Towing Caravans

[RADIOTWO]

Mmm--guess I may be pushing it looking at a petrol Octy 2 Vrs towing a trailer with a car on it then?

The towed car will probably be around 900kgs which means I need to find a trailer weighing less than 500kgs, is that the correct way of looking at it?

Hi and welcome Eddie

Yes that is about it, the trailer must have brakes, but to get your legal figures just look at the data plate (previous post)

I assume you are after towing a kit car or something, (at 900kgs) but make sure the trailer is strong enough to carry

the car.

Radiotwo

[fast_eddie]

Thanks mate and Hi back:thumbup:

I will eventually be towing my 309 gti that is all stripped out with fg bonnet and plastic windows etc-should be about 900ish when done. Cant decide if to go for something like the Vrs and tow the car or something like a hot hatch and hire a van/trailer when needed yet.

cheers

[RADIOTWO]

Thanks mate and Hi back:thumbup:

I will eventually be towing my 309 gti that is all stripped out with fg bonnet and plastic windows etc-should be about 900ish when done. Cant decide if to go for something like the Vrs and tow the car or something like a hot hatch and hire a van/trailer when needed yet.

cheers

Hi Again

Where abouts are you ?

Radiotwo

[Normcall]

My 1.8 TSI Scout tows my Explore 452 like a dream.

The 452 is 2 berth, 6m long, 1100 Kg.

I use the suck'n'see mirrors with a convex on near side and flat on drivers side. As others have saide, easily adjustable from inside. Only real problem is clean car mirrors before attaching and mind the 'join' on the drivers side. The drivers car mirror spots the overtakers just before they get into view (and you want to pull round something in front.

Tow bar fitted by local specialist with no problems once he discovered the scout was different to the Octavia 4x4 estate I told him to expect.

Only done about 5000 miles now, so economy is just over 20 mph, similar to our 2.0 Forester auto but with more 'go'. We don't go far (150m max generally), but often (about every week or two in summer - Littleport just returned from, last week - Bakewell, before that - Winterton, Lincoln, Newbury, Peterborough,Shuttleworh etc.). Soon off to Peterborough, Oswestry,Winterton,Catton Hall, Kelmarsh Hall and that only the next month or two.

Edited 7 June, 2010 by Normcall

[Alex]

I tow a Pennine pop up camper with my Octy 900kgs tows great and will sit above the legal speed limits comfortably. Average around 47mpg towing too.

[arbs]

i'm now looking at one of these...

http://www.adria-mobil.com/default.cfm?j=En&t=Gb&d=Gb&kat=070305&model=502&skupina=Altea#anchor

Really impressed with what I saw at my local dealer, masses of room, decent build, very light for size (1300kg max) and great value. Anyone any opinions/experience?

[IainM1970]

The dealer where I bought my current 'van sells them. They look good for the money and as you say they are light. I would personally prefer a Sprite for the same money but it is going to be heavier. Like cars its all down to the individual.

[yorkarl29]

Evening fellow caravanners, I have an Octavia sport 2.0 td pd and it tows my Bailey 520/4 very well (1320 kg),just came back from Wales mainly dual carriageway and motorway,had it on cruise at about an indicated 62,did 29 mpg, very stable and as it has been remapped it does have a bit extra in reserve (cheers ben from Shark) making it even easier to waft along.

I have concerns about the clutch on occasion from standing start but have to say that it can judder like a lot of others on damp mornings anyway without provocation, appears to be a bit of a tdi pd trait.

car has only done 20k..Believe sports suspension does nelp to keep outfit level and stable.

What concerns me is why do some car drivers travel at 58 mph in middle lane of motor way, I get held up and everyone behind believes it to be caused by the "caravan"

[IainM1970]

What concerns me is why do some car drivers travel at 58 mph in middle lane of motor way, I get held up and everyone behind believes it to be caused by the "caravan"

Too true! Drives me nuts.

[patrolman]

i'm now looking at one of these...

http://www.adria-mobil.com/default.cfm?j=En&t=Gb&d=Gb&kat=070305&model=502&skupina=Altea#anchor

Really impressed with what I saw at my local dealer, masses of room, decent build, very light for size (1300kg max) and great value. Anyone any opinions/experience?

Hi i'v gota 542dk , you wont go far wrong, the european style of caravans with there longer a frame less windows and no frills interia make for a very strong van but at a low weight,

there is only 4 of us so the room inside is fantastic.

[matt_theforce]

quick update, The Detachable Witter towbar has now been fitted with twin electrics. It took Barnsley TowBar centre about 4 hours to fit and show me how to connect the towball.

Roll on wednesday when I pick up the caravan

[IainM1970]

Let us know how you get on - oh and pictures would be good!

[Obadiah]

We are towing a 12ft Gobur folder (Max 1000kg)with a 1.9 105 4x4. No problems at all, keeps up with the traffic, cruises quite happily at 60, although I do have to drop to 5th on long gradients. Car has done 15k miles and fuell consumption has improved to mid 30s. Using milenco aero mirrors with no problems at all. Tow bar is a factory fit removable and is OK, but the wiring is a con! Although it has a 13 pin Euro socket it is not fully wired and the adapter converts to a British 7N socket. Dealer did not see my point of view that what is fitted should be done properly. To convert would cost £40ish for the parts, plus whatever the dealer chose to charge for fitting. As we mainly use sites with hook up we have decided that we can live without it!

