Can someone help please. I am a caravan 'virgin' and cannot reverse it without a jack knife. You can't get on a course for weeks and weeks and I have to reverse into a slot on the storage compound. Nightmare! I've read articles, watched the CC DVD, asked others who say it's a piece of cake. Still can't crack it. A For Sale notice is going on the van this week if I have another **** up.
Reversing
- Thread starter david.wise
- Start date
If you are getting as far a jackknife, I strongly suspect that you are reversing too quickly and then trying to overcorrect. Do it slowly and keep an eye on the right hand rear corner of the caravan (either through the mirror, or it might be easier just to stick your head out of the window and look back). As soon as you notice that the rear corner of the caravan is moving in the wrong direction, turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction to what you have just done. Don't wait for the corner to swing out before doing the correcting manoeuvre. Reversing only 6 inches to a foot should already be enough to tell you whether you've got it right or not.
david, the adage "Practice makes perfect" applies to reversing a caravan. I am competent having towed trailers in the services and caravanned for 20 odd years but I used to know a guy who drove tractors and trailers all day and he made it look easy.
The best bet is go to your local supermarket carpark or an industrial estate out of business hours of hours where there is plenty of space. Take your time and if you mess up then stop and pull forward again.
To make the back of the van go to the left the back of the car has got to go to the right and visa versa. Therfore to make the back of the van turn left it's right hand down and to the right it's left hand down. Small movements at the steering wheel are large movements at the rear of the caravan.
Don't give up,you don't have to pay for a new chassis type mover, there are jockey wheel types for a couple of hundred pounds on ebay assuming the ground conditions / slope etc are suitable.
The best bet is go to your local supermarket carpark or an industrial estate out of business hours of hours where there is plenty of space. Take your time and if you mess up then stop and pull forward again.
To make the back of the van go to the left the back of the car has got to go to the right and visa versa. Therfore to make the back of the van turn left it's right hand down and to the right it's left hand down. Small movements at the steering wheel are large movements at the rear of the caravan.
Don't give up,you don't have to pay for a new chassis type mover, there are jockey wheel types for a couple of hundred pounds on ebay assuming the ground conditions / slope etc are suitable.
Thanks Lutz and ray (c) for your comments. It was sheer frustration which prompted me to go on the forum - nice to know there are helping hands around.
I take your point Lutz but I started off with the Caravan Club DVD as my bible and that says to steer 'hard' one way and then 'hard' the other, letting the caravan 'fill the mirror'. Your comments seem to make more sense in the light of my experience.
ray (c) - I had a go on a car park but I will obviously have to try again because even small steers resulted in a jack knife. I was dead keen on a Purpleline hitch drive but a number of people told me they were no good. As a last resort I spoke to someone at the manufacturers and he said they were only good on hard surfaces and for vans under 1200kg MPTLM - mine is 1300kg. and the storage has a soft, shingle type surface. If the makers can't recommend it who can?
David, it is realy only practice that makes perfect. I was realy crap at reverseing for about a year.
One tip I could offer is to put a piece of tape on the steering wheel at six 'o' clock with the wheels straight. Now when you reverse turn the wheel no more than half a turn with the tape pointing to the direction you want the caravan to go. Also reverse very slowly and then you will have time to react to the turning of the van.
I'd go to a local industrial estate on a sunday when most businesses are off work and use the jucntions to practice on.
If you still have trouble reversing onto pitches then you might consider a front mounted tow hitch. this does allow you to see where your going much better. There is a firm advertising these in PC magazine and they do say they can make one for most cars.
I must admit although I'm a good reverser myself, I still prefer to find a large junction or a roundabout to do a U turn if I get lost. I do this as it is much safer than reversing as you always get the idiot coming up behind you and not considering what you are trying to do. And of coarse they will give you a load of verbal and often these days semafore signals by hand as well. You know the type!!! Mr A Pratt!!
I just smile at them and ignore them as they aren't worth getting wound up about.
Steve L.
One tip I could offer is to put a piece of tape on the steering wheel at six 'o' clock with the wheels straight. Now when you reverse turn the wheel no more than half a turn with the tape pointing to the direction you want the caravan to go. Also reverse very slowly and then you will have time to react to the turning of the van.
I'd go to a local industrial estate on a sunday when most businesses are off work and use the jucntions to practice on.
If you still have trouble reversing onto pitches then you might consider a front mounted tow hitch. this does allow you to see where your going much better. There is a firm advertising these in PC magazine and they do say they can make one for most cars.
I must admit although I'm a good reverser myself, I still prefer to find a large junction or a roundabout to do a U turn if I get lost. I do this as it is much safer than reversing as you always get the idiot coming up behind you and not considering what you are trying to do. And of coarse they will give you a load of verbal and often these days semafore signals by hand as well. You know the type!!! Mr A Pratt!!
I just smile at them and ignore them as they aren't worth getting wound up about.
Steve L.
Try practicing with this:
http://www.schoerki.at/flash/rid.php?rate=flop&pic=singhsons.swf&open=caravane.swf
You have to turn the van and reverse it on to the pitch between the trees
It should give you a pretty good idea of how a caravan behaves, as well as a good laugh!
http://www.schoerki.at/flash/rid.php?rate=flop&pic=singhsons.swf&open=caravane.swf
You have to turn the van and reverse it on to the pitch between the trees
It should give you a pretty good idea of how a caravan behaves, as well as a good laugh!
That's fun!
Apart from the club coursed, there should be commercial operations in your area offering courses for the "E" classification test - often tied up with HGV licence schools.
You may not need to take the test, and in my area there is a cheaper course available in this case.
Costs a few bob, but not as much as a jacknofed caravan.
