Simple question- would you load up a rear wardrobe and overhead lockers with clothes when towing, or would they be better in a bag on the floor?
Storing clothes when towing
- Thread starter colinbal4
- Start date
Loading up the lockers with clothes !, that's a lot of clothes, basically only you can decide, if it represents a lot of weight I would put them in a holdall on the floor.
We hang some clothes in the wardrobe but most are stowed I’m holdalls and carried low down or in car.
We carry all our stuff that would need ironing in the wardrobes. T shirts, Underwear Jumpers etc go in the lower lockers and shoes in bottom of wardrobes. Have carried like this all over Europe for donkeys years without problems although I do bend the metal bit of the hangers to stop them coming off the rails in transit
Mike
Mike
Clothes shouldn’t be a problem stowed in lockers. I’d keep shoes low down. We put trousers and pullovers in lockers.
All our clothes go in the lockers and the wardrobe, we are just carefull on loading. Heavy jumpers go in the locker under the bed Light weight Pants knickers , upper areas, Coats in the car, shoes boots in the car, There is nothing really heavy up there. We have two heavy upper lockers, The rice, Pasta and a few tins of tomatoes etc. And the other one with wine glasses and tea mugs and light weight plates., on opposite of the caravan, one forward and one rear.
I can raise my tow hitch by 4 inches up or down with out a change of more than 5 kg. So I know my caravan Center of Gravity is low. It's when you have the tall fridges and fill them, that can give you big changes in Nose weights.
I can raise my tow hitch by 4 inches up or down with out a change of more than 5 kg. So I know my caravan Center of Gravity is low. It's when you have the tall fridges and fill them, that can give you big changes in Nose weights.
The general advice is to keep heavy items low down in the caravan, I cannot categorically say that clothes are heavy or light.
That depends on what they are and how many you have. but if in doub't do as others have suggested and perhaps carry them in a case or hold all on the floor.
That depends on what they are and how many you have. but if in doub't do as others have suggested and perhaps carry them in a case or hold all on the floor.
We may be the only three people that carry everything in the closets and the wardrobes, I would never think abought carrying our clothes in boxes or bags, . Keep the caravan tidy and neat. But never overload.
Parksy
Moderator
If we have items of clothing that really have to be hung up we hang a few of the lighter ones in the caravan wardrobe and hang heavier items such as coats from the passenger grab handles above the rear passenger doors of the car. Most of the clothes that I'm likely to use in the caravan such as shorts, t shirts etc go in the suitcase which is carried in the car.
Here are some basic loading tips from Practical Caravan
Here are some basic loading tips from Practical Caravan
If the caravan is on the drive for a trip to go away , the clothes will be packed accordingly in the cupboard hung up like t-shirts and shirts , the kids stuff will be folded neatly in the cupboards at the back and underwear etc placed in little boxes that we have in the bottom of the cupboard .
We have had a caravan with the wardrobe in the toilet compartment right at the back and after loading this as normal we had no problem. Putting weight at the back in general is to be avoided but I would load it and then take things easy to see if it affects the handling. If you let us know what caravan you have someone might be better able to comment if they have something similar. Ours was an Avondale Argente 550 if that helps.
Clothes in lockers should not be a problem but the more you can store in floor lockers the better.
Clothes in lockers should not be a problem but the more you can store in floor lockers the better.
I have already given the general advice about avoiding end loading and in deeded high level loading, and if that is followed you have the best chance of keeping proper control of the towed caravan.
Instability, when it happenes, will always be worse the faster you are travelling, so if you do encounter any contraindications about stability when towing, the first thing is to slow down gently to bring things back under full control, then when convenient (and safe) stop and try readjusting the load.
Clothing is difficult to generalise about because it depends on what specific items of clothing you are looking at. Some individual items are really light weight, and those will have no discernible effect on the caravans handling wherever they are stowed, but others can have a noticeable weight and perhaps more care should be exercised about where they are stowed.
Collectively all the clothes (including shoes and coats) that are carried may have a total weight of several tens of kilogrammes, and if they are all stowed in the same place, then yes they definitely would affect the caravans ultimate handling, but in reality, clothing is usually distributed between a limited number of locations in a caravan, so there is unlikely to be a very noticeable effect on the stability of a caravan, although the total weight may be noticeable to a very sensitive driver.
Using the designated wardrobe, draws and lockers for clothing should not really pose a problem for a well matched and loaded outfit, I would venture to suggest that if hanging the clothes in the wardrobe did cause the outfit to be troublesome, then even without the hanging clothes the outfit would be too close to instability for comfort or safety and it the whole loading strategy needs to be revisited.
