RV FEATURE
So you’ ve hitched your caravan and, five minutes down the road, you’ re positive something isn’ t right. The van is twitchy. It feels unstable. As a result, you’ re clutching your steering wheel so tightly that your knuckles turn white.
Tip: if something doesn’ t feel right as you’ re towing your van, it probably isn’ t. Continuing down the road, without attempting to resolve the issue, is the definition of‘ tempting fate’. You might be okay, but you might come a cropper. Why risk it, especially when many issues concerning towing dynamics can be fixed by adjusting the position of your payload?
In this article, we’ ll look at some of the common mistakes that people make when loading their caravan. Many of you know this, so forgive me if you’ re reading something you already know. If that’ s the case, perhaps consider this your friendly reminder to pay attention to how you load your own getaway machine.
SUPPORTING THE LOAD
Have you ever noticed that the heaviest equipment in a caravan is almost always placed over the axle( s), the fridge in particular?
Think of a caravan as a see-saw, with the wheels as the fulcrum. A load placed over the fulcrum will be supported, with negligible impact on the see-saw – neither end will lower much, if at all.
As more and more equipment is added, from the bed to the bathroom to the dinette, the‘ seesaw’ will want to teeter one way or the other. Of course, caravan manufacturers take this into account, designing their layouts such that the heaviest stuff is supported by the axles where it’ ll have the least impact on the ball weight, with everything else positioned such that the vertical load imposed on the towball by the coupling – the ball weight – is suitable for that van in an unladen condition.
If your van ' s water tanks are mounted towards the extreme end of the van, it would pay to be aware of how they are affecting the ball weight when full of water.
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