Caravans
 

Considering that, like Marmite, most people either hate or love caravans, I'm a little surprised that no-one has yet commented on the "ghettoising" of caravans. Personally, as I don't normally use the summer migration routes of caravans, I can afford to take a fairly relaxed attitude to them.

Re: Caravans
 

there would be no problem if ppl used cars etc properly matched to caravans , part of the problem i believe is the fact that anyone with a car licence can hitch up a caravan to whatever they like and go off causing chaos as they go , if it was upto me i would want to see the driving licence reflect the fact that a car driver was tested and therefore qualified to tow a caravan , if the vehicle used to tow is suitably powerful enough then there should be no problem in keeping up a decent speed so therefore not causing too much of a problem , sorry rant over :erm:
i am going to get caned for this arent i :disturbd: :disturbd:

Re: Caravans
 

Not at all - I agree entirely!
Nothing worse than driving through the lovely Peak District a few years ago - lovely scenery and narrow country lanes through some pretty steep hills - and at the front of the VERY long queue was some plonker towing a caravan with a Vauxhall Nova! :rofl:

Re: Caravans
 

They should also be subject to a sort of MOT and pay additional road tax. :)

<edit> this should apply to ALL trailers. ;)

Re: Caravans
 

my dad has a caravan, but he does have a fairly descent sized car a Citron Picasso and he is always going on about people with small cars trying to drive with a caravan on the back

Re: Caravans
 

Well just keep off the roads around here for a while, i'm gonna be moving my static soon, I'll try and get something bigger than a Nova though :D

Re: Caravans
 

I had a caravan for several years, took it round France as well as the UK, always used a large Volvo estate for towing and could easily maintain 60 mph plus up or down hill, and having worked on farms for many years was fully conversant with the skills required for towing. I agree that some sort of test should be applied to people that want to tow anything bigger than a wheelbarrow. More traffic hold ups are caused by HGV's that are speed limited, one doing 58 mph trying to overtake one doing 57 mph whilst at the same time tailgating the lorry in front.:(

And most of the news reports including the BBC used the incorrect phrase "restricted to the slow lane" there is no slow lane on a motorway, 70 mph is the limit in all lanes, the second, third and fourth lanes are for overtaking only.

Re: Caravans
 

Caravans are OK if they if they have a nice 4X4 at front or a powerfull volvo :D .

When they are pulled by small cars thats when they are a nuisance:td: .

I have also had caravans and they are capable of keeping up with traffic if driven correctly:p: .

You also need confidence and training to do this properley, many people incorrectly load them or drive the rig incorrectly :tu: .

The speed restriction is a good thing should have kept it at fifty as it was a few years ago for all caravans:)

Re: Caravans
 

they are pretty much a nuisance no matter what is pulling them. They weave around all over the place, they are limited to 60mph and as previously touched on in here a lot of the people towing them have no idea what to do if it gets out of control.
I've seen it a dozen times, someones pride and joy starts snaking and they slow down!!!!

Wham, one caravan reduced to matchsticks, one rear axle of car wiped out and car very probably on its side.
One hell of a disruption when it happens as usual on the M1 or M25.

Caravans should have to travel at night after say 10pm and up until 6am.

Re: Caravans
 

they only snake if they are not setup properly ;)

Re: Caravans
 

Far more serious accidents caused by HGV's and cars travelling to close than by caravans. A good setup with correct stabilisers will not snake.

Re: Caravans
 

hey i just posted that :rofl:

it is very true though , also the noseweight setup causes a lot of problems as well , how many times have you seen a cars rear sitting up or down in the air , its all down to noseweight of the caravan :erm:

Re: Caravans
 

Experienced caravanners always refer to their "unit" ...the towing vehicle and van as one, correctly matched for weight, power etc.

Re: Caravans
 

They are a nuisance like HGV'S, only they tend to use rural roads!
Biggest problem is overtaking them which is probably when most of the accidents occur. If you are trying to overtake its a two vehicle maneuver you have to consider and on top of that with restricted vision! So they are definitely a right pain!

