Towing stability

[James_5068972]

A few weeks before easter, I went to the Braithwaite Fold CC site at Bowness, in the Lake District. The holiday was fantastic, but it was soured somewhat by the expirience of towing there and back. I can safely say they were were probably the two most terrifying drives of my life. Both journeys started off fine, on the low-speed lakeland roads; it wasnt until i reached the 50+ dual carrigeway speeds that things started to get tasty. At any speed above 50, any slight disturbance in air currents had the caravan all over the road. Every single time there was even the most pathetic gust of wind, the wheel was wriggling in my hands, and passing trucks sent the outfit into such a state that i had to slow to 35mph to regain composure. It just seemed it was impossible to do more that 50 safely. The final straw came at just under 60 on a windswept section of the M6 southbound. I must have been snaking for at least 500yards. After that, i decided it wasnt worth going at over 45, which was the speed i stayed at for the remaining 2 hours of the journey.

My cars towing performance was never great, but it had been getting progressivley worse every time i towed. After that particular trip, I decided something needed to be done. It was just so stressful towing that it took me a few days to get my blood pressure back to normal afterwards.

My first instinct was to cancel my skiing holiday and buy a new car. But my wife was having none of it. I did some research on various forums, this being one of them, which really was an eye opened. My touring knowledge before was really limited to how to use a tow hitch, so it was a real eye opener to see what i was doing wrong.

Firstly, to make my car look lever, i put everything in the rear bathroom. The noseweight was about 45kg when i measured it! I now put everything, including gas bottles, over the axel. It is now about 70-75kg.

Secondly, I hadnt touched my tyre pressures in months, so they were about 24psi and 26psi for the car rears, and about 32 for the caravan. They are now 40 all round.

Thirdly, the suspension on my 2001 Vauxhall Vectra hatch 1.8 was completely shot, meaning it was nearly bottomed out when stationary with the van on. I took it to the Vauxhall dealership, and after a cool £300, it now rides level. I even put those rubber things in the suspension.

On my most recent trip to NW Scotland, despite the fierce bank holiday crosswinds, it was rock solid. On the way back down, I cas cruising at a fairly constant 65-70, and felt as safe and confident as I dont know what. With my wife driving, we hit a flawlessly stable 74, and had not one snake.

It just goes to show what a bit of knowledge and common sense can do!

Btw, i only averaged 18mpg whilst towing 1300kg. Any ideas on how to improve that?

Happy towing

James

 

[jon_5062082]

without trying or wanting to sound like a smart a**e, to improve on 18mpg try slowing down from 65-70 (74)mph.keep it at 55 -60 you may see an improvement.

glad you have a stable outfit now.

 

[Jim.M_5040716]

Hi James

I am sorry to see that you had a bad experiance. As you are inexperianced at towing. May I sugest that you take up a course with the Caravan & Camping club Where you will be taught every thing that you need to know about towing. so far you have learned the hard way with out disater, as for driving at 74mph this in its self is illegal the speed is 60mph on m/ways and dual carageways , 50 on single carageways unless a lower limit

applies. this very serious if caught can be a fine and 3 points so I would not boast about it. If you require any other information go to caravanandcampingclub.co.uk

Hope this is a help

Caravaning is great when you know what you are doing

Regards

jim M

 

[Mike_5041089]

James, as others have said - drive more slowly. When in France recently, towing our 1300kg van at a steady 70mph caused the mpg to increase to about 20, at 65mph, about 22mpg, and at a steady 60mph we get 25mpg, from our BMW 525d Touring Auto, on a 2500 mile round trip we averaged 24.3mpg, about 2000 of which was towing. If the police catch you doing 60+ you'll get a ticket in the UK, and at these higher speeds instability can be a major problem as you don't have that much of a margin with your tug. Strangely enough on today's very congested roads, sticking to 60mph on the motorways doesn't add much more time to your journey and is far more relaxing.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello James,

There It does not impress me that you can achieve 74 mph, what does impress me and obviously you as well is the deterioration in towing stability of a poor set up.

