The FAQ Of Caravanning (Part 1)

A lot of people tend to steer clear of purchasing a caravan or choosing to stay in one simply because they have a number of unanswered questions (and they are apprehensive about asking someone who would be able to help them). To save yourself some embarrassment, you should see whether your concern is covered in some of the frequently asked questions covered below:

1. “Is towing a caravan hard to do?”
   For some people, towing a caravan can be a highly difficult task, whereas others will pick it up fairly easily. If you are really that worried about towing a van, there are actually courses you can take that will help you pick up the basics before you have to do it by yourself.

2. “How can you tell if your vehicle is suitable for towing?”
   That will really depend on the size of the caravan that you are intending to tow – if you are hoping to tow a fairly large caravan, for example, you will need to own a vehicle that is also fairly large (such as a 4WD). You can always check your vehicle’s manual for its towing capacity.

3. “What causes a caravan to swing about?”
   The reason that a caravan may swing about whilst on the road is that the wind and momentum batter it about. You can prevent your van from doing this during travel by ensuring that you own the heaviest possible tow vehicle for a given caravan. It also helps if you make sure that you have stacked both your van and your vehicle correctly.

4. “Do I need a stabilizer?”
   As long as you have followed the guidelines listed in the above question, you should not need a stabilizer. If you are still worried about your caravan swinging around, however, fitting your van and vehicle with a stabilizer can go a long way towards preventing this.

5. “What is nose-weight?”
   This term refers to the weight of the caravan as it pushes downwards onto the tow ball. A vehicle’s tow bar is tested to withstand a maximum downwards force and, if this weight is exceeded (with an over-packed caravan, for example), the tow bar may fail. Your vehicle’s manual should outline the maximum downward force it can withstand.

6. “What care do my caravan’s tyres require?”
   Once your caravan’s tyres reach five years of age, they should be replaced with brand new ones. If you have a caravan that is fitted with high-pressure tyres, you will need to regularly check them over (as they are more prone to damage, cutting and punctures).

If your question was not answered above, check out part 2 of our frequently asked caravanning questions or simply ask a dealer or experienced traveler – whilst you may feel embarrassed, these people are generally willing to help a first time buyer out and will supply you with all the caravan information that you could possibly want.