Apart from the club coursed, there should be commercial operations in your area offering courses for the "E" classification test - often tied up with HGV licence schools.
You may not need to take the test, and in my area there is a cheaper course available in this case.
Costs a few bob, but not as much as a jacknofed caravan.
Reversing is a bit tricky, its a sort of balancing act.
The van always seems to want to go the opposite way from that which you are steering, getting used to this is the first stage of successful reversing.
So lets say you want to reverse around a fairly sharp right hand corner.
First pull up in a straight line leaving a reasonable distance - both widthways and lengthways from the corner.
Now turn the steering wheel about one turn to the left.
Slowly start to reverse - slow definately being the key word, carefully watching the caravan. After just two or three feet (thats why I said slowly!!) the caravan will have started to turn quite sharply to the right, hopefully in just the direction you want it to. Stop, and at this point turn the steering wheel to the right two turns - ie one turn back to straight on and one extra turn so that the car is now ready to turn to the right and follow the caravan around.
Inch backwards watching the caravan very closely (plus any obstacles around the front of the car too!)
The caravan will either start to turn more sharply ie, begin to jacknife, if so increase the amount of steering lock to bring it back in line - or it will start to straighten up - in which case reduce the steering lock.
If it is not going where you want and you are starting to jacknife, and maybe even full steering lock is not working, stop, straighten the cars steering, pull forward a couple of feet, (this will straighten the outfit up a bit, but not completely) turn the steering and try again.
It is all a balancing act - you are constantly watching the van to see which way it is trying to go and adjusting the steering accordingly.
But don't be downhearted! I consider myself fairly experienced in reversing, but even so I can rarely reverse a trailer without needing a shunt or two, but just pulling forward as little as a couple of feet can make it so much easier, so do not worry if you cannot do it in one go!
The van always seems to want to go the opposite way from that which you are steering, getting used to this is the first stage of successful reversing.
So lets say you want to reverse around a fairly sharp right hand corner.
First pull up in a straight line leaving a reasonable distance - both widthways and lengthways from the corner.
Now turn the steering wheel about one turn to the left.
Slowly start to reverse - slow definately being the key word, carefully watching the caravan. After just two or three feet (thats why I said slowly!!) the caravan will have started to turn quite sharply to the right, hopefully in just the direction you want it to. Stop, and at this point turn the steering wheel to the right two turns - ie one turn back to straight on and one extra turn so that the car is now ready to turn to the right and follow the caravan around.
Inch backwards watching the caravan very closely (plus any obstacles around the front of the car too!)
The caravan will either start to turn more sharply ie, begin to jacknife, if so increase the amount of steering lock to bring it back in line - or it will start to straighten up - in which case reduce the steering lock.
If it is not going where you want and you are starting to jacknife, and maybe even full steering lock is not working, stop, straighten the cars steering, pull forward a couple of feet, (this will straighten the outfit up a bit, but not completely) turn the steering and try again.
It is all a balancing act - you are constantly watching the van to see which way it is trying to go and adjusting the steering accordingly.
But don't be downhearted! I consider myself fairly experienced in reversing, but even so I can rarely reverse a trailer without needing a shunt or two, but just pulling forward as little as a couple of feet can make it so much easier, so do not worry if you cannot do it in one go!
Getting your head around reversing a trailer is difficult because the normal reaction is to turn in the opposite direction to the "Error".
Think of reversing a caravan like herding a cow! if the cow goes to the right then you also have to go to the right to head it off, back into line.
Think of reversing a caravan like herding a cow! if the cow goes to the right then you also have to go to the right to head it off, back into line.
Hi David,
I had the same problem when I first started, wondered why I couldn't get the van reversed into it's storeage space. Turns out that there is just not enough room and my Shogun's turning circle makes it virtually impossible to do.
We un hitch and push it into it's space now, 2 minutes and it's done. Just a suggestion.
p.s. I actually enjoy the reversing bit when pitching up, saddo or what ?!
I had the same problem when I first started, wondered why I couldn't get the van reversed into it's storeage space. Turns out that there is just not enough room and my Shogun's turning circle makes it virtually impossible to do.
We un hitch and push it into it's space now, 2 minutes and it's done. Just a suggestion.
p.s. I actually enjoy the reversing bit when pitching up, saddo or what ?!
We were dubious initially about having a motor mover fitted. However, it turned out to be the best investment we ever made. Certainly wouldn't be without one now. They can always be transferred to another caravan if you chose to make a swap at any time.
David do not give up but keep practising, keep your calm even if you have an audience because as soon as you get stressed out it will go wrong. Hint, find a quite industrial site on a sunday morning and practice reversing around corners where there's plenty of room,if you start to go wrong, stop, move foward until outfit is in straight line and try again. REMEMBER even us artic drivers get it wrong sometimes!!!!
David,
Most of us HGV drivers given the choice will reverse to the right as you have a better view of where you want to get.
When you have mastered the right hand reverse then worry about the left.
Most of us HGV drivers given the choice will reverse to the right as you have a better view of where you want to get.
When you have mastered the right hand reverse then worry about the left.
Thanks to all for your help and suggestions. I shall be having another go later in the week - watch this space!
David
Try and reverse so as you are putting the van in with the off side nearest the pitch, get the back of the van level with the end of the pitch (make sure the unit is straight) and then turn ONE turn on the opposite lock and start reversing, DO NOT MOVE THE WHEEL. Watch the off side caravan wheel until it stops rotating and starts to slide, now turn the wheel over to the full lock and let the car follow the van in and only adjust if it needs to stop turning so much.
Other than that try getting a front tow/push bar fitted, I have one on my 4x4 and it is brilliant.
Look up Watling Engineering on the net.
What a good game the web link is. You need to use the arrows, left and right for steering and up and down for forward and back
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