My driveway slopes downward towards the road. It’s only a slight incline but will the motor mover stop the caravan rolling away. Also I’m concerned that while reversing down the slope, will the caravan tip backwards or is there enough nose weight to stop that
Reversing with motor mover on slope
- Thread starter Mattpoole847
- Start date
It won't run away. If you have any doubts just stand beside the hitch with your hand on the brake - but you won't need it!
You may find lowering the hitch, by winding up the jockey wheel is worthwhile, to maintain a reasonably level van whilst maneuvering.
I use the movers to take the van out onto the road which is quite steep. Returning the van faces up the hill and I must have a decent nose weight or the van is in great danger of tipping up. This I found out returning from the Dealers when new and no payload.
Even after following the same procedure with different vans I still have my hand close to the handbrake when winding up the jockey wheel to disengage the van from the car when returning home facing up the hill. NEVER has anything moved. Just be sure your movers are as they should be against the wheels.
You may find lowering the hitch, by winding up the jockey wheel is worthwhile, to maintain a reasonably level van whilst maneuvering.
I use the movers to take the van out onto the road which is quite steep. Returning the van faces up the hill and I must have a decent nose weight or the van is in great danger of tipping up. This I found out returning from the Dealers when new and no payload.
Even after following the same procedure with different vans I still have my hand close to the handbrake when winding up the jockey wheel to disengage the van from the car when returning home facing up the hill. NEVER has anything moved. Just be sure your movers are as they should be against the wheels.
Totally agree with JohnB's comment.
A properly installed and maintained caravan mover should do what the manufacturer claims, but not all mover are equal, so check the one you have is correctly rated ( maximum caravan weight, and the the maximum slope it its rated for).
With regards the necessary nose load or weight to keep the jockey wheel on the ground, that is entirely up to how you load your caravan.
A properly installed and maintained caravan mover should do what the manufacturer claims, but not all mover are equal, so check the one you have is correctly rated ( maximum caravan weight, and the the maximum slope it its rated for).
With regards the necessary nose load or weight to keep the jockey wheel on the ground, that is entirely up to how you load your caravan.
If your drive is only a slight slope I would be surprised that any extra noseweight is required. What will be required is to lower the nose to ensure the back end doesn’t catch as you come off off the drive. And I fully support the advise about being there to grab the brake as you unhitch…… just in case? But with correctly engaged mover rollers and on a slope that doesn’t exceed the movers specification the caravan isn’t going to go anywhere on its own.
Must admit we have a similar concern with respect to the caravan tipping, so one of us walks beside hitch ready to put extra weight on it if required. I also leave the rear steadies down slightly, although that may simply be a panacea.
We can see the front end lightening, but so far haven't needed the extra weight on it.
With the rollers engaged, never had an issue with the van rolling away.
Iain
We can see the front end lightening, but so far haven't needed the extra weight on it.
With the rollers engaged, never had an issue with the van rolling away.
Iain
The Powrtouch Evolution mover has an excellent Spec, here’s an extract,
“The Powrtouch Evolution Single Axle, Auto engage. With its exceptional power and improved traction it will drive any single axle caravan (regardless of its weight) up slopes in excess of 1 in 4 (25%).”
It will drive and hold the caravan on very steep slopes. I have one my TA 1700kgs never had a problem moving or stopping.Mine is mechanical engagement. It is possible if you have electronic engagement you could inadvertently press the wrong button and disengage🙀Be aware and careful, you should have no problem.
“The Powrtouch Evolution Single Axle, Auto engage. With its exceptional power and improved traction it will drive any single axle caravan (regardless of its weight) up slopes in excess of 1 in 4 (25%).”
It will drive and hold the caravan on very steep slopes. I have one my TA 1700kgs never had a problem moving or stopping.Mine is mechanical engagement. It is possible if you have electronic engagement you could inadvertently press the wrong button and disengage🙀Be aware and careful, you should have no problem.
Have to say the hill I'm on is quite steep. Returning with a new empty van the hitch started to rise as soon as disengaged from the ball. It only required a hand on the hitch to hold it down and all went well. Now with around 90 kg nose weight there's never any issue.
Just one last point that might be useful.
I've sometimes had difficulty disengaging the hitch from the ball. This is because the hitch is fully extended and there will be positive pressure against the pads. My procedure now is firstly engage hand brake, secondly engage mover and remove breakaway cable, thirdly take off the hand brake and lastly move the van slightly towards the car to negate the grip of the pads. (This proves that the movers are engaged of course).
Then it's simply a matter of winding the jockey wheel to disengage and take the van into the drive and to its storage position.
As an aside. Whilst I had a lighter van years ago, without movers and frankly had no real problems, it was my wife who insisted we had movers fitted to our first Lunar Clubman. How right she was. Apart from getting the van in and out of the drive - impossible by simply tugging (and arguably dangerous to health), I have absolutely no hesitation in using the movers to set the van in its final position on site.
Ours is a single axle and fitting the security would involve "messing about reversing a bit etc. etc." especially when ramps are needed. Reversing onto the pitch with car I do if I can see properly - preferable not blindside - but always fine tune with the movers.
Since we tour in Europe quite a bit we are used to some sites having small pitches and bends on the road requiring unhitching and there the movers come into their own. Years ago fellow Europeans would stand and stare to see the van moving all by itself. Now that's rare since most are familiar with them.
Soooooooooo - apologies for rambling on but yes a mover will control the can on a slope if properly engaged and yes, on a steep hill the hitch can raise and the van try to tip backwards.
Both concerns are easily negated as others have said on the thread.
Our driveway is the same and we use a motor mover,it does stop and hold the van on the slope.When reversing out the van is so long(distance between the wheel and the back of the van) it can sometimes scrape the bottom (the corner steadies) on the road but reversing out at an angle stops this happening.Sometimes the van tips up when going down the drive,all I do is stand on the A frame and the front of the van comes down OK.
We have used a motor mover on our drive which has an appreciable slope up to the road. The motor mover will not allow the caravan to run away as it clamps securely to the wheel, but do remember to put the brake on before you release the mover.
Do check the weight of the caravan loaded and the rating for the mover to make sure it has the power, if it does get stuck you can move one side a bit at a time to get it up. We did find it took a lot of power out of the battery so you will need a hook up on site to recharge it.
Do check the weight of the caravan loaded and the rating for the mover to make sure it has the power, if it does get stuck you can move one side a bit at a time to get it up. We did find it took a lot of power out of the battery so you will need a hook up on site to recharge it.
Another option - can you reverse the caravan onto the drive, so the jockey wheel is on the low end?
If you go to ‘caravan movers online’ they have a helpful comparison table which indicates, amongst other attributes, what weight each will move and the degree of slope if that is helpful for you.
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