Newbie advice needed

[RogerP]

Hi All

Without out boring you too much , we are having to change to a Caravan from a Motorhome and I need some advice / reassurance.

We're probably looking at a Lunar Zenith 5 (brand new) is there anything we need to know before making final decissions?

Should I be looking at anything to make towing as stress free as it can be. I'm a little nervous having never towed anything before and (as is always the case) I hear , weekly , traffic reports saying "road closed due to overturned caravan" and dont want to be another statistic!!

lastly (for now) we need an awning. What should I go for or avoid but keeping the costs down. I've gone through many threads on this forum and I'm somewhat confused.

From a Motorhome perspective I'd have opted for either a Fiamma or Omnistor wind-out solution (not the caravanstore but fixed verions) with the additional panels. I cant seem to find anything here as why you dont use these on a Caravan is there a soemthing obvious I've missed?

Any help and advice would be very welcome as we need / want to make Caravanning work for us.

 

[Cockovan]

Hi Roger,

Lunar vans tend to be lighter than many other manufacturers because (I think) they (still) use an aluminium chassis - .

nothing wrong with that at all. Layout, deal offered etc are thus down to you, Lunar are generally no better or worse than any other manufacturer, you will find people who rave about them and others with horror stories, just like all manufacturers.

Caravan accidents seem to make the headlines but in fact do not have an accident catagory with the Dept. of Traqnmsport, as they amount to only 0.8% of all accidents. To reduce the risk even further you need to ensure that the car you are towing with is capable of doing the job (legally) and advisedly for a new tower the van's maximum laden weight is about 85% of the cars kerb weight. The next most important thing is loading, keep all heavy items low and over, or just infront of the axle. Get the nose weight, measured at the hitch head, as high as possible but not exceeding either the cars or caravans limit (for many cars this is 75Kg). As an added safety device many people like to have a stabiliser, either a additional leaf spring type or a hitch head style, if your van is new it may come with one already fitted. Tyre pressures, driving style, speed, and more, are also all factors in safe towing - if you join the Caravan Club much of this is covered in the handbook or on additional technical sheet. You can also attend towing courses that give people experience and confidence.

As to your awning I suspect that the roll out type awning is not common because of the weight/location of it. I suspect it is quite heavy, it will be high up and on one side, contrary to all technical advice about good stable towing, largely irrelevant on a motorhome. My personal advice is to go for the best make you can afford (again personally Isabella), in my experience you get what you pay for.

I hope this helps - I am sure there will be a lot more advice and some contradiction posted.

Good luck and enjoy.

Alan

 

[Garfield]

Although I have never been on a towing course having been brought up on a farm, maouvering trailers from the age of 10, I would strongly recommend these courses, not only can you learn about towing but you will be able to talk face to face with experienced towers about all aspects of caravaning and towing

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Hi Roger, if you drive sensibly and within the speed limits you will have no trouble at all. Don't overtake going downhill or in high crosswinds are probably the 2 most important factors I can think of right now but there are probably a few others which people on here will inform you about. I did read on here sometime ago about being up behind a car transporter on a motorway, the wind currents turbulence can cause the caravan to sway about which I found out from experience after. The difficultest part that most find (with the exception of erecting an awning) is reversing. If you can't get that right don't worry, it's not the end of the world, have a mover fitted.

Another point is to watch the traffic behind and show courtesy by pulling in when safe to do so, so that they can overtake.

I actually enjoy towing, probably aided by the fact that I'm off somewhere nice :O)

Final word, be sensible and don't take risks and there will be nothing to worry about, honestly.

 

[Jo-AnneFairway5402010]

hi roger, just dont make the same mistake we did buying our 1st van. we bought the wrong layout and are changing it a year and half later.

so new van, new awning and costly.

good luck and just ask anything someone will always help or give you advise.

jo-anne

 

[Mel]

Hi, we changed from a motorhome to a caravan this year because we decided it suited our holiday style better. Not as difficult to tow as we feared. My husband also did a towing course, well worth the time and money. We much prefer the extra space in the caravan and not having to decamp to go to the shops. We found going to a show very helpful when choosing a layout as you can compare so many different variations in a short time. Didn't buy from a show though, there are pros and cons to that.

