2016 Coachman VIP 575 road stability
Hi Has anyone experienced any stability problems with the above mentioned Coachman? I have just taken delivery of the caravan and feel unsafe because of the instability when towing. My towcar has a kerbweight of 1780kg the caravan MTPL is 1615kg so is above
the 85% recommendation at approx 90%. I have used this towcar for the last eight years towing a 1500kg caravan with absolutely no stability issues. We always travel lightly loaded and the Coachman is unstable loaded such or empty. I would be grateful for anyone
elses experiences towing a Coachman 575.
Thankyou
Comments
-
Hi David
we picked up our new VIP 575 last Friday, we've not been away in it but the short distance from dealer to home we noticed a difference from our previous van.
I wouldn't say it felt unstable but you could defernatly tell it was heavier. We have bmw x3 as a tow car so it is well within the 2000kilo towing weight of car
0 -
We have a 2016 Vision 575 and tow with a Vauxhall Antara with no problems at all. You don't say what car you have and at 90% on an older towcar with maybe worn suspension you could have a problem.
0 -
You will almost certainly find it handles better when loaded, driving back from a dealer the van always feels different due to lack of ballast.
Thanks for the reply. Yes we thought the instability on the 20 mile journey home from the dealers was because the van was empty. but we have just been away for a couple of nights to try everything etc and so for that trip there was a load in the van, albeit
not at max because it was only for two nights.Write your comments here...0 -
Hi Preston Dave. The car is a 2007 Volvo V70 D5 Auto which I have had from new and has now done 68K miles and i suppose it could have suspension wear etc which is showing up with the 100kg extra weight. The caravan is at the dealers now for investigation by Alko but i am starting to fear it may be the car. The quoted kerbweight is from a recent weighbridge ticket and i am considering is the accuracy of the weighbridge ok at low weights as well at the usual lorry weighings?
0 -
Hi Preston Dave. The car is a 2007 Volvo V70 D5 Auto which I have had from new and has now done 68K miles and i suppose it could have suspension wear etc ....
OBviously depends what you've been carrying, but 68k is not very far .... less than 10k per year. My 07 Merc has 83k
0 -
David, when I collected our Sterling it felt like it was bouncing all over so we loaded the van for a 4 night trip to Poolsbrook a 15 minute drive away like yourself just to try it out and it still felt awful with really bad pitching, so when we loaded it
for a 2 week trip to Cornwall I was more than a bit concerned about the journey and I was surprised by how different it felt there was no pitching or swaying it was a pleasure to tow. As for your concerns about the Volvo we had a S80 with 120k and now tow
with a Mercedes C class with 135k so I really don't think the car will cause problems, in fact most people would consider a D5 Volvo with that mileage as only just run in.1 -
I was wondering about noseweight as well. Have you checked this and if so what was it? If this is too low it can cause instability problems. It should be covered in the clubs advice at the bottom of the page.
Hi the noseweight is a little light for the weight of the caravan at 80kg but my towbar/car states max of 75kg.
0 -
David what is the nature of the instability. For example pitching up and down would suggest suspension problems with the tow car or incorrrect hitch weight loading (particularly too little weight). Snaking or twitchiness is usually caused by incorrect weight
distribution in the caravan (usually towards the rear). It may help if you try loading heavier stuff such as an awning etc on the floor over the axles until you have worked out what is happening.0 -
I posted this some time ago, it refers to a car change rather tham caravan change but the conclusion is still relevant
"I had an issue very similar to this a few years back when I transfered from a Vauxhall Carlton to a Ford Granada. In theory the Granada was heavier, more powerful and should have made a much better towcar bit it didn't. Like you I has instability issues,
this was the days before the internet and finding out information a little more difficult. I tried all the things you did without any improvement. Nothing made any substantial difference, including changing to air shocks on a brand new car.Eventually I changed the caravan, sold the Abbey Oxford and bought a Eccles Emerald, same lemgth, same weight, same layout! But towing was a dream, back to a stable unit.
The conclusion I came to was that the airflow over the two cars was different and this effected the caravans differently, as their bodyshell shapes were slightly different.
Ever since this situation which was in 1993 the change of any car or caravan has been done with great care and intrepidation as you never know the towing charicteristics until you pull a loaded unit.