[sparky2]

If you are talking about the 'supplementary' wiring kit (£40) then all you get is a fused relay some cable (about 1mm) and a couple of fuse connections and NO PINS for the 13 pin socket to provide the extra power for the fridge/batt charge, I had to buy another 13 pin socket with screw connections so I could wire up the extra 2 pins as the skoda fitted one was crimped on ! cheers - Stuart.

[matt_theforce]

Let us know how you get on - oh and pictures would be good!

Here we go, all photos taken on a camera phone so not brilliant.

Witter Detachable Towbar with Twin Electrics

As you can see there isn't much room under the stabaliser bracket and on the 40mile trip home with the caravan I grounded a number of times and the stabaliser also came off the hook on the caravan so guessing that happened when I had a tight left turn into the storage field looks like I'm going to have to buy an al-ko stabaliser towing hitch, unless I can move the stabaliser bracket enough to stop the bar sliding off the caravan and high enough to not keep grounding.

An heres the Caravan, its a 1993 Abi Jubilee, 5 Berth and is loaded with everything but bedding/food/clothes and doesn't seem to lower the rear of the car by much.

On the run home yesterday the trip recorded 23mpg, 6th gear is now redundant and not useable at legal motorway speeds, other than that the outfit is very well matched, I overtook a number of lorries on the motorway and it barely wobbles and doesn't get sucked in a blown out by much.

Heres looking forward to next weekend with our 1st family outing in it

Matthew

Edited 24 June, 2010 by matt@theforce

[IainM1970]

Nice one. Looks like a nice tidy 'van.

Re the stabiliser bracket, I used one like that about 10 years or so back on a Picasso with a swan neck bracket, biggest problem was the bracket tended to slide up and down the swan neck of the towbar.

The Alko is so much easier to use. Have had one (well several on different 'vans) for a long time and many many miles, can vouch for their effectiveness.

[topcat2006]

I tow a Pennine Pulman 535SE folding camper with mine.

No problems with buffeting around and generally you don't feel the caravan is there.

Typically getting 35-40mpg towing with this and the Shark remap helps. Sometimes it pays to put the DSG into gear and hold it there rather than allowing it to be automatic.

Annoyed that my electrics have no audible or visual warning when the indicators work. According to the dealer they don't need to anymore due to EU legalisation. I have converted the caravan to 13 pin rather than using an adaptor - I think the 13 pin plug is a more sensible design than 7 pin sockets anyway.

Tom

[IainM1970]

I tow a Pennine Pulman 535SE folding camper with mine.

No problems with buffeting around and generally you don't feel the caravan is there.

Typically getting 35-40mpg towing with this and the Shark remap helps. Sometimes it pays to put the DSG into gear and hold it there rather than allowing it to be automatic.

Annoyed that my electrics have no audible or visual warning when the indicators work. According to the dealer they don't need to anymore due to EU legalisation. I have converted the caravan to 13 pin rather than using an adaptor - I think the 13 pin plug is a more sensible design than 7 pin sockets anyway.

Tom

I haven't seen anything changing the rules regarding the indicator warning, keep in mind i'm a member of both clubs and take all the caravan mags! I have a buzzer on mine - however it isn't exactly loud so need to turn off the cd to hear it! However i'm sure i've seen something about some manufacturers own towing electrics read if the caravan lights aren't working through the cars bulb failure system. Might be worth taking a bulb out on your 'van to see if it shows up.

The 13 pin system is so much easier to use. I'm a fan!

[Obadiah]

Bulb failure does work!! Last time out we pulled out of a site and the light came on. Socket wasn't properly seated!!

[gregoir]

I've also got a Westfalia detachable tow hitch , but with single electrics. Carried two push bikes on the hitch(~50lb) plus a boot load of camping gear and the car still sat pretty level on the sport suspension with no adverse effects.

I do not tow though.

[matt_theforce]

Our 1st weekend away is now over

&

We did 170miles travelling from Wakefield to Cropton Forrest (NY Moors), over the weekend and approx 160miles were towing on a mixture of dual carrigeway/B-road/Town and country roads and returned 26.7mpg. Just before we set off I weighed the caravan and had a noseweight of 70kg @ the jockeywheel and 900kg's over the axle so very happy with the weight knowing we are approx 200kg under the caravans towing limit.

I also had to change the normal towing hitch to an Al-Ko with stabilizer built in as no matter what I tried I couldn't get the snake stabilizer to stay on the bracket on the caravan and I have to say I was impressed with the extra level of stability given.

Thankfully SWMBO enjoyed it much more than camping and the weekend has been deemed as a sucess, now planning another weekend away in a fortnight

Edited 4 July, 2010 by matt@theforce

[mdk1]

Glad you had a good weekend.

We used to tow a 1100kg Bailey with a 2.0tdi with sports suspension, went like a dream and around 28mpg most of the time in 5th.

We used Milenco Areo mirriors

Also Towsure are good for bits and pices.

http://www.towsure.com/

[IainM1970]

Glad it went well.

We are just back from a 10 day trip taking in Perth, Banchory and Fraserburgh - so probably 500 towed miles.

This is us at Riverside CL just outside Perth.

The vRS just keeps impressing more and more as a towcar.

Away again in a week - bring it on.

[skippy41]

Why not just get a combined hitch stabiliser much easier and no grounding

http://www.proppa.com/alko-caravantrailer-hitch-stabiliser-triple-pack-aks3004-10896-p.asp

Like this and you can get them cheaper from most caravan outlets

Edited 11 July, 2010 by skippy41

[john1280]

Hi folks I have just paid £241 for a towbar with twin electrics which was fitted at my home by a specialist company .Far better than the dealer quote !!

2007 Octy estate .