Towing with pickups

[Bwlch]

I see many caravans being towed by pickups and can see the attraction of using a large and heavy 4x4 for towing duties. I use mine to tow the boat and assorted trailers and did think I might use it when we bought the caravan. Reading the handbook it specifically says not to tow the van with a commercial vehicle although 4x4 passenger vehicles are acceptable. I am guessing that towing using the truck would invalidate the insurance since it against the manufacturers advice/recommendation. Fortunately for me I have another tow vehicle available (nissan xtrail ) so don't need to worry about it but would be interested in others opinions . On the bright side get to take the van out tomorrow for its first trip, just a 3 day shakedown trip locally to get familiar with everything.

 

[Raywood]

Pick ups can have far harder suspension and that does put pressure on a caravan chassis. The caravan builders do suggest that it is inadvisable and there are risks involved. Talking to the engineer who services our caravan he did say there is a risk. He said that those most at risks are the longer twin axles due to the additional stress you get with the longer chassis and the twin axle set up. He does know that travellers with their transit vans have had the chassis break even on the trusty Hobby's they tend to tow.
From personal knowledge I do know that Trophy caravans which had an aluminium chassis did have a problem with chassis breaking but this was confined to the longest models.
I cannot see that your insurance would be invalidated where the point is a recommendation rather than an instruction but if the chassis went I would certainly think the caravan guarantee would be invalidated.
The risk does appear to be small but also depends on the length of the chassis. As all UK caravans are on the same ALKO chassis these days then the position should be the same for all of them.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Whether the information in the handbook about towing with commercial vehicles could be enforced is open to debate. The first thing is what the specific wording in the hand book is, and whether it constitutes and instruction or just advice.

Technically it is certainly true that most commercial vehicles do have much harder suspensions than domestic vehicles, and having seen how much vibration can be generated between a Ford Granada and a Swift caravan, back in the 1980's I can well imagine the increased severity of using a vehicle with stiffer suspension.

However It's quite likely that your band new caravan may have already been towed by a commercial vehicle, and most caravans are delivered from factory to dealer either on a lorry or towed behind one, so whose to say that any damage that comes to light later may not have been caused by the caravan manufacturers own delivery processes?

 

[Parksy]

For 4x4 vehicles with ladder type chassis and leaf springs a Shock Link should minimise the potential for caravan chassis damage

 

[woodsieboy]

I regularly see caravan dealers towing with pick ups as they display the dealers details, and I know of 3 separate dealers who do this, presumably they use them because they are capable of towing any caravan and also because they would not do any damage to the customers caravan.

 

[Martin24]

We've towed quite a few miles over nearly 4 years with the D-Max and have not suffered any van problems yet. Our van is a large ish twin axle. It has been one of the best most stable combinations we've ever owned. Our replacement is hopefully going to be a disability adapted MB Sprinter. I emailed Bailey last week and they said it's meant for older vehicles towing but they would imagine a new Sprinter would be fine. I'm happy with that email and will keep it in case of any future issues. Many if not most dealers are towing vans behind pick ups or transit type vehicles so if there is a risk the damage could be done before you even know it. I really wouldn't worry about it that much, I'm not going to :cheer:

 

[Raywood]

I agree dealers often use pickups and vans for towing caravans but this is for short periods and not the larger mileage you might do with your own vehicle. Having said that my feeling is that the risk is very low indeed and I certainly would not stop people doing it as long as they do know the position.