I have never had a combination as bad as the Granada/Oxford since then, but have noted that there are considerable differences between different combinations, they are not always explainable by compairing power, torque and weights. There are other issues
which effect like, overhang, vehicle size and height, tyre profile, loading, sideways movement in rear suspension, tow bar height, and wheelbase."0 -
David what is the nature of the instability. For example pitching up and down would suggest suspension problems with the tow car or incorrrect hitch weight loading (particularly too little weight). Snaking or twitchiness is usually caused by incorrect weight
distribution in the caravan (usually towards the rear). It may help if you try loading heavier stuff such as an awning etc on the floor over the axles until you have worked out what is happening.Hi Thanks for your reply. The instability is a sideways movement that can be felt and seen quite easily through the mirrors. It varies from slight to the feeling that it is going to take off. It is present at speeds between 40 and 55mph and after 25 miles
my wife was quite white feeling seasick.0 -
I posted this some time ago, it refers to a car change rather tham caravan change but the conclusion is still relevant
"I had an issue very similar to this a few years back when I transfered from a Vauxhall Carlton to a Ford Granada. In theory the Granada was heavier, more powerful and should have made a much better towcar bit it didn't. Like you I has instability issues, this was the days before the internet and finding out information a little more difficult. I tried all the things you did without any improvement. Nothing made any substantial difference, including changing to air shocks on a brand new car.
Eventually I changed the caravan, sold the Abbey Oxford and bought a Eccles Emerald, same lemgth, same weight, same layout! But towing was a dream, back to a stable unit.
The conclusion I came to was that the airflow over the two cars was different and this effected the caravans differently, as their bodyshell shapes were slightly different.
Ever since this situation which was in 1993 the change of any car or caravan has been done with great care and intrepidation as you never know the towing charicteristics until you pull a loaded unit.
I have never had a combination as bad as the Granada/Oxford since then, but have noted that there are considerable differences between different combinations, they are not always explainable by compairing power, torque and weights. There are other issues which effect like, overhang, vehicle size and height, tyre profile, loading, sideways movement in rear suspension, tow bar height, and wheelbase."
Hi Thanks for sharing your experience. We wondered about the airflow over the van. There is a considerable difference in the caravan body shape in that the previous van a Swift Challenger 540 was a conventional shape but the new Coachman has a slightly flatter and less smooth front, is a few inches higher and has quite pronounced "rails" at the outer edges of the roof. But there a quite a number of this van about and if this was an instability issue then it surely would have got back to Coachman and they must test for such things before the vans go into production. However the shape as mentioned is a concern now as is the fact that the Volvo tow car is quite a low height car exposing more of the front of the caravan in the wake of the car.
The other items you mention: coupling height is ok, car suspension checked ok, Tyres are 45 low profile so I would have thought that would give a stiffer straighter ride. Loading is light in that the caravan has all the equipment in it that we would normally take but only had a small amount of food and clothes, the wardrobes are behind the axle so less clothing should not be a problem. I think load distribution is ok and though there is not much stored at or near the back of the caravan noseweight is 80kg. The island bed is also behind the axle but not at the back and the mattress is light as a feather. I have towed the swift with this car for more than 16000 miles and it has always been rock solid. I have been caravanning and obviously loading caravans for 25 years and never before had so much as a wiggle.
The van is at the dealers now with consultation with Alko but the dealer's technician suspects the ATC and that the brakes are too keenly adjusted and I may agree with him on the brakes as they did seem to come on very early and hard and this new van is only 100kg heavier than the swift it did seem to take a lot more pulling. Thanks
0 -
Hi
Thanks everyone for your advice and comments. I am pleased to say that the instability has now been eliminated by the fitting of a new ATC unit which I suspected as disconnecting the ATC and towing without it was fine, however ALKO without seeing or testing the unit dismissed that it could be faulty over the phone to the dealer. This resulted in the dealer having the caravan for nine days and not rectifying the problem and with no help from ALKO. It was only at my insistence that the dealer fitted a new ATC unit, which he did in about 30 minutes so in the 20 days since taking delivery of this new van I have been backwards and forwards with the van to the dealer, have had a friend test tow the van with a larger vehicle than mine with the same results as my own test tow, had sleepless nights wondering what to do and have we bought too large a caravan, have pestered the dealer and searched unnecessarily for a heavier tow car. All because of ALKO's insistence that the ATC will not be faulty, not impressed!
However after searching for an alternative tow car the seed has been sown and we are considering a Volvo XC60 D5 and would be pleased to hear of any comments regarding this car as a tow car for a 1600kg MTPLM caravan.
Thanks
DavidN
0 -
we colleted our 2016 pastiche 575 last september and it has towed like a dream behind our x5....never been keen on the butresses on the vip...wonder if they affect the airflow....