Mel

 

[ThePlotter]

Roger,I agree with everything the others have said(we do sometimes agree with his Lordship)It has been considered that the permanent gutter mounted awning/canopy makes the van unstable due to a lot of weight high up on one side.As regards the awning itself do you need a full awning or would one of the many different sizes of porch awning suit better(easier to erect)

The one bit of advice I would offer is make sure you have a spare wheel(should come with most vans)but very few supply a suitable jack rendering the spare useless,try either the Alko of Kojack if these fit the chassis on your chosen van (not sure with a Lunar.

 

[Alexander_374295091]

Hi Roger

We use a sunncamp ultima 260 awning for weekends away, fine and quick to assemble if you remember to buy rock pegs. If you are away for longer periods I would suggent buying a second hand 5 piece awning with alum or IXL poles for around

 

[Essexeddie]

We have the permanant gutter fitted Caravanstore Zip and have not noticed any difference with the towing.

Its a lot quicker to erect just pull out and zip on the sides.

I could'nt be bothered with all poles and blue air that comes with an awning.

Edd

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

I couldn't agree with you more Eddie regarding the poles thing. When set up I can't be assed with the rigamarole and stress of putting up those. That is why we bought a Sunncamp, 15 minutes and its up and pegged down. It's stood the test of time and weather for 3 months last winter and also the gales in Cornwall during March.

 

[Robert_374242026]

Hi Roger, as a ex motorhome

for 20 odd years and now because of circumstances opt for caravan in last 18 months.Have you really thought it through thoroughly as it is to me a differant world.I know its still camping but i feel i have lost my freedom compared with the motorhome .

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Out of interest to myself and also to help Roger in his decision could you elaborate more how you have lost your freedom Robert?

 

[Jeff-Pontypridd]

I'd be interested in the answer to that one, too ................

Seems to me, there's much more freedom in having a car/caravan, once on site. No need to pack everything away (or whatever motorcaravanners have to do before they travel) - just jump in the car, and freedom awaits...

OK, it's horses for courses - so cyclists, walkers and carriers of motorcycles may have different ideas, but having the car is certainly my definition of freedom, when I'm away.

 

[RogerP]

Hi Roger, as a ex motorhome

for 20 odd years and now because of circumstances opt for caravan in last 18 months.Have you really thought it through thoroughly as it is to me a differant world.I know its still camping but i feel i have lost my freedom compared with the motorhome .

when there were just the 2 of us the 5.5m MH we had , it was perfect and we could get pretty much anywhere we wanted.

However we had to change to a much larger one (7m) in order to get the layout we wanted to accomodate junior and our 2 large dogs as we now need to take them away with us. (In-laws used to look after the dogs but can no longer and I refuse to put them in kennels - dogs not the in-laws!!!!)

Believe me we spent nearly 2 years of visiting shows , dealers and buying countless magazines trying to decide on Caravan or Motorhome and what layout. MH won at the time because we genuinely believed it was right , we'd have the freedon to go anywhere and at a moments notice , no hitching up etc etc.

Following a VERY disastourous recent holiday its proved not to be so. A motorhome just doesn't fit with our holiday lifestyle so we do need to change.

 

[RogerP]

Roger,I agree with everything the others have said(we do sometimes agree with his Lordship)It has been considered that the permanent gutter mounted awning/canopy makes the van unstable due to a lot of weight high up on one side.As regards the awning itself do you need a full awning or would one of the many different sizes of porch awning suit better(easier to erect)

The one bit of advice I would offer is make sure you have a spare wheel(should come with most vans)but very few supply a suitable jack rendering the spare useless,try either the Alko of Kojack if these fit the chassis on your chosen van (not sure with a Lunar.

Hi plotter

I can now see the logic of why rollouts aren't as popular.

We haven't really looked into awnings properly yet.

I think what we looking for is firstly something fairly easy and quick to put up , especially in view of the weather lately. Secondly somewhere thats useable as an additional living space , partly so we can use on warm summer evenings (laughs quietly) partly where junior can play safely and I guess an area where the woofers can go and curl up out of our way.