Re: Caravans
 

in your considered opinion of course ;) , how many times have you overtaken 2 cars at once ????????? , if you have then you have overtaken more than 1 car/caravan combo aint you ;)

Re: Caravans
 

As I have said before the problem is not caravans, but unskilled or uneducated drivers, ( with or without caravans ;) ), I used to my tow my caravan throughout the UK and France on all kinds of roads and was always able to keep to the upper speed limit without any problem. On rural roads you are more likely to be held up by an agricultural vehicle which cannot in any way match the speeds I could maintain. One thing I would like to see curtailed is JCB's driving round at rush hour.

Re: Caravans
 

All caravan owners (except static caravans) will burn in hell.

You have been warned.

Re: Caravans
 

* Hopes Smegs is not about * :D

I cant agree with that... A sensible driver poses no risk to other road users and the coupling systems that are used now are many times better than the old ones.

My father in law takes his 6 birth van out nearly every month all over the uk and he has never had or caused an accident in over 20 years !

Re: Caravans
 

OK I'll re-phrase that.

All caravan owners will be slightly singed in hell

All drivers that refuse to overtake caravans thereby causing the massive tailbacks will forever roast in dantes inferno.

Re: Caravans
 

thats better ;) :D :D :D :D

Re: Caravans
 

Whats with this "caravan" thing? You want THIS!


http://www.rvsearch.com/findrv/index...6261&vid=85130

:D

Re: Caravans
 

Yep :)

Re: Caravans
 

if we had roads half a mile wide then maybe , i saw summat similar to this in york a while ago , he was right f@cked up trying to get it round a corner , it must have took him 10 goes :D :D :D

Re: Caravans
 

pfft what's the point in paying $600,000 for one of those... cheaper to fly first class and stay in 5* hotels or buy a big country house... :erm:

the day i pay $600,000 for a glorified bus is the day i need shooting...

Re: Caravans
 

You rent it.

Re: Caravans
 

would still look daft over here, you would be better off buying a double decker bus from red ken for 600 quid and doing it up, like cliff richard...

could have an entire cinema on the top deck, never mind a 68" projection tv ;)

[edit] do double decker buses exist over the pond?

Re: Caravans
 

No. We put the "top" part "behind" the bus. It is better for folks in wheel chairs.

Re: Caravans
 

ahem, thats better than all caravan owners can burn in hell , but i do have to say my dad has never had a problem hes being doing this sort of thing since i was like 5 years old and never caused an accident and he is always sensible :)

Re: Caravans
 

eww not bendy buses? :eek:

we have those in leeds, they are horrible... feels like you are getting left behind when it goes round a corner if you are sitting at the back...

plus, they cant cope with our proper road system very well, and double deckers hold more ;)

our double deckers are wheelchair friendly too you know, just means they cant go up stairs...

Re: Caravans
 

oh and back on the topic of caravans...

personally i think the drivers should have to take some kind of advanced driving course like people who tow loads do...

...or do they do that already, and i am behind the times? :dunce:

Re: Caravans
 

I wouldn't know about the getting left behind. I've never used public transportation.

Do you guys actually have cars than can pull a "caravan?"

Or is it like this? http://media.ebaumsworld.com/index.php?e=cartrailor.wmv


:D

Re: Caravans
 

we don't need to have 6 litre V8s over here to pull them... british caravans tend to be made of little more than balsa wood and Lego...so basically anything above say a mini can pull one :D

with the exception of a vauxhall nova, that is ;)

one thing though about caravan culture over here... around me, it is blindingly obvious for the burglars when people are on holiday, their caravan is gone from the drive. when a 4-berth caravan leaves a massive hole in front of that person's house one day, it is like a calling card to the burglars saying "look at me, i am on holiday, come steal my telly"...:td:

Re: Caravans
 

Yeah, but where the hell are you going to be able to *park* the damn thing?! :eek:

Re: Caravans
 

yeah f@cking hilarious :o :o :o

Re: Caravans
 

Tractors are far worse than caravans. They should be banned during the day. :grind:

Re: Caravans
 

What happened about the 50mph limit on them?
What is it now?

I was behind several recently, they were all over the place.

Admittidly, many people do get a decent sized car & setup to tow one (those 4x4 drivers :D ) however a lot do not & are all over the place, because they managed to get thier poxy little car upto 60mph+ on the motorway & then drove through a patch of wind that then sends them haywire.

