Twin Axle Verses Single Axle.
Hi Folks,
I am quite new to caravanning having been using a single axle van (7.5 mtrs) for over three years and have been thinking about getting a twin axle for the extra room and presumably the extra stability!
Can you please let me know your thoughts as to the differences between the two, regarding towing/pitching/manouvering or anything else you think I should know before I dive in?
Kind Regards,
Paul.
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I bought a twin axle last year. It's very much more stable when towing, not that I was ever concerned about the previous single. Though it reverses easier .... you have to make it turn rather than prevent a single from doing its own thing, you'd be hard pushed (no pun intended) at pushing it onto a pitch etc without a mover if you can't get it into position via your tow car ..... some pitches have their own obstacles ie trees, other EHU posts & lights in the way
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Paul, Ive been caravanning for about 40 years, but always with the larger sized single axle vans, and never with a twin axle, so am happy to be told that I am wrong by the big guys!
I have always avoided twin axles because we frequently went to France for our main holiday, often over long distances. We tended to use the French chain of municipal sites many of which carried big notices at the entrance "Interdit au nomads" Or "No travellers"! Our friends with twin axle vans found that many of these sites refused them entrance, and even when they realised that they were not Travellers, they still refused them a place, saying that their presence would attract "travellers " and make it more difficult to keep them out.
We did like the added space that the big twin axles offers though, but were put off by higher Insurance rates caused by their added vulnerability to theft. - They are very attractive to someone who makes the van a permanent home.
Not sure if they are really more stable on the road, as the modern single axle with ATC is pretty good. The big draw back is that they are very difficult to manoeuvre on site, they can damage both grass and all weather services whilst being turned.
In the end it all comes down to what you are comfy with. I would have loved one, and always had a tow vehicle man enough to cope, but for me the drawbacks outweighed the advantages.
TF
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We had two T/A vans amongst the many caravans we owned over the years. We never noticed any difference in stability but the extra space and payload was good. These days, though, single axle vans tend to be bigger so the space advantage isn't what it was. We towed with beefy 4x4 cars so had no issues with weight or pulling power.
The huge drawback we found with the T/As was manoeuvrability and a motor mover was essential. They were also more difficult to level side to side and, as for fitting two Alko wheel locks, forget it!
Eventually, age and mobility resulted in us downsizing to a more sensible (for us) single axle van and thence to a MH.
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We have gone from single to twin axle vans, both coincidentally the same MTPLM. Our thoughts so far: The t/a definitely tows better; you need a t/a motor mover; fit shockers if not already; use a locknlevel for side-side levelling; insurance is for us no more expensive; insure with a company that doesn't require Alko locks; check when booking if the site has a problem with t/a's, there are 1000's that do not; can use car tyres; servicing might be more costly. And the space is great! You can of course buy an Adria single axle with similar internal length to a typical UK t/a van.
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I just passed a big, long, fat, twin axle van on the B3254 here in Cornwall. The driver looked stressed - and he hadn't got to the tricky bit yet. Poor chap.
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Last Tuesday I was in St Ives and saw a couple in a Zafira towing a caravan heading for the town center. I would love to know how that turned out
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We have had our twin axle for almost 10 years now and like it very much. It does feel more stable to me when towing than our previous single axle, but we have not tried the ATC.
We like the space it offers as we do long tours, especially the fixed bed, large shower room and spacious kitchen area. We have looked at smaller single axle vans that have fixed beds, but the shower room is just too cramped for us.
We have a mover fitted, it is essential as far as we are concerned.
I do not find the van any more difficult to level than the previous one, I use decking boards if necessary, and with the mover I can line up one AlKo lock, sometimes two if lucky. With a decent jack it is easy to get the second wheel into position anyway.
More recently, we have seen some sites in France refusing or charging extra for TAs, but there are plenty that do not, and France seems to be the only place where it can be a problem.
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I would echo TFs remarks. I was one of those refused a site because I had a TA. I am also one of those who had their TA nicked from a bronze CaSSOA site no less. They are very attractive to travelling community!! The servicing is more, the storage is more and I really don't think I get that extra out of it so I now have a large van on a single axle with ATC and quite frankly, I have no difficulty towing or manoeuvring.
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In the years we have had leisure vehicles, most types,we have had one TA,but that was when we needed "more space"and we found that it was more difficult levelling side to side, but did find it less suseptical to "wash"from passing vehicals, but would we have another??with ATC on modern SA vans we have found them far more stable and any S.A. is much easier to manover with or without a MM which we have as a first on our latest c/van (doctors orders!!)
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I have recently bought a new van. Was going for TA then found that due to the advances in weight reduction, I could buy the same model albeit 30 cm shorter in a single axle with a cost saving of £3k including the mover. Where there is an advantage with a TA is that the MTPLM can frequently be upgraded a great deal more than the single axle, but you have to have the car that can tow with the increased allowance, essentially a Discovery type vehicle. I didn't bother
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We have been all over Europe with ours, only in France might you have a problem, but there are so many sites that there is always somewhere else to go.
Some pitches in Italy can be small, but we have found plenty of large pitches too. Some single axles these days are as long as twins, or just slightly shorter, so not a lot in it often.
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