Dangerous and careless
Comments
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It will be a long time before I need to worry about all these checks because I'm on a seasonal pitch and don't need to move the caravan again until November! Our couple of nights away in a tent every 21 days doesn't require all of the op checks! Why make life more complicated than is absolutely necessary?
As your van is sitting still so long Malcolm, what you should do every time you take the awning down (or before you put it up again) is move the van either forward or back a few inches so it is not always the same area of the tyres it is resting on.
Better for the tyres.
Do you keep the handbrake on? It can stick/rust in place if you do.
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Letting tyres down on tow car while van is on site !
is this some sort of windup
v9
Certainly not in our case. If we are on a site for a week or more and going to use the car a fair bit, I always do. It only takes a few minutes and it handles so much better. As to someone knowing wether I had done some of the checks, they would have to
be observing for a long time. Tyres are usually checked the evening before, as are wheel nuts, if required by distance. The only check that would be very obvious when leaving, is checking the lights and perhaps a final walk round.It wasn't a wind-up on my part either. There is a big difference in required tyre pressures between loaded and empty on my Touareg and it makes a big difference to handling, particularly when towing. Conversely, since the car already has off-road suspension,
to drive it unladen with the tyres set at the higher pressure makes for quite a harsh ride, regardless of the handling and increased tyre wear. Since it only takes me 5 minutes to adjust the pressures, if we are going to be driving around for a week whilst
away, I think it's worth doing. Anyway, it's my choice and I'm not really bothered what anyone else wants to do.0 -
When the late Michael Winner was asked at an airport whether he had packed the luggage himself, he said "Good lord no, I have a man who does that sort of thing for me". I'm a bit like that with tyre pressures - the man at the
garage does it when the car goes in for service every spring.0 -
At a guess (ie from memory) the rear tyre pessures on my tow car are around 12% higher than normal required. About 10% for the front. As the car is principally used as a tour car and an occasional monthy run on a trip out with friends or to see youngest
daughter I just leave as is for full load. The car does about 6K a year of which probably 4K is towing. We have a 16 year old 2 door Yaris as a runabout0 -
We dont change our tyre pressures for towing - the change is tiny on my 4x4 anyway, the only time I would change it is if I am carrying a full load of a tonne or more in the boot ie ''fully laden''
We do check the lights and pitch - I check the pitch on foot then follow the van along the road and OH does the full lights routine in order so I check them - I would tell him if they werent working but other than that we dont communicate about it so no one watching would probably even know we were doing it.
What is in the front locker is consistent so the noseweight, other than a small amount of gas use possibly - stays the same.
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Having read a few of these post I'm disappointed not to see check caravan "wheel nuts" i too used to be very laid back about checks until I lost a wheel of my van travelling at 55miles per hour in the center lane of M5, an accident which could have been
avoided if I had checked the wheel nuts. So joke if you must about checks but I will continue to check for safety and I hope all caravaners do0 -
We did weighbridge the RV once out of pure curiousity. It even told us how much was on each wheel although filling or emptying the tanks would have changed that by a good amount. The payload wasnt really an issue - even with my hoarding habits I dont think
I could find a tonne and a half to carry.
On this caravan we havent ever taken it to the weighbridge - it is on our 'must get round to it list' so it could possibly be over (although we dont carry a full awning which many people do, and only carry one gas cylinder) but it tows fine and is well within
the safe towing limits for the car so we havent worried about it too much.0 -
Sorry TG ,you're have to share it
,that's what I did ,weighed it empty and weighed it with everything ( I do take note of some posts)
,and I have 65kg to "play with"
Ok hope he makes it a good prize
we have a huge payload with this van, even after loading it with 90l fuel, 100l water plus everything else
we need for a 10/11 week trip we still have loads left, back axle is well within limits too. We never travel by the way with a full tank of water usually about 30/40l0 -
Sorry TG ,you're have to share it
,that's what I did ,weighed it empty and weighed it with everything ( I do take note of some posts)
,and I have 65kg to "play with"Ok hope he makes it a good prize
we have a huge payload with this van, even after loading it with 90l fuel, 100l water plus everything else
we need for a 10/11 week trip we still have loads left, back axle is well within limits too. We never travel by the way with a full tank of water usually about 30/40lWell done you two.....but i already knew that TG had weighed their van and Husky had said he was going to when he was able.....so, top marks anyway.....
ah, the prize......ill have to give that some thought...
