Safety Tips for Towing a Caravan
Don’t let the excitement of a caravan holiday make you complacent. You should have a caravan safety checklist for towing to ensure your safety and those of others on the road. This guide will highlight essential safety reminders for a safe and enjoyable caravan experience.
Caravan Safety Checklist: Pre-Trip Planning
To avoid or reduce the risk of road accidents when towing a caravan, you must follow these pre-trip planning tips and checklist.
- Ensure your tow vehicle and caravan are appropriately maintained before your scheduled trip. The engine and its components should be in top condition, and everything should work perfectly. If there are any issues, make sure to get them checked before you depart.
- Check the couplings and chains on your tow vehicle and equipment. Make sure they are correctly and securely fastened.
- Check the caravan brakes to ensure they are in perfect condition. Check the wheel bearings to avoid overheating.
- Pack a fire extinguisher in your caravan. If it is equipped with smoke alarms, test the alarms to ensure they are working correctly.
- Avoid overloading your caravan because it will be more difficult to tow. Come up with a packing checklist to ensure you take only the essential items. It also pays to research the facilities available at your caravan holiday destination, so you know what you can omit from your packing list.
Caravan Safety Checklist: Before Departure
Before you head off on your holiday, you can perform additional checks on your towing vehicle and caravan. Complete these safety checks to ensure you are ready to embark on that journey.
- Aside from checking the correct pressure on the caravan tyres, check the spare tyre pressure, too.
- Check the tread depth on the tyre and the casings. They should not be cracked or show signs of damage.
- Tighten the wheel nuts on the caravan. Check the manufacturer’s specifications on how tight they should be.
- Fasten the coupling securely and properly. Make sure it is of the appropriate size, too.
- Check the lighting connections of the caravan to ensure that they are working efficiently and can provide adequate lighting, especially when driving at nighttime.
- Ensure proper weight distribution between the tow vehicle and the caravan. Check for correct and appropriate balance from the front to the rear as well as both sides.
- Always pack wheel chocks and a jack stand in case you need to change tyres on the road.
- Check that the gas cylinders in the caravan are closed.
- If you have an awning in the caravan, roll it out and store it properly while driving the tow vehicle. Do the same for the windows, roof hatches, and stone shields. Move the TV antenna to the travel position (if any).
- Disconnect and stow away any electrical cords inside the caravan.
- Put away any loose items inside the caravan. This step is vital to avoid any imbalance in the weight distribution of the caravan while it is being towed.
- Make sure to release the hand brakes on the caravan.
- Check the wheel bearings to ensure they are correctly adjusted and have adequate lubrication.
- Inspect the wheel brakes to ensure they are working.
- Double- or triple-check that the tow bar and hitch are correctly locked in position before you set off on your caravan holiday.
- Make sure that the mass of your caravan does not exceed the tow bar capacity, the maximum towing mass of the towing vehicle, and the manufacturer’s recommendation on the maximum ball weight of the towing vehicle.
Caravan Safety Checklist: During the Drive
There are special concerns and safety precautions that a driver must consider while towing a caravan. It also requires a higher level of knowledge and driving skills than traditional driving. Here are the safety reminders when driving your towing vehicle and caravan on the way to your destination:
- During your rest stops, place the back of your hand close to each caravan wheel. Check the amount of heat coming from the wheels. When the wheels are too hot, it could indicate a braking or wheel-bearing fault.
- Check the tyre pressures to make sure that they are adequately inflated. Take a tyre inflator with you on the trip to ensure that you can maintain the tyre pressure.
- Check the caravan connections to ensure that they are secure and there are no loose connections.
- Check any other items on the caravan and the tow vehicle to ensure that none have come loose.
- Check the position of the side mirrors. If there are any blind angles, reposition the mirror a few times to check the angle that offers the best view, especially behind the caravan.
- Drivers must consider the added length and weight of the tow vehicle and the caravan when passing other vehicles or entering traffic.
- When braking or accelerating, make it slow and gentle. Sudden changes in speed or braking can cause the caravan to sway or lose control.
- Reduce speed when larger vehicles pass in either direction of the caravan. Wind buffering can cause the caravan to sway slightly, so it is a must to slow down.
- Choose a route with hard surfaces over uneven roads. The latter can promote swaying or make it more difficult to control the caravan.
- Always maintain proper distance between your tow vehicle and the vehicle in front, ensuring you have a longer stopping distance.
- When parking in reverse, ask someone to step out of the vehicle and guide you from the rear of the caravan.
- Take as many rest stops as needed. Towing a caravan is a more stressful driving experience than everyday driving.
The Bottom Line
Make safety your utmost priority when towing a caravan for a holiday. There is no compromise around it because it’s not just your safety that is a concern here, but also the public you are travelling with on the road.
Use the caravan safety checklist provided here to check the condition of your caravan and towing vehicle and ensure they are road-worthy. Planning can ensure that you can mitigate the risks of traveling with a caravan and ensure that you can enjoy a stress-free holiday experience.
Fortis Caravans NZ are the exclusive distributors of Urban Caravans in New Zealand. Urban Caravans offer high quality Australian manufactured caravans for NZ customers with a range of vans to suit your specific requirements.