towing

[bozlemboy]

Hello all, new member here and I have a question to ask regarding towing.
I have never towed a caravan before and we purchased one a number of years ago and have never taken it out. We moved house and it had to be moved, I drove it to the destination which wasn't all that far.
Whilst driving I noticed a sensation that was a back and forth motion from the caravan.
It was suggested that we need the hitch serviced and I have had a quote of £135 but I just thought I would post of a forum to see what people's opinions were just incase there was anything more simpler that we missed.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Damian]

If you have never had the van serviced, and depending on how old it is, it may well need a service.
However, assuming that you had nothing of any note in the van and that it was basically empty, then you would feel a rocking sensation as you did not have enough weight on the hitch.
Perhaps you could give some more information regarding age of van and service history.

 

[RayS]

Hi, welcome to our hobby / addiction!
Suggest you read some of the other threads on towing and/or publications from the two main Clubs before towing again.

My best guess is that the noseweight of your caravan may have been too low, particularly if the caravan was empty.

Rules of thumb, and I stress rules of thumb NOT laws indicate that the fully losded weight of the caravan should generally not exceed 85% of kerb weight of towcar particularly for inexperienced tower, and that noseweight should be around 5% of the caravan weight providing this does not exceed the limit of the car towhitch as shown in the car handbook.

This is a very basic and unscientific explanation but I hope gives you some ideas on what to investigate further. Please do so for your own safety and comfort and those of others.

If you can find an experienced caravanner in your neighbourhood don't be afraid to ask. - we're generally a pretty friendly bunch.

 

[RayS]

I see the very next thread in this topic is about just the question you ask.

 

[Raywood]

Can you tell us what the car and caravan are and we might be able to help further.