It is quite frightening to read posts on caravan forums that show there are people who are unaware of the existence of axle loads, maximum vehicle weights, maximum trailer weights and licence restrictions. Absolutely terrifying, however, is that there are some people who know these things exist but decide not to comply. Everyone can spread it - Anyone can catch it. Stay home - the life you save can be your own!

chicken george wrote:

axle wrote:

chicken george wrote:

silly season begins

not the least bit biased are you CG.

Nothing biased about a dislike of poorly balanced outfits flipping round on motorways. Do other peoples lives a favour keep caravans off motorways.

If they invented the damn things tommorrow they would never get road use permission

Yorky Bob wrote:

Not going to get in the brawl but do caravans by law need to have a stabiliser bar fitted or not ? I assumed and sane person towing £25K behind them would have one .

Yorky Bob wrote:

Not going to get in the brawl but do caravans by law need to have a stabiliser bar fitted or not ? I assumed and sane person towing £25K behind them would have one .

A sane person would not pay £25k for a box on wheels & who enjoyes emptying his own

"A sane person would not pay £25k for a box on wheels & who enjoyes emptying his own "

one has a man to do that plus a cook, butler and chauffeur.

£25k I wish, mine was £8k brand new 9 years ago. Common sense isn't very common.
_______________________________
2007 Land Rover Freelander2 I6 hse Auto

The normal cause of instability in caravans is poor loading. The centre of gravity of the total load has to be in front of the axle otherwise you get a larger sway moment than the resisting moment, which can cause the caravan to start snaking. However, at the same time the centre of gravity should not so far forward as to put too much load on the back of the car thus making the car unstable. The ideal ratio has been shown to be a hitch weight of 7% of the gross caravan weight. However, other factors need to be considered. There is a maximum load for the hitch, normally 100kg although I understand Alco now do a 150kg hitch for their larger chassis, Then there is the maximum nose weight that the tow bar will take which is specified by the car maker and tow bar manufacturer. This is normally between 50kg and 100kg, on the Freelander it is 150kg. Therefore the 7% rule has been adjusted to between 5% and 7% to cater for these differences. Thus the maximum gross weight at 7% to give 100kg nose weight is 1428kg and 5% to give 100kg nose weight 2000kg. 75 kg nose weight would be 1071kg and 1500kg and 50kg nose weight 714kg and 1000 kg total weight of caravan and contents.

To add to all this there is also the legal requirements in that the braked trailer weight given on the V5C for the car should not be exceeded. But because a caravan has quite a large side area compared to say a flat bed trailer and will therefore be more likely to be disturbed from wind forces, there is the recommended 85% rule which suggests that the total weight of the caravan should not exceed 85% of the kerb weight of the car to give a safety margin. It possibly for people with towing experience to tow up 100% of the cars curb weight, but this should not be exceeded. The above assumes a B+E driving licence is held. Remember there are never problems, just new challenges

Much of the above advice is good but even if we have cvan below 85% limit, friction stabiliser fitted to clean towball and noseweight correct there can be problems.
I had disco2 which would easily tow 1400Kg at 60 or even 70mph on continent, but coming back from Dover an idiot came past at about 100 which twitched the van, another fool was chasing him and the pressure wave hit the van at the wrong moment and induced a very scary snake. While it was controlled by gradual slowdown helped by the stabiliser i looked to see if i could get ATC or similar fitted. Sadly the BPW chassis did not have one available.
After a few more years of even more careful towing when we replaced it i made sure we got one with ALKO chassis with ATC.
BTW BPW also make a similar system now.
And if you buy expensive LRs they have a good system too. FL2 11 S Black 😂
Gone Disco2 TD5 GS

What you said dwjohnm about slowing is exactly the correct action if the van does start swaying. Keep steering straight and gently slow down. Where people go wrong is trying to correct it on the steering which makes the situation worse. Remember there are never problems, just new challenges

or braking. Common sense isn't very common.
_______________________________
2007 Land Rover Freelander2 I6 hse Auto

As I have stated before in previous replies, I got in to a snake on the M56 as luck has it nobody was around me I managed to control it by turning against the snake until I had slowed and straightened out. Turned out to be stabilizer pads disintegrated.
My dad also a caravaner lost two vans through tyre failure and the vans were destroyed, he had a blade stabilizer fitted to both. Freelander 2 TD4 GS 2011 Manual Satorini Black (Current)
Freelander TD4 S 2004 Silver Manual (Gone)
Landrover Series 3 Manual Long Wheel Base Safari (Gone)
Landrover series 2A Manual Short Wheel Base (Gone)
Numerous different vehicles inbetween

Agree NO braking. As for steering it was just instinct, probably as little as possible. Still recommend ATC or similar, should work even with burst tyre,as it brakes van to straighten up. FL2 11 S Black 😂
Gone Disco2 TD5 GS

the only thing I've found with the atc is going round tight corners, some times you can feel it come on, wouldn't be without it now.
way back when I had a Scania which had an independent trailer brake lever, great for going down hill and if it jack knifed, had to be really quick to use it in time, some smart designer thought it would be good idea to put the leaver next to the handbrake leaver, guess what could happen especially in the dark! Common sense isn't very common.
_______________________________
2007 Land Rover Freelander2 I6 hse Auto

Going back to the picture, the only time I've seen similar was a Police Discovery with a very large trailer. Blocked the M11 and had a lot of presumably very embarrassed plods surrounding it. As with this one, the back of the Land Rover was suspended from the caravan - don't know how you would start to recover that. Ex AA Series III LWB Safari - Gone
300TDi Disco (bought new - terrible car) sent back after 18 months
Freelander 1 Estate - leased, given back at end of lease
200TDi Disco (bought from a mate with 100,000 on the clock) - Gone
Disco 2 TD5 - sold and exported to France
FR2 TD4 GS - Gone
FR2 SD4 HSE - Now changed for a DS
New model ex-demo Evoque S 180 in white
Unable to order a new DS, so gave up. Now have a Volvo S90 Recharge.

just drive away in front wheel drive  Common sense isn't very common.
_______________________________
2007 Land Rover Freelander2 I6 hse Auto