Whilst it is important to drive sensibly and to minimise the frustration of all road users, that is no excuse for exceeding the speed limits.

The speed limit for any outfit is one that allows the driver to maintain proper control of the outfit and to not to exceed any local speed limit.

If the above were 'common sense' then by definition everyone would be complying, but as some choose to ignore it it cannot be defined as 'common' Try replacing the phrase with 'Good Sense'

Stick to the limits, have a safe journey and keep your licence.

 

[RayS]

As others have said, slow down a bit to improve your mpg. Remember drag is proportional to the square of the speed not to just the speed itself, so a small increase in speed makes a considerable difference.

Also, the "speed" is not just the road speed - it is roadspeed plus or minus windspeed. So if you are coming southwest - say from Scotland - into a steady 20mph headwind your true airspeed and hence drag factor will be roadspeed plus 20 mph.

Any wind from the "front" corners will have a proportional effect - only a true tail wind will help the situation.

Years ago I towed a Sprite Alpine back to London from northern Scotland, never getting out of 3rd gear and averaging about 18 mpg in a 1500cc Ford Cortina GT - and later sat down and did the sums.

The secondary effect is drag is also proportional to the frontal area, but there is not much you can do about this other than avoid spoiling the airflow with large roof racks loaded with ill-packed cases - we've all seen 'em.

 

[CaptainKangaroo]

This follows on from my topic of the speed limits being set too low for modern day cars and caravans. Here we have someone exceeding the speed limits but found that his set up is rock solid, as i found out with mine in France last year with a 5 hour drive at a constant 70mph. Its time that limits were increased, I can easily tow at 70mph all day with not a wriggle from the set up, in fact at times i was at 80 -85mph in France with not the slightest deviation in trajectory.

i do of course stick to speed limits in the UK at all times

 

[Lutz]

I shudder to think of the consequences of everyone towing caravans at 70mph. If you had no problems, Captain Roo, then the conditions must have been ideal but just imagine someone towing at that speed close to 100% going downhill with a strong croswind and an anything but correct weight distribution. Speed limits aren't there to apply only to nice calm sunny days on the open road with little or no other traffic.

Even if the outfit were completely stable, I doubt whether you'd be able to slow down quickly enough if another vehicle pulls out unexpectedly in front of you. You wouldn't stand a chance at 70mph or more.

 

[Lutz]

This follows on from my topic of the speed limits being set too low for modern day cars and caravans. Here we have someone exceeding the speed limits but found that his set up is rock solid, as i found out with mine in France last year with a 5 hour drive at a constant 70mph. Its time that limits were increased, I can easily tow at 70mph all day with not a wriggle from the set up, in fact at times i was at 80 -85mph in France with not the slightest deviation in trajectory.

i do of course stick to speed limits in the UK at all times

Just want to point out that that the speed limit on motorways in France is 130kph (80mph) only in dry conditions. When the road is wet, the speed limit reduces to 110kph (68mph).

 

[Lutz]

I shudder to think of the consequences of everyone towing caravans at 70mph. If you had no problems, Captain Roo, then the conditions must have been ideal but just imagine someone towing at that speed close to 100% going downhill with a strong croswind and an anything but correct weight distribution. Speed limits aren't there to apply only to nice calm sunny days on the open road with little or no other traffic.

Even if the outfit were completely stable, I doubt whether you'd be able to slow down quickly enough if another vehicle pulls out unexpectedly in front of you. You wouldn't stand a chance at 70mph or more.

I forgot to add that the brakes on the average caravan of today are still incredibly low-tech and with their mechanical rod or cable actuation are comparable with systems that became obsolete on cars after the Second World War. Very few have disc brakes and virtually none are fitted with any form of ABS, so they really aren't up to any speeds in excess of 60mph.

