Tight turns

Ageing Dj
Ageing Dj Forum Participant Posts: 36
edited August 2020 in Towcars & Towing #1

I have been caravanning now for 15 years, I taken the club manoeuvring course from day one but I still have a demon about tight turns and whether the van will go round. I am fine once out on the road but for instance if a car is parked oppersite my house I am not sure if I can make a 90 degree turn, panic incase the van gets stuck between my gate and the car oppersite.  So it's down to the the motor mover. any tips about how tight a caravan will turn would be much appreciated.

 

Comments

  • Phishing
    Phishing Forum Participant Posts: 597
    500 Comments
    edited August 2020 #2

    Do a search on "travel trailer turning radius calculator" and be amazed.

    The maths is astonishing and mainly derives from road planning software to make sure road junctions can accommodate all rig combinations.

    There are just so many variables, you need:

    For the tow vehicle --
    Vehicle width
    Distance from front bumper to front axle
    Wheelbase
    Distance from rear axle to rear bumper
    Distance from rear axle to hitch ball

    For the trailers --
    Body width
    Distance from ball coupler to front of body
    Distance from ball coupler to front axle
    Distance from ball coupler to rear axle
    Distance from ball coupler to rear of body

    There is somewhere on the internet a spreadsheet that will do all the calcs for you, sorry the link I used is dead.

    The best advice I found was to get some small plastic cones and a big open space and keep going tighter until you hit them, take measurements. 

    From experience its probably tighter than you think! 

  • Ageing Dj
    Ageing Dj Forum Participant Posts: 36
    edited August 2020 #3

    Hi

    I downloaded that spreadsheet and yes lots of measurements involved. Trouble is the neighbors now think I have finally flipped as they have seen me measuring the road gate openings etc. Could cop out and buy a motor home but the wife won't let me. Wait a minute a motor home, no wife, wow could be worth considering. Lol

     

  • Lutz
    Lutz Forum Participant Posts: 1,564 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020 #4

    I was faced with a similar problem when I visited relatives and wanted to put my caravan on their drive. Knowing that the road in front of their house and the entrance gate were very narrow, I got them to give me both dimensions and then I made a little plan view of the road and the entrance to their property and a paper plan view of the caravan to the same scale (not forgetting the A-frame). I knew that it wouldn't be possible to use the car to manoeuvre through the gate so I didn't need to concern myself with the dimensions of the car. I would have to rely on the motor mover, but even then it would be very tight. My homework helped a lot although due to an oversight on their part that there was a bush in the way too, they had to remove one of the posts of the garden gate to allow me to get in.

  • commeyras
    commeyras Forum Participant Posts: 1,853
    1000 Comments
    edited August 2020 #5

    And of course you have to watch that the rear of the caravan does not hit anything as it swings out!  To ensure no one parks opposite your drive why not park your car there until you are ready to move out.  I just use my mover to get caravan out onto the road; my wall is still intact!

    Relax and let the mover take the strain.laughing

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited August 2020 #6

    One cannot rely on a mover always working when needed (voice of experience) so other ideas are useful. 

    A front tow ball on the usual tow vehicle is a simple matter. The two main advantages are (i) the driver is facing the trailer and can better see what is happening and (ii) the steering axle is now close to the hitch point and the changes in direction are far more responsive.

    Another easy solution is to use a smaller tow vehicle for the tight turns.  It does not need to meet the 85% "rule" as it is not out on the highway.

  • Lutz
    Lutz Forum Participant Posts: 1,564 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020 #7

    .... or of course, you can summon friends or passers-by to push to caravan into place.

    (Perhaps a long forgotten method that always used to work prior to the days of motor movers - with enough people it even worked for twin axles)

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited August 2020 #8

    I would be very wary, Lutz, of having "passers by" push a modern caravan where the end panels are a big plastic moulding with no intrinsic strength.

  • Ageing Dj
    Ageing Dj Forum Participant Posts: 36
    edited August 2020 #9

    Yes that is what I have been doing, just need to make sure I can get in before anyone else. I guess it is what I will always have to do. It's surprising how many people have the same problem. I might look into a front row bar.

  • billandelaine
    billandelaine Forum Participant Posts: 12
    edited August 2020 #10

    The link might be this one - I found it while contemplating whether my combination would fit through my stone-pillared gateway. Still none the wiser to be honest........

    http://toxiccelery.co.uk/Offtrack/What_you_need_to_know.html

  • Ageing Dj
    Ageing Dj Forum Participant Posts: 36
    edited August 2020 #11

    Hi, thanks for the link i have downloaded it, I see what you mean, no difinative solution.

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