Yes I did wonder if the "buttresses" were having an adverse effect but as posted earlier after the replacement of the ATC unit the instability has gone and tows ok. Thanks
0 -
Hi Has anyone experienced any stability problems with the above mentioned Coachman? I have just taken delivery of the caravan and feel unsafe because of the instability when towing. My towcar has a kerbweight of 1780kg the caravan MTPL is 1615kg so is above
the 85% recommendation at approx 90%. I have used this towcar for the last eight years towing a 1500kg caravan with absolutely no stability issues. We always travel lightly loaded and the Coachman is unstable loaded such or empty. I would be grateful for anyone
elses experiences towing a Coachman 575.Thankyou
I have not read all the posts ...... But you need maximum permissable weight allowed on tow ball at all time ,in my case 100 kgs and i regularly go above that by upto 20 kgs . The lighter the weight the more the caravan is "flighty " .Weight on the nose
removes that . Volkswagen tell you to do that in the handbook .0 -
Hi Has anyone experienced any stability problems with the above mentioned Coachman? I have just taken delivery of the caravan and feel unsafe because of the instability when towing. My towcar has a kerbweight of 1780kg the caravan MTPL is 1615kg so is above
the 85% recommendation at approx 90%. I have used this towcar for the last eight years towing a 1500kg caravan with absolutely no stability issues. We always travel lightly loaded and the Coachman is unstable loaded such or empty. I would be grateful for anyone
elses experiences towing a Coachman 575.Thankyou
I have not read all the posts ...... But you need maximum permissable weight allowed on tow ball at all time ,in my case 100 kgs and i regularly go above that by upto 20 kgs . The lighter the weight the more the caravan is "flighty " .Weight on the nose
removes that . Volkswagen tell you to do that in the handbook .Thanks Martin, We are a bit light on nose weight as the allowed tow ball weight is 75 kg but we pick up another car tomorrow that has a weight limit of 95kg so hopefully this will be better. What do VW say in their handbook about this?
Dave
0 -
I bought a Pastiche 575 last June, instantly noticed a difference between this van and my previous Pastiche 560/4, but assumed it was simply down to the fact it was lighter. However, on my last outing a couple of weeks ago, the weather was perfect, little or no wind, and keeping within the speed limits, the ATC was activated three times going and twice on the return journey. I put more weight in the van to come home to see if this cured the problem but to no avail. You say you had the ATC unit changed and this cured the problem, was this through Coachman or via your dealer. I wrote to Coachman while I was away, but as yet have had no reply.... your thoughts would be welcome. Thank you
0 -
CJW, You seem to have resurrected a post over 15 months old and doubt you will recieve a reply on this stability issue.You also do not state what vehicle you tow with.
I had only noticed it as a Pastiche 575 owner as well.If your Coahman is new then you will have to via your dealer not Coachman,hence why they have not replied to your question.
You could start a new thread and see what replies you get.
If this any help I tow with a Kuga 163 4x4 and stability and towing is very good.I did have the ATC come on once when I "went over" one of those roundabouts which is just a raised round concrete disc. Car went around and van didn't.It was on the way to Abbey Wood CC site.
0 -
davidN, I'm glad that you have resolved the major part of your instability, but IMHO I think your rig is marginal in respect of instability. I have a pastiche 565/4 and would not dream of towing with much less than 100Kgs nose weight. Your van is heavy, and to be stable at a 90% match you need to be more than an 80Kg nose weight. As a result I suspect that your van will be twitchy under anything less than ideal conditions.
I tow with a V6 ML350 AMG and as a result expect to be stable at all times. I suspect that I am at the other end of the stability scale, but have always believed that a heavy nose weight is important in respect of stability.
TF
0 -
perhaps something to do with tyre pressures.....a bit high?
most MH dealers inflate all 4 tyres to the max (around 80psi) which gives a bouncy, rock hard ride.....the 'correct' pressures (based on tne actual axle weights) for our van are 45 front, 54 rear.
if caravan dealers do the same 'automatically' with caravans, they may be way to hard for an unladen van, and a 'bit' better as the caravan gets loaded.
why not weigh the ban and then email the tyre manufacturers for the appropriate presures?
0 -
Thanks for your reply Fozzie,
I've only had this problem with this severity on the last outing, so I though I'd have a look on Club Together to see if anyone else was experiencing the same problem. My local dealer checked it over when it went in for some warranty work at the end of June but could find no fault. I've also spoken to a senior technician at the dealer where I purchased the van, but he was at a loss too. My towcar is a Vauxhall Antara, which up until now has towed very satisfactorily. The only thing that changed is that I had a new wiring loom fitted to the tow bar due to water getting in to the socket on the old one. I did wonder if it was due to the layout of the van, transverse island bed and there seems to be a lot of weight on the near side, fridge microwave, bed shower etc and only the cooker on the offside, but I'm sure they're all checked balanced professionally. I think I shall just have to persevere with loading variations and see if I can cure it that way.
Thanks again for your input
Chris
0