 

[Steve L]

Well I see you had to learn the hard way about how to have a happy towing session. You've resolved most of the causes of your poor towing problems.

The guys are right, slow down and the fuel consumption will too!! I get nearly 30mpg with my Laguna estate towing a twenty foot twinaxle van (1350Kgs). By adding a wind deflector I'll get an axtra 5 mpg. The cost of the saving, 5 mins to fit it as the roof rails are there already and three quid from our local car boot for the whale tail deflector. A couple of hours modifying it to fit the existing rack and hey presto we save cash for ice creams each trip.

As for speed there's "no need" 50mph on single carriageways and 60mph on dual track and motorways is perfectly safe. If you look at it anotherway, breaking your neck at 74mph usually only saves 5 mins on a 100 mile trip. But an accident could make it a one way journey to a hole in the ground, and the end of a caravanning career!!

Holidays are all about relaxing and having fun, not racing around like your still at work.

 

[jon_5062082]

Well I see you had to learn the hard way about how to have a happy towing session. You've resolved most of the causes of your poor towing problems.

The guys are right, slow down and the fuel consumption will too!! I get nearly 30mpg with my Laguna estate towing a twenty foot twinaxle van (1350Kgs). By adding a wind deflector I'll get an axtra 5 mpg. The cost of the saving, 5 mins to fit it as the roof rails are there already and three quid from our local car boot for the whale tail deflector. A couple of hours modifying it to fit the existing rack and hey presto we save cash for ice creams each trip.

As for speed there's "no need" 50mph on single carriageways and 60mph on dual track and motorways is perfectly safe. If you look at it anotherway, breaking your neck at 74mph usually only saves 5 mins on a 100 mile trip. But an accident could make it a one way journey to a hole in the ground, and the end of a caravanning career!!

Holidays are all about relaxing and having fun, not racing around like your still at work.

5 mpg extra from a roof spoiler ??

havent seen one of these since the early 80`s when my dad had one.didnt make a jot of difference to the mpg if i remember rightly. probably why you never see them ?

 

[VIP2006]

I have read these threads with great interest, and as a person whose has had a accident towing I consider that my incident happened due to a combination of my speed, my loading of the caravan, going down bank and being passed by 2 No. massive lorries

My analysis of the event was that I could not control the 2 Lorries passing me but I could do something about the rest. Now and for the last ten years:

1 - I never travel at more than the mandatory speed on the road 2 - I never exceed 50mph going downhill.

3 - I load my van so that I acheive a noseweight of approx. 75Kg

4 - Load the van with stuff around the Axle

 

[Dusty1]

It's interesting that on French dual carriageways and autoroutes there are often mandatory 80 kph (if I remember rightly) speed limits posted before a decline, for cars towing caravans.

 

[Lutz]

Good towing principles you're listing there, Shiraz. It just a pity that people need to have an accident first before following them. I'd just like to add a 5th item, if I may:

5 - be ever watchful for possible buffeting by wind, whether crosswind or turbulence caused by approaching large vehicles and slow down as appropriate when such conditions occur.

 

[Steve L]

5 mpg extra from a roof spoiler ??

havent seen one of these since the early 80`s when my dad had one.didnt make a jot of difference to the mpg if i remember rightly. probably why you never see them ?

Yep they are very 80's. In those days the emphasis was not on fuel efficiencey but style. You'd be suprised these days how sensative cars are now as the manufacturers are striving to get more and more miles per gallon.

I get visably more smiles per mile out of my car as it is a 1998 Laguna towing a 1982 van, which resembles a brick in comparison to the sleek vans we have today.

I used to drive Renault 25's which did around 10mpg less than my Laguna does now and they have the same CC of engine.

How times change.

 

[CaptainKangaroo]

Just want to point out that that the speed limit on motorways in France is 130kph (80mph) only in dry conditions. When the road is wet, the speed limit reduces to 110kph (68mph).

Thanks lutz, I always slow down in the wet due to the increase in braking distances