Loading at the extremes of a caravan is best avoided if possible; but some extreme loading isn’t always a recipe for disaster as some contributors may imply it is.
Loading issues are never black and white, there are many (even more than even 50) shades of grey between best and worst cases.
The process of looking at just one type of item (e.g. Clothing, awning, food etc) at a time and following “best” approach should lead to a happy overall outcome, but it may not be making the best use of the caravans loading margin as a whole. So don’t be afraid to try some minor adjustments, but do it carefully over a few trips to see how far you can safely push the loading envelope.
Instability, when it happenes, will always be worse the faster you are travelling, so if you do encounter any contraindications about stability when towing, the first thing is to slow down gently to bring things back under full control, then when convenient (and safe) stop and try readjusting the load.
Clothing is difficult to generalise about because it depends on what specific items of clothing you are looking at. Some individual items are really light weight, and those will have no discernible effect on the caravans handling wherever they are stowed, but others can have a noticeable weight and perhaps more care should be exercised about where they are stowed.
Collectively all the clothes (including shoes and coats) that are carried may have a total weight of several tens of kilogrammes, and if they are all stowed in the same place, then yes they definitely would affect the caravans ultimate handling, but in reality, clothing is usually distributed between a limited number of locations in a caravan, so there is unlikely to be a very noticeable effect on the stability of a caravan, although the total weight may be noticeable to a very sensitive driver.
Using the designated wardrobe, draws and lockers for clothing should not really pose a problem for a well matched and loaded outfit, I would venture to suggest that if hanging the clothes in the wardrobe did cause the outfit to be troublesome, then even without the hanging clothes the outfit would be too close to instability for comfort or safety and it the whole loading strategy needs to be revisited.
Loading at the extremes of a caravan is best avoided if possible; but some extreme loading isn’t always a recipe for disaster as some contributors may imply it is.
Loading issues are never black and white, there are many (even more than even 50) shades of grey between best and worst cases.
The process of looking at just one type of item (e.g. Clothing, awning, food etc) at a time and following “best” approach should lead to a happy overall outcome, but it may not be making the best use of the caravans loading margin as a whole. So don’t be afraid to try some minor adjustments, but do it carefully over a few trips to see how far you can safely push the loading envelope.
Thanks for all the advice.
How many clothes seems to be the guiding factor!
We are taking enough clothes for three adults for a 10 day holiday. So if you were taking that on a plane you'd probably be taking 3 holdalls of 15kg to 28kg each.
How many clothes seems to be the guiding factor!
We are taking enough clothes for three adults for a 10 day holiday. So if you were taking that on a plane you'd probably be taking 3 holdalls of 15kg to 28kg each.
Pass ! We are about to go to France for just under 3 weeks and I am taking mostly shorts and vest tops pair flip flops one pair of trainers I think the last time we went I didn't wear half the stuff I took !!
colinbal4 said:
28kg seems a bit extreme for 10 days and surely will eat into payload. We tend to travel light and on longer holidays will do some washing of laundry. Most of our clothes are easy care and easy dry so don’t need ironing.
Guzzilazz said:
I think I’d figured that one out but didn’t need to do the maths to illustrate that in fact it would be 84 kg if you read the actual figures.
surely though no one takes that many clothes. If flying I can do three weeks away in hot climes with 14-15 kg including the suitcase. But dhobi dries quickly.
Possibly you could weigh the clothes, but 72 kg will make a big hole in your weight allowance and in that case some in the car if possible could be the answer.
Typo! Should have said 15 to 18kg, most budget airlines now are a 20kg weight limit, I would usually pack around 15 to 18 for 10 days. Don't intend to do washing and ironing on holiday!
colinbal4 said:
Why ? If the facilities are there ? for when we go to France with usually enough for underwear wise and wash at the end of the week , I wear next to nowt anyway on holiday apart from shorts and vest top ! B)
I do agree no ironing & not much driving though as I do enough at home !!
Craigyoung said:colinbal4 said:
Why ? If the facilities are there ? for when we go to France with usually enough for underwear wise and wash at the end of the week , I wear next to nowt anyway on holiday apart from shorts and vest top ! B)
I do agree no ironing & not much driving though as I do enough at home !!
Agree with Craig, short T shirts and pants, enough for 10 days and a wash at the end of a week costs abot 5 to 10 euro. In winter in France about 5 euros more because of the tumble dryiers, needed.
Maybe I should have told you guys 2 of the 3 adults are women.
Don't care if the facilities are there, we're on holiday.
Don't care if the facilities are there, we're on holiday.
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