the square of the difference which is why powerful cars can't actually go much much faster than basic models.

 

[RogerL]

The drag due to air resistance is not quite that simple, It actually follows the square law, so it if you double your speed the air resistance goes up by the square of the difference which is why powerful cars can't actually go much much faster than basic models.

I don't know where that 10 mph figure came from - numerically the power to overcome air resistance is double that at 60 mph compared to 42 mph.

 

[Parksy]

The discussion about slipstreaming and drag is all very interesting for those who are interested, but this thread is drifting far away from the OP which enquired about the likelihood of a snaking caravan when driving at around 50mph

 

[Beachball]

Agreed, I really need to try and remember this and just go with the lorries instead of doing the Elephant racing thing and overtaking them at 4 mph faster. is it worth the extra dinosaur juice for a 14 minute earlier arrival time?

i am going to do a steady 58 mph with our setup and see how much longer it takes to our destination

 

[Buckman]

i am going to do a steady 58 mph with our setup and see how much longer it takes to our destination

It takes about 10 minutes longer over a 100 mile trip, but you save a couple of litres.

 

[otherclive]

i am going to do a steady 58 mph with our setup and see how much longer it takes to our destination

Well unless you regularly exceed 60 mph for significant distance, which I’m sure is not the case, travelling at 58 mph cf 60 mph will be pretty well immeasurable given that it’s only around 3%? variation and that will be lost in fluctuations in traffic flow.

 

[JTQ]

Well unless you regularly exceed 60 mph for significant distance, which I’m sure is not the case, travelling at 58 mph cf 60 mph will be pretty well immeasurable given that it’s only around 3%? variation and that will be lost in fluctuations in traffic flow.

Agreed, the maths only yield that, in the scale of things a trivial difference.
It makes the so often encountered, two lorries blocking twin lanes, as on the A34 so absolutely pointless, and here it is only over a fraction of that 100miles.

 

[Robert_374373903]

It seems hundred year ago now but at the time we had a Ford Cortina 1500 cc pulling a Sprite Alpine . In those days I had no idea weight ratios etc but just with children you had to put every thing possible in to caravan. So there we were going a fair trot to Cornwall and down hill as well and got the "snakes ". Even then I had no idea why except for too much speed .Up to now we have never snaked for all the reasons what you should not do.

 

[Beachball]

When my dad passed away he left a Austin Maestro 1.6 it towed a camping trailer fine My mum said he left it for you and at that time we had brought a Sprite Alpine . there was only me , wife and son + two dogs in we seem to changing gears to get up to 50mph but we never snaked so we must have been doing things right .

 

[Buckman]

Well unless you regularly exceed 60 mph for significant distance, which I’m sure is not the case, travelling at 58 mph cf 60 mph will be pretty well immeasurable given that it’s only around 3%? variation and that will be lost in fluctuations in traffic flow.

I would think a lot may depend of the size of the engine of the towing vehicle, the type of road whether flat or hilly etc.

 

[JTQ]

I would think a lot may depend of the size of the engine of the towing vehicle, the type of road whether flat or hilly etc.

Come on, the percentage difference in journey timing between travelling at two different speeds is not going to be changed by any such aspects.
It is purely down to the difference in the speeds and the distance involved.

 

[Lutz]

One should differentiate between a nervous or twitchy outfit and a snake. I have seen twitchy outfits where the back end of the caravan is moving side to side maybe a foot or so for many miles on end with the driver obviously oblivious to what was going on behind him. So long as the driver maintains a speed below the threshold speed at which the outfit would get out of control without active intervention either on the part of the driver or a stabiliser system, that is not particularly dangerous, although it could develop into such if road or driving conditions, in particular speed, change. Much better, of course, is if the outfit is set up so as not to be nervous or twitchy in the first place.

Only if the threshold speed is exceeded (in most cases this is somewhere between 50 and 60mph) will an actual snake develop where the outfit threatens to get out of control if nothing is done to intervene very quickly. A snake will never develop below the threshold speed. The outfit will always regain control of its own accord.