Caravan Brakes

stephen p
stephen p Forum Participant Posts: 194
100 Comments
edited February 2017 in Towcars & Towing #1

I have just read an article on the Practical caravan website reviewing the Mercedes GLC towing a four wheel Swift Challenger 635. It gets a good write up but was criticised for its brakes.

This lead me to pondering just how good are the brakes on a caravan, do they leave most of the stopping power down to the car? or is the "push" on the car under braking quite small because the caravan brakes are really efficient.  

I wonder, in an emergency stop, can all (8) wheels lock up.

I have never seen a caravan review mention the braking system, it just seems to be there, it would be nice to see someone experiment with a strain gauge on the tow hitch.  The only time I have ever noticed the caravan brakes power is on bumpy roads when I have had the ALKO ATC engage, that can give you quite a surprise!

Comments

  • Rayrowe35
    Rayrowe35 Forum Participant Posts: 112
    edited February 2017 #2

    Last year I had an emergency slow down, when the car in front braked sharply. The antilock system prevented the car wheels from locking, but not the caravan wheels, which locked up and remained in a straight line.

  • xtrailman
    xtrailman Forum Participant Posts: 559
    edited February 2017 #3

    I have seen a badly driven caravan storming up to lights at speed, only to emergency brake as they changed, the caravan brakes did lock and skid.

    Its not an efficient way of caravan braking, but that's what can happen, when it does obviously the car brakes are having to work harder to achieve a stop.

  • Lutz
    Lutz Forum Participant Posts: 1,564 ✭✭✭✭
    edited February 2017 #4

    In a published test carried out some time ago (unfortunately I don't have a copy of it any more), the braking distance in the dry is not increased that much when towing compared with the solo vehicle. From memory it was about 10%. However, in the wet the increase was much more - up to 70%, I think. This is due to the caravan brakes locking up, which reduces braking efficiency.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
    1000 Comments
    edited February 2017 #5

    We have locked up the c/van wheels a couple of times when the "must pass a caravan brigade" have not read the road or the ability to drive have caused us to brake hardyell

  • Tigi
    Tigi Forum Participant Posts: 1,038
    500 Comments
    edited February 2017 #6

    I don`t tow a heavy caravan with my GLC but have`nt experienced any lack of braking ability quite the opposite. 

  • stephen p
    stephen p Forum Participant Posts: 194
    100 Comments
    edited February 2017 #7

    I am towing 1600kg with mine and agree the stopping power is more than adequate (just a little inconsistent maybe).  We have an 1800kg twin axle Eldiss on order and I have no worries about the cars ability to effortlessly haul the new caravan (Crusader Storm) around the country. In general the GLC is an excellent Tow car.

    Editing the post just to clarify my inconsistency comment, sometimes the braking system can be part pressurised by the cruise control and other systems on the car, this means that when you go for the brakes the pedal can be very firm to the touch.

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