Towing with a pick up truck who does it?

[otherclive]

I hope caravan manufacturers don't deliver their finished csravans being towed behind a flat bed lorry that will do a lot foe their warranties

I have seen several Flat bed trucks with one caravan on the flat bed and another being towed, Baileys and Coachman caravans. Not sure i it a dealer or Manufacturer.
And what about the scenario of a breakdown when your car is collected by say "Gren Flag" and your caravan is towed behind.

Spot on regarding recovery. When we were putting our van back in storage there was another owner just having his twin axle unhitched from the recovery wagon whilst the new Santa Fe was atop the wagon. I asked him how he got the wagon to bring the caravan to storage and he told me he had had to discussed the point with Hyundai and had to pay something. He had been recovered from Cornwall too Wiltshire.

 

[Raywood]

As above best to check it you are worried. Bailey must be happy as they tested the Isuzu,Amarok,Navara, etc in the caravan club towcart awards. In my mind it means that the caravan is then being used commercially but!!!!!! I've read 're hard suspension but i really don't get that given the hammer the chassis here on the road surface these days! In another note how would they know? Our dealer wouldn't know what car we turned up in !(just saying!) We
Ultimately though as above ask if in doubt!

I do think the tests should include the point that the warranty may be affected.
If it came to a court case then you would be looking at both the dictionary definition and a layman's understanding of the description commercial vehicle. As pick ups are designed to take a load and have a flat bed to do this then I can see no way they can be anything but commercial vehicles even though many are not used in that way.
I take the point about our roads but a hard suspension will make hitting the potholes even harder on the chassis.
I would think that one trip behind a commercial vehicle should not be a problem for the chassis, it is the continuous hammering they get if towed regularly that can build up and cause a failure, but it would be interesting to know what happens if there was a problem when it was being recovered by a tow truck.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I hope caravan manufacturers don't deliver their finished csravans being towed behind a flat bed lorry that will do a lot foe their warranties

That is a matter you would need to take up with the manufacturer, and just because they do it does not negate the terms of your warranty contract with the manufacturer.

 

[Gafferbill]

My understanding has always been that a commercial vehicle is a large vehicle over 3500kgs gross weight.
Pick ups and vans are light commercial vehicles and are under 3500kgs gross weight.
Light commercial vehicles have been used for towing trailers and caravans successfully for many years.

You do see commercial vehicles towing caravans in a delivery or breakdown scenario.
Most of these vehicles that I have seen are fitted with adjustable air suspension, so shocks transmitted through the tow bar to the caravan are minimised.
They are also likely to be fitted with a shock absorbing tow bar.

 

[Hutch]

Question, Why would being hooked up to a "Commercial Vechile" create a greater load to the caravan. ?
The hitch has a damper, the caravan is still sprung on it wheels and axle.

Lets see where this goes. :evil:

 

[Raywood]

not sure all hitches have a damper but the simple answer if you are thinking about buying a pick up is to get the caravan builders position in writing before you buy it. We can argue all we like but it is the caravan builders who give the guarantee.

 

[akd1961]

We have a Nissan Navara too and didn't even consider this thought it would be ok, another thing to take into consideration

 

[camel]

Theres one thing about towing with a pick-up you would not be flapping about weight in the caravan , into the back of the pick-up with all the stuff you would not even have to worrie about the nose weight,

 

[ProfJohnL]

Theres one thing about towing with a pick-up you would not be flapping about weight in the caravan , into the back of the pick-up with all the stuff you would not even have to worrie about the nose weight,

Oh yes you would.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Question, Why would being hooked up to a "Commercial Vechile" create a greater load to the caravan. ?
The hitch has a damper, the caravan is still sprung on it wheels and axle.

Lets see where this goes. :evil:

The caravan hitch damper only operates on longitudinal motion, not on the up and down motion that would be most affected by tow vehicle spring rates. However even the damper does transmits some shock loads, and the bigger the bigger the input the bigger the output will be. Transmitted shocks through the hitch are not good news for caravans., so it play into the longevity of a caravan to keep them as small as possible.

 

[camel]

Theres one thing about towing with a pick-up you would not be flapping about weight in the caravan , into the back of the pick-up with all the stuff you would not even have to worrie about the nose weight,

Oh yes you would.

You go load right up to the max nose weight and not worrie about it,

 

[Raywood]

Theres one thing about towing with a pick-up you would not be flapping about weight in the caravan , into the back of the pick-up with all the stuff you would not even have to worrie about the nose weight,

Oh yes you would.

You go load right up to the max nose weight and not worrie about it,

That could be famous last words.

 

[otherclive]

Theres one thing about towing with a pick-up you would not be flapping about weight in the caravan , into the back of the pick-up with all the stuff you would not even have to worrie about the nose weight,

Oh yes you would.

You go load right up to the max nose weight and not worrie about it,

That could be famous last words.

Isn’t the comment referring to the maximum noseweight allowed to the caravan hitch not the pickups noseweight which would well exceed that of the caravan hitch ?