Re: Caravans
 

If he is towing a six berth caravan with a Citroen Picasso that has has max ULW of 1850 kg, then unless he has an ultralight caravan, most modern six berths would put him very near to, or above the safe recommended towing limit, that is that the caravan is no more that 85% of the weight of the towing vehicle.

Re: Caravans
 

30mph in built up areas, 50 on single carriage way roads and 60 on dual carriageways and motorways.

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#103

However IIRC if the wheels are (I think) more than 4' apart, the limit is 70, because there was a report I saw many years ago about a guy who had invented an extra set of wheels to go on a caravan to improve stability.

He kept getting pulled over by the Police for doing 70 (when the limit was 50 for caravans) and would produce a copy of the law and a tape measure...!

Re: Caravans
 

For the extra fuel it takes to tow a Sado-van, then the pitch rental, cost for pumping out the chemical toilet, etc.

You could get a very nice room at a travel-inn.

It's a very curious, and I believe very British, curio - the caravan owner????????????

Re: Caravans
 

Yes but Travel inn's are only in certain locations, wiht a caravan you can go almost anywhere.

What cost is there in pumping out the toilet?
You do your stuff into a porta potty full of Elsan Blue & then pour it down the drain.

Re: Caravans
 

yeah but i couldnt have a barbie in a travel - inn room could i :rofl:

Re: Caravans
 

Nice.

Re: Caravans
 

Wwwweeeeeeellllllllll, you could - you just need to cover the smoke detector :smokin:, and make sure that you don't set fire to the sheets oops: (well, with the barbie anyway ;) )

Re: Caravans
 

A common problem with the increasing use of composites and alloys in vehicles these days is the reduction in weight and reduction in towing weight.

My parents (notice it's everyones parents?) are lugging a 4 berth behind a C5.

I thought the driving allowances of new drivers meant that many car / van combos were outside their licenced ability. It's us oldies who have been grandfathered in that can drive anything up to a Ford Cargo size truck (7.5t) without any more tests. I think there was even a press campaign about this.

EDIT - http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/dl_towing_trailers.htm just found that on the dvla site. So many who passed since '97 will be driving without proper licencing (if they are driving a 4x4 and towing a 6 berth).

Re: Caravans
 

Dragging this back up, does this mean that the wife would need to pass another test before she could take over for me when pulling a trailer? (supposing I actually fit a tbar!).
She passed about then.

Has anyone here taken any of these tests?

How much do they cost & whats involved?
Can someone with an otherwise full license pull a trailer under any L-plates to learn how to?

This may just prevent me getting my trailer hooked up.

Re: Caravans
 

Depends if this applies
Whats the ULW of the car and the trailer?

Re: Caravans
 

Well those regulations will kill whats left of british farming.

The weights tractors can and will and have to pull far exceed these figures, unless agricultural vehicles are exempt then I guess we can kiss farming goodbye.

Re: Caravans
 

I'm lost with SMH's post.

I dunno.

I have a 1.6 Ford Escort Estate CL & a big Green trailer in me back yard that I want to use.
Its enough to put a frame tent & stuff in, but not big enough for a car or even a sofa.

So is there any "provisional" pulling allowed?
Otherwise how do you learn?

Re: Caravans
 

You will need to look in the owners handbook for the weights, I cannot find discontinued model info for ford on the web.
A Ford Focus Estate 1.6i 16V Zetec has a gross vehicle mass of 1635 and a maximum towing weight of 1200 and Unladen weght of 1180.
Adding the two together means the total mass of car plus trailer is 2835 which is 2.8 tonnes which is below the 3.5 tonnes combined limit and the trailor weighs less than the car. Unless you are towing a trailer that weighs more than 1180 Kg as this is the ULW of the car (for the size of trailer you describe, this is unlikely).

Thus, she is covered by her class B entitlement and you can get your towbar (and stabiliser) fitted. And its Friday afternoon and if my head didn't hurt before...

Disclaimer that this is based on the Ford Focus Estate, the numbers for your car are likely to be similar, but will be different, refer to your owners handbook, and trailer handbook (what do you mean you left it in the trailer and it got destroyed when it rained) or load information sticker stuck to it somewhere.

(1tonne = 1,000kg)

Or as the DVLA put it

Fords list for the Focus can be found here
http://www2.fordconnection.com/fordc...odelspctop.htm