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Every year I witness the same events, non more than this year. I cannot believe how irresponsible/stupid/negligent/lazy the vast majority of caravan owners are. This year I watched 10 caravans hitch up at New England Bay site, this is what I noted:
0/10 checked nose weight, 2 of these ended badly "nose up"
0/10 checked car or caravan tyre pressures before leaving
0/10 performed a lights check on the van, I know modern cars have canbus systems that inform of faults, but still a good safety precaution,required if you have an older vehicle.
0/10 did a site clear check to ensure no rubbish was left behind
I also noted no one letting the tyres down on the towing car whilst the van was on site at the begining of thier holiday.
These are all basic things which are not being done, all vital to succesful and safe motoring and enjoyable caravanning.
Several outfits were clearly overloaded, the husband was in the company car ( underpowered) a vast selection of bikes on the roof, a boot laden with every thing that the 2.2 children can play with, and as stated the van heavily laden, I would like to invite
the police to do a lot of weight checking of vans. The latest craze is also to have a small inflatable boat and outboard, but that is another shocking subject.There is a program coming up on CH5 called carry on caravaning people with older or restored caravans. Do people have thier caravans serviced each year, vital on older caravans, with aging gas appliances and systems.
I dont believe it as someone once said.
Write your comments here..How about checking for loose wheel nuts with a torque wrench.In fact how many people carry one with them. I am laughed at regularly as a female tower who checks all of these points before I tow even on short journeys and men find
it amusing I use a torque wrench...WHY? SG2..0 -
Every year I witness the same events, non more than this year. I cannot believe how irresponsible/stupid/negligent/lazy the vast majority of caravan owners are. This year I watched 10 caravans hitch up at New England Bay site, this is what I noted:
0/10 checked nose weight, 2 of these ended badly "nose up"
0/10 checked car or caravan tyre pressures before leaving
0/10 performed a lights check on the van, I know modern cars have canbus systems that inform of faults, but still a good safety precaution,required if you have an older vehicle.
0/10 did a site clear check to ensure no rubbish was left behind
I also noted no one letting the tyres down on the towing car whilst the van was on site at the begining of thier holiday.
These are all basic things which are not being done, all vital to succesful and safe motoring and enjoyable caravanning.
Several outfits were clearly overloaded, the husband was in the company car ( underpowered) a vast selection of bikes on the roof, a boot laden with every thing that the 2.2 children can play with, and as stated the van heavily laden, I would like to invite
the police to do a lot of weight checking of vans. The latest craze is also to have a small inflatable boat and outboard, but that is another shocking subject.There is a program coming up on CH5 called carry on caravaning people with older or restored caravans. Do people have thier caravans serviced each year, vital on older caravans, with aging gas appliances and systems.
I dont believe it as someone once said.
I can't believe you didn't mention checking the t.v aerial was stowed properly unless you don't have time onsite to watch TV.
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..How about checking for loose wheel nuts with a torque wrench.In fact how many people carry one with them
Hope you have it calibrated annually to check it is accurate as well then Sailorgirl?
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We have TPM on all van wheels and car wheels, but I do check them every so often, not necessarily the day before travel.
Then I have a torque wrench, so check all the wheel bolts every so often, again not necessarily the day before we travel.
We also have the Reich scales that weigh the van, which have given a satisfactory total, plus it can weigh the nose weight, which is within our limit (100kg).
When leaving a site, OH checks lights with me, plus she walks round the van to check all lockers are locked and nothing left on the pitch.
So I think we are complying with the OP's requirements!!!
One other thing OP did not mention......checking the towing mirrors!
We always check them as they are totally essential.
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I don't alter tyre pressures before or after towing, I tried it a while back with my previous car and saw no advantage in increasing them so stopped. I check my caravan wheel nuts/bolts as often as I do my car's ..... every now & then and use my calibrated
right arm0 -
I check the lights. Dunno why as I wouldn't have a clue how to change a bulb if one wasn't working!
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..How about checking for loose wheel nuts with a torque wrench.In fact how many people carry one with them
Hope you have it calibrated annually to check it is accurate as well then Sailorgirl?
Write your comments here...yes , have it done by a professional not by OH who thinks he is one !
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OH did this when we got the van, then again with everything loaded, do we get a prize BB
