Twin Axle

[Alan_374359266]

I am thinking of buying a twin axle van and would appreciate any feedback, good or bad, anything in favour or against this type of van. I have been towing a single axle for the last three years. Which is easier to tow and handle ? Which is easier to level up when you arrive on site. Or is there not a lot of difference betwen the two types of van. I would appreciate any feedback, good or bad.

Thanks

Alan.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi Alan I have to say Im no expert, we have recently bought an Ace Supreme Twinstar we love it to bits.

Now I find it more stable towing than single axle,it has fixed bed . and end wash room and seperate shower , I find these are all the good points. I have to say I find it a bit trickier to reverse on site but we get there. and your last point ,levelling them up I have asked this question on the forum and had some good replies and there is a very simple one .Using the large fiamma yellow chocks first measure the distance between axle centres and them place chocks in the desired postion the meaured ditance apart the distance between axles place chocks in desired position the same distance apart back to back, so what will happen is the first axle will rise over the first chock and start goiong down as your second axle is coming up Well I thinlk thats how it works found it works well when youve done it a couple of times

Anyway go for it

I hope yopu find some of this helpful

Regards Stewart

 

[joeby]

i find our Lunar T/A very stable indeed ,i have no trouble reversing it onto a pitch ,the only thing i have noticed is its impossible to turn on your own when unhitched ,our last van a Senator Indiana on a level driveway , i could push it back and turn it single handed ,and to level the T/A ,i carry 6' square pieces of marine ply and place the required amount in front of the wheel and the same amount between the wheels and just pull forward

 

[Lutz]

Others in this forum who have seen my replies to the same subject in the past know that I'm not a fan of twin axles. To me the second axle is not a question of preference (there are few caravans where, for the same size model, one has the option of both a single or a twin), but a matter of pure necessity (once you get to about 2000kg, you have no option but to go to a twin). I'm currently looking into getting an 1800kg single. Why? Because I don't want to have to pull the deadweight of a second axle around with me all the time and the single is easier to manoeuvre by hand and level. And the 2000kg twins for me are so large that they seem to me to be unwieldly as a pure tourer.

 

[Del_374232870]

We changed from a single to a twin axle at the begining of 2007. Since then we have found the stability of the twin to be excellent, and considering we thought the last s/a was a good stable tower it says a lot that this is even more stable, fuel consumption hasnt changed even though the van is 400kg heavier. Reversing is easier as the resistance created by the 4 wheels means the van doesnt react so quickly to changes in steering and therefore isasier to contrl. Internally it is no contest, full width toilet compartment with seperate shower, fixed bed and large kitchen and seating area.

The disadvantages are that it is almost imposible to manouvere by hand, although we have a mover fitted. Unlike a single axle it cannot be turned on its axle .

 

[Lutz]

All the reasons that you give, Del, are due to the fact that your new caravan is bigger than the old one, not because it is a twin axle. You would probably find that a single axle of the same size as your current twin would be just as good.

 

[ShadySadie]

Only manoeuvrability when parking up can be an issue for some with twin axles, we've been carrying the same set of levelling blocks for around ten years and can't recall when we last used them.

Having towed our single and twins more than my husband I would never entertain the backward step to a single, a 4 wheel twins stable platform offers the driver a smoother less problematic towing experience. Recently I towed a large single axle caravan and it just does not offer the relaxed experience of towing a twin axle.

We've experienced three notable caravanning trauma's since 1986, one with a single axle caravan and two with twin axles. The twins out handled the single axle event that was at quite low speed. Most of our caravanning has been with twin axles and the relaxed towing experience offered outweighs a little extra effort when parking up, and we've always found twin axles easier to reverse and manoeuvre anyway.

 

[MikeAce]

Hi Alan I have to say Im no expert, we have recently bought an Ace Supreme Twinstar we love it to bits.

