Towing/hitch up checklist

[Caravan newbie]

Does anyone have/use a towing/hitch up check list? I want to be as safe and as prepared as possible before towing away the caravan each time. Having a list to go through would help with that. I have searched the internet but can really find anything that good.

Thanks in advance

 

[Jcloughie]

The CAMC publishes one which I THINK is available to nonmembers, (if you are not a member).

PS, Just Googled for ‘caravan checklist’ and found this from the Caravan and Camping Club.

John

 

[Buckman]

Does anyone have/use a towing/hitch up check list? I want to be as safe and as prepared as possible before towing away the caravan each time. Having a list to go through would help with that. I have searched the internet but can really find anything that good.

Thanks in advance

Once you have hitched up, lower the jockey wheel to raise the rear of the vehicle. This ensures you are correctly hitched up. The connect the breakaway cable and the electrics. Make sure you have extended mirrors and if the combination is in a straight line make sure that you can see both rear corners of the caravan. Then chekc the lights on the caravan i.e. indicator and brakes to make sure that they work. Always make sure that once hitch the handbrake on the caravan is released.

 

[Caravan newbie]

The CAMC publishes one which I THINK is available to nonmembers, (if you are not a member).

PS, Just Googled for ‘caravan checklist’ and found this from the Caravan and Camping Club.

John

Thanks John, appreciate that.

 

[Woodentop]

If your hitch has a hook or pigtail you should connect the breakaway cable to that rather than loop it round the towball shaft which is the traditional British way of doing it. Thule bars have a loop on one side of the mount which you should loop the cable through and back onto itself - the loop on the bar just stops the breakaway sliding about. On a Westfalia detachable bar there is what might be described as a plate with a bolthole on the offside of the socket into which the ball assembly fits - connect the carabiner directly to it. For the record I replace the carabiner on my breakaway cable (standard Bailey fitment-type) and replaced it with a 6x60mm stainless steel equivalent. You can get them at any chandlery shop or on line for well less than a tenner.

As a point of interest if you should go towing to the Netherlands and have your breakaway cable attached British style you have a good chance of being stopped and fined by the fuzz as such attachment is illegal there.

 

[Caravan newbie]

That's actually really interesting to know. Thank you so much... I think I need to creat a folder with all this advise and store it somewhere safe. 🤣

 

[otherclive]

That's actually really interesting to know. Thank you so much... I think I need to creat a folder with all this advise and store it somewhere safe. 🤣

Might be worth you taking a CCC or CMHC course which cover a lot more than just towing.

 

[Caravan newbie]

Might be worth you taking a CCC or CMHC course which cover a lot more than just towing.

Absolutely, this is something that is planned for later in the year.

 

[Ferrodo]

One more point to check before you pull away…. Once the jockey wheel is wound up into its slot and the whole thing raised into the A frame and ( you think) locked, give the shaft a good slap a couple of times. This will check that the jockey wheel is properly clamped to the A frame. It’s very easy to “miss clamp/locate “ the shaft in it’s clamp and it don’t it make a funny noise when it drops onto the road when you’re moving…….don’t ask me how I know 🤭

 

[Buckman]

Just to add. Make sure that the towball has all the paint removed off it and that it is clean before hitching up. As you do not mention the age of the caravan you are proposing to buy some advice may noit be sufficient as most of the advice applies if you have the newer ALKO hitch and you should never grease the towball. The older caravans probably require grease on the towball.

 

[Buckman]

As a point of interest if you should go towing to the Netherlands and have your breakaway cable attached British style you have a good chance of being stopped and fined by the fuzz as such attachment is illegal there.

I think it is also illegal here if you have the attachment point?

 

[Gozza2]

I think it is also illegal here if you have the attachment point?

That's interesting, I hadn't heard that. I've got an attachment point, but I'm currently looping "old style" as my breakaway cable is too long, and if I just clipped on it would drag on the road - looping round takes up enough slack to prevent this.

 

[Hutch]

That's interesting, I hadn't heard that. I've got an attachment point, but I'm currently looping "old style" as my breakaway cable is too long, and if I just clipped on it would drag on the road - looping round takes up enough slack to prevent this.

I had heard of this, about a year ago.

 

[Buckman]

That's interesting, I hadn't heard that. I've got an attachment point, but I'm currently looping "old style" as my breakaway cable is too long, and if I just clipped on it would drag on the road - looping round takes up enough slack to prevent this.

Apparently about 4 years ago the DVSA were stopping and checking people that were towing caravans and they were being fined for looping the breakaway cable around the towball when there was a proper attachment point available. The post was on the CAMC site and another on a Caravan Talk forum.

 

[otherclive]

Apparently about 4 years ago the DVSA were stopping and checking people that were towing caravans and they were being fined for looping the breakaway cable around the towball when there was a proper attachment point available. The post was on the CAMC site and another on a Caravan Talk forum.

On my Skoda Superb the attachment hole was not large enough for the later style breakaway clip to be used. So I used a Pretzl climbing carabiner through the hole and clipped the breakaway cable to that. Also made it much easier as I wasn’t having to get right down to fiddle around under the car.

 

[Buckman]

On my Skoda Superb the attachment hole was not large enough for the later style breakaway clip to be used. So I used a Pretzl climbing carabiner through the hole and clipped the breakaway cable to that. Also made it much easier as I wasn’t having to get right down to fiddle around under the car.

Fitting our carabiner in the correct attachment point is a real hassle, but I take the time to fit it instead of looping it around our fixed towball. The issue is the location of the hole which is just that little bit to far from the edge of the bracket and the shape of the carabiner.