Twin Axel on Ferries
We have recently bought a twin axel caravan & have noticed that the rear end sits very low. We have already had a bad experience with a weighbridge & wondered if anyone has had any problems taking a twin axle on a ferry or advice on best companies to use?
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We have a twin axle, 7.95m, we use a ferry virtually every year and have had no problems with grounding, though like David we do go slowly and carefully.
However, our van sits level when towed. A twin axle has smaller wheels than a single so may be a little closer to the ground, but I have not really compared them. Certainly have not found it to be a problem.
If you have plastic feet/pads attached to the metal steadies, you could consider removing them temporarily, for their own safety, and to give a little extra clearance.
I managed to rip one off on a steep corner on a site road in Austria, did not do the road much good either! Fortunately no other damage to the van.
Liam, which van do you have, and is it just low slung, or does it actually tow nose up?
Nose up is wrong.
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Liam, Doesn't the angle of the ferry ramp depend on the particular ferry you are using and also the state of the tide?
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Is you rear low because the front is high? We have had that problem I grounded the rear of the last van in a Grenville type incident and did quite a bit of damage. I might of fitted a dropped plate, but obviously they are no longer type approved.
I agree with the state of the tide makes a huge difference. I have lost feet from the steadies before now despite going at less than walking pace.
Our current Hymer is a single axle but 8m long that has skids built into it obviously due to the risk of grounding.
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Foreign van see, well engineered 😄👍
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The Lunar Delta we have is 7.9 meters long and a twin axle. Last year we used the Ferry from Split in Croatia to Ancona in Italy. We sat on the quay for two hours watching articulated trucks having to reverse up the ramp on to the ferry. 3 times the ramp separated as a truck was attempting to load! Finally it was our turn and we reversed up the ramp diagonally to reduce the angle but still managed to scrape the ramp as we entered the ferry. Interesting experience but probably not to be repeated.
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From what I can gather from the Elddis literature that came with mine, nearly the whole Elddis range has 14" wheels being 185 or 175 section width but on the twin axle models they reduce the aspect ratio to 65%.
i.e. they fit low profile tyres to the twin axle models. this will reduce the height as the wheel and tyre will have a smaller diameter. but not that much. If the problem is the caravan sits nose up then the problem may be the tow ball height as already suggested
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This is the same as our 2008 T/A Sterling, it is slightly nearer the ground than our previous 1998 single axle Sterling.
You do not really notice it at a glance, and ours tows perfectly level, but we notice it on the height of the step up to the door. Good for creaky old knees!
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When considering ferry ramps, and similar sharp changes of slope such as hump back bridges, the length of rear overhang of the tow vehicle (distance from centre of rear axle to tow coupling) is a major factor.
I have seen a motor caravan go over a canal bridge and lift it's small baggage trailer clean off the road! I did wonder whether the oblivious driver would notice the loss of tail lights before the constabulary.
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Sorry for such a late reply.
We have a KIA Sorento 2015.
What I did not say was that the angle of the loading ramp was much more than we have seen anywhere else. Most of the trucks had difficulty while reversing up the ramp.
After the trucks were all loaded the car ramp to the upper deck was raised. We could the have driven on and turned around as there was plenty of room. However as we were last on, we were then first off.
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Mine has the same as its single axle predecessor 