Now I find it more stable towing than single axle,it has fixed bed . and end wash room and seperate shower , I find these are all the good points. I have to say I find it a bit trickier to reverse on site but we get there. and your last point ,levelling them up I have asked this question on the forum and had some good replies and there is a very simple one .Using the large fiamma yellow chocks first measure the distance between axle centres and them place chocks in the desired postion the meaured ditance apart the distance between axles place chocks in desired position the same distance apart back to back, so what will happen is the first axle will rise over the first chock and start goiong down as your second axle is coming up Well I thinlk thats how it works found it works well when youve done it a couple of times

Anyway go for it

I hope yopu find some of this helpful

Regards Stewart

You have a beautiful van Stewart, the Twinstar is going to be ny next van. may i ask what you tow it with?

 

[Thorpedo]

Alan

Since owning a twin last year I would be hard pressed to revert to a single due to the stability.

There are a few non technical points though worth bearing in mind -

Some sites don't like them.

Th CC site I used last week wouldn't put me on a grass pitch with a twin but was happy for singles to go on grass.

Some insurance companies won't insure them.

I understand they are more likely to go walkies as they are especially interesting to our nomadic living friends.

If you have Alko wheel locks you will have little choice other than jack up to fit the locks.

None of the above has proven unsurmountable for me.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Alan

I fully agree with the others. For me it has to be a twin but only because we like all the extra space. Stability in high cross winds and large coach slip streams is far less on the twin than the single. That said I had singles for years with no problems but definitely in my opinion the twins offer greater stability. Pitching up is no real problem. We carry planks of wood for levelling. Admittedly I do carry a 2 tonne trolley jack so I can fit both Al-ko wheel locks. Takes no time at all.

Cheers

Alan

 

[Del_374232870]

Lutz

Reversing is easier as the van does not react so quick due to the 4 wheels , this couldnt be equaled by a single axle van, also the improved stability from the 4 road wheels couldnt be equaled by a single axle van. Havent seen a 26ft single axle van on my travels yet.

 

[spj]

Hi all,

I would not go back to a single axle mainly for saftey reasons, the single v twin argument can go on and on with different peoples opinions, but simple facts sell it to me,

2 brakes v 4 brakes

2 tyres v 4 tyres

In an emergency stop condition a twin has more contact with the road and 4 brakes, this can be argued with coefficient of friction and contact weight per square inch etc but on a road which is unlikely to be completely level and the possibilty of gravel or chippings etc the 4 tyres will give more grip. The 4 tyres also have more resistance to going sideways and are more plyable due to them being car tyres, a single axle normally has hard light commercial vehicle tyres which do not grip the same. A near 2 ton van on a single axle compared to a twin of the same size and weight will not stop as quickly or as straight, and if you take a possible blowout into consideration the comparison is a no brainer.

The only down side to a twin is moving it when not on the car, a longer van will react slower but I dont think the number of wheels makes a lot of difference, levelling is the same and with softer suspension and the weight spread over 2 axles the van will ride better and not bounce as much.

spj.

 

[ShadySadie]

Seconded spj. When overtaking or being overtaken with a long single axle compared to a twin I and hubby both find that the twin is less effected.

We have had the arguments for and against numerous times over twenty years but would never go back to twin. Under hard braking we've both found the twins perform better and do not tend to break sideways.

The clearest comaparison we've ever had was with people we met in Italy three years ago. German and Swiss families with the same two cars as us. We took some leg pulling from them over our "English twin" but ended up friends and moved to another site with them. At our first stop our new friends had all noticed how stable our caravan was compared to theirs and how much quicker ours was on a windy motorway. We swapped drivers so they could try English style. They took as much care as us with loading and both were really surprised and withdrew their previous "English" remarks about twin axles.

 

[Lutz]

There are plenty of 26ft. single axle caravans on the market - well almost; I found several models at 25ft 10in. Maybe there's the odd one even longer.

I have not seen any data that would confirm single axle caravans are involved proportionately in any more accidents than twins so I'll stay with a single axle.