 

[camel]

What famous last words, have I said something memorable,

 

[Hutch]

Deleted

 

[JezzerB]

Driving our Navara i fail to see how its suspension can transmit any more shocks to the caravan than most cars-the ride is firm yet very comfy-dual rate springs on them these days and praised for its suv like ride-not as soft as our Duster but that sure sent some up and down bouncing through to the caravan at times-this damps it out much better. in terms of comfort I would say it is sporty-about the same harshness as my brother's Skoda Kodiaq.
Coachman say pickups are perfectly allowable as towcars (as reported on other forums but not researched by me and our dealer said it was absolutely fine and they will be responsible for the warranty and we asked specifically. )
I think the comment above was that adding weight to the caravan up to nose weight limit wouldn't trouble the pickup-not that it shoud be overloaded to silly amounts!
Nissan quote ; 140kg towball weight (that suits me fine!)
3500kg towing weight max-so does that!
1000kg payload in the vehicle (but you need to subtract a bit if towing the max)

needless to say these figures along with the price-26k inc vat for 2.3l 190bhp twin turbo Tekna that comes with cameras all round, trailer sway assist , full leather heated seats, climate control , sat nav etc etc and slated mpg of 40ish mpg-no i never believe this but we are doing 37mpg in everyday motoring-yet to tow.
Dont think there is much to match this in terms of passenger car deals! Seemed a no brainer for us-and with a hard cabin on the back(1800 paiinted to match and fitted) and Nissan genuine tow bar rated to 3500kg with caravan electrics, (£500) and a 5 year 100k warranty with servicing every 2 years or 12k miles it really seems is a superb family car! that is idea for towing- So far!!!!

But as has already been said-if in doubt make sure you ask your manufacturer!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Jezzer,

Iv'e lost the will to re read all the silly comments to find out who said what specifically, but if the caravan manufacturer (who holds the contract with you for the manufacturer's warranty) does set out a limitation clause on commercial vehicles in the T&C's,It is up to the caravan manufacturer to define if a (your) pick up is classed as a commercial vehicle for the purposes of the caravan warranty. Sadly the dealer has no authority to change the terms or liabilities of the manufacturers warranty.

So I heartily support your last sentence - check with the manufacturer, or more accurately the warranty holder.

 

[Raywood]

Hello Jezzer,

Iv'e lost the will to re read all the silly comments to find out who said what specifically, but if the caravan manufacturer (who holds the contract with you for the manufacturer's warranty) does set out a limitation clause on commercial vehicles in the T&C's,It is up to the caravan manufacturer to define if a (your) pick up is classed as a commercial vehicle for the purposes of the caravan warranty. Sadly the dealer has no authority to change the terms or liabilities of the manufacturers warranty.

So I heartily support your last sentence - check with the manufacturer, or more accurately the warranty holder.

Agreed, that is essentially what I said at the top of the last page.

 

[camel]

Heres another silly comment for you to ponder on, I have my Navaro insured for pleasure only and I go along to my caravan dealer and he says that the terms of the caravans warranty is your Navaro is classified as a commercial vehicle, do I then have to change my insurance policy from pleasure only,

 

[JezzerB]

No we had this -and i queried it with the insurance company-they know it is a commercial vehicle but that people who use them often don't use them like that but are family cars-he said social and pleasure also covers travel to a place of work. But if in doubt ring and make sure!

Incidentally i read that Coachman class half cab type trucks as cars and don't preclude them
Also Eldis state; as long as the caravan is towed at a level ie not nose up or down, it is fine!

 

[otherclive]

Heres another silly comment for you to ponder on, I have my Navaro insured for pleasure only and I go along to my caravan dealer and he says that the terms of the caravans warranty is your Navaro is classified as a commercial vehicle, do I then have to change my insurance policy from pleasure only,

Is your caravan warranty with the maker or a separate insurance backed warranty. If with maker then they should advise.

 

[camel]

It says a lot about UK caravan construction when the caravan warranty dictates what vehicle you can tow it with, just shows that they can't trust there own rubbish manufacturig from shaking to bits,

 

[ProfJohnL]

...Incidentally i read that Coachman class half cab type trucks as cars and don't preclude them
Also Eldis state; as long as the caravan is towed at a level ie not nose up or down, it is fine!

That another interesting one. It's actually quite rare for a caravan when hitched to be perfectly level, so their proviso is somewhat flawed.

 

[otherclive]

...Incidentally i read that Coachman class half cab type trucks as cars and don't preclude them
Also Eldis state; as long as the caravan is towed at a level ie not nose up or down, it is fine!

That another interesting one. It's actually quite rare for a caravan when hitched to be perfectly level, so their proviso is somewhat flawed.

I’ve seen new Baileys being delivered and often one is being towed behind the flat bed truck and they weren’t always level. I’ve had a Pajero and the caravan was most certainly nose high. Cannot see any engineering reason why they would stipulate such a criteria.

 

[Hutch]

Why would a "Commercial vehicle " transfer any more load, than say a car, ie Sante Fe, / Kuga, etc. to a caravan chassis if there is a damper on the tow hitch. The vertical load on the tow vehicle, does not come into consideration,?