Hello abyz12345,
Welcome to the forum. We have a few correspondents who are located south of the Equator, and it often surprises me how popular UK designed caravans are down under.
Please bear in mind this forum is is based in the UK, and what can be legally done here may not apply anywhere else, so do check carefully check out the local laws on towing. Don't forget to double check your driving licence which might not cover you for driving some combinations.
Most drivers don't have any major problems when moving forwards. Learning to use the side mirrors more is the the key, and this will lead to giving an extra allowance for the width of the caravan when turning or passing obstructions. On that point you will need extension mirrors for the vehicle a go give a good view down the length of the caravan. There will be local legislation covering this.
The additional weight and size of a caravan will detract from the performance of any tow vehicle. This means it's necessary to allow more time and space when driving for things like crossing or joining roads, over taking or finding parking spaces. But generally once underway moving forwards is easily learned. Provided the caravans braking systems is properly adjusted stopping when towing should be no more difficult than normal, stopping distances are likely to increase a little.
By far the more difficult part is reversing. This is a skill you will need to learn, at first it may seem counterintuitive, turning the steering wheel the wrong way to get the outfit turning. This is also where he length of the caravan makes a difference, the shorter the trailer (or strictly the distance from the coupling to the axle) the more the trailer reacts to the steering input and it's easier to jackknife the outfit. Conversely, the greater h distance between the coupling and the trailer's axle the less the trailer will react to steering input, giving more time to correct the reversing track.
There are lots of debates about the benefits or otherwise between single (SA) or twin axles (TA) trailers. Some claim they provide a more stable tow, But rarely are those people able to compare apples to apples in other words caravans of equal length and weight. I have towed many different combinations as part of one of my jobs, and I can't conclusively agree with this thought.
Others believe that having a TA makes the caravan safer in the event of losing a tyre. Because caravans have independent suspension, the loss of one tyre puts extra load on the remaining tyre which is then more likely to also fail, more than doubling the difficulties and cost of getting going again.
I personally don't see any technical benefit of going for TA. There are plenty of the largest caravans on single axles, Twin axles are more of a publicity stunt.
But the biggest issue with TA's is when it comes manual positioning. They are a real pain, because when trying to turn a TA trailer at least two of the tyres (not always on the same axle) will be scrubbing sideways to some extent. This is when a caravan mover really comes into its own.
When choosing your caravan, by all means listen to others opinions about different layouts, but it's you that will be using it, and you need to find a layout that going to suit you. Longer caravans will provide more space which if you are full time with children may be useful, do consider how you might need to cope when arriving in a site when its totally wet or too windy to put up the awning, that additional space may be just what you need.
Have fun and do keep us posted.
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