 

[ShadySadie]

Maybe you should not comment on something you are not familiar with Lutz. From a ladies perspective I would follow the advice of those with experience rather than someone with single axle experience looking to make judgement based on paper. My son passed his towing test a while ago and borrowed his uncles caravan and towed it back from Bordeaux, since then he has towed our twin and rates it a superior towing experience. We've yet to find any serious long distance high mileage caravaners who do not find or rate 4 wheels better than two and a couple that have made the step back to two wheels consider it a backwards move.

 

[Lutz]

All I want to say is that I am perfectly satisfied with the stability of my outfit and do not see any need for further improvement, especially as it can only involve a cost and weight penalty.

 

[ShadySadie]

Typical male "ignorance is bliss" thinking ;

 

[Lutz]

Actually, the discussion regarding single or twin is rather a pointless exercise because one does not normally have a choice. Once you have decided on size and layout, you do not normally have the option of either a single or twin. I only know of one or two models where this is the case and, even here, if the manufacturer were convinced of the superiority of a twin, then why even offer the choice?

 

[Del_374232870]

Had I been asked this question 2 years ago I would probably have agreed with Lutz at that time only had experience with single axles. At that time we had a single axle 21ft van which had excellent towing characteristics (very stable), the reason that we changed to a twin axle was due to the fact that the an we wanted only came in a twin axle.

On the 1st time out with the twin towing from Blackpool to York via the M62 in a cold and windy February day I was nervous wondering how this bigger and heavier van would tow, especially as the conditions were not exactly good. We set of taking it easy and immediately noticed that the towing characteristic was even better than the single axle, very little sway from side winds or from passing coaches and surprisingly fuel consumption was marginally improved.

After a lovely few days at York we headed south on the A1 and again the towing was excellent.

Next time out was to Scotland in March via the A68 and again 1st rate towing, on the journey south returning home we broke the journey at York and set of early on the Sundy morning for the final part of the journey. It was very windy and then n the 1st part of the journey it started to snow, but despite the conditions the van was rock solid, imagine my shock when we made our 1st stop and I found that I had forgotten to lock the ALKO handle down. This to me was proof that whilst we thought the last van was an excellent tower the twin had improved on excellent.

On site and in storage the twin is so easy to reverse ( not my best maneuver normally) so much so that the motor mover is seldom used I now just reverse onto pitches.

So I have to agree with Shady Sadie on this , dont knock twins unless you have experience with them, and I rate myself as a typical male.

 

[Peter_374314513]

Good morning Alan, we bought our first caravan last year - a twin axle Lunar. As we hadn't towed before we had no agenda other than looking for a van that gave is what we wanted, fixed bed, full bathroom etc. I think that the accomodation is critical and any issues with towing you must deal with to have the living space that you are comfortable with.

Towing the twin has proved a lot easier than I expected and reversing has not been a problem (except on our drive but we have the mover fitted for that)

I am certainly looking forward to the run across to Holkham Hall in a couple of weeks time.

 

[Lutz]

I'm not knocking twins. They are undoubtedly very good, but so can single axles be. Nevertheless, it is a futile subject to discuss because rarely does one have a choice. To compare a 26ft. twin with a 20ft. single is a bit like comparing apples with bananas.

 

[Peter_374314513]

Quite, the issue could (heaven forbid) deteriorate into the same circular and pointless argument as the digital versus film debate in photography. Each has it's place and we should be grateful that there is so much choice around.

 

[Peter_374314513]

Quite, the debate could (heaven forbid) deteriorate into the same circular argument as the digital versus film debate in photography. We should just be grateful that we have so much choice.

 

[Peter_374314513]

Quite, the debate could (heaven forbid) deteriorate into the same circular argument as the digital versus film debate in photography. We should just be grateful that we have so much choice.

Sorry, I have no idea why this has come up twice. the first reply didn't show on my screen at all until I posted the second.

 

[Del_374232870]

Hi Peter could be a case of twin posting versus single posting.