Towing a caravan

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lightning

lightning

Well-Known Member
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High Peak
We've just bought a caravan and the 110 tows it fine, as expected.

However l have a question about the suspension on the 110

The springs are standard, but l've got 4-way adjustable dampers fitted. They are currently on the softest setting which give a better ride quality. But with the caravan attached, should l set the dampers to a firmer setting?
 
lightning said:
We've just bought a caravan and the 110 tows it fine, as expected.

However l have a question about the suspension on the 110

The springs are standard, but l've got 4-way adjustable dampers fitted. They are currently on the softest setting which give a better ride quality. But with the caravan attached, should l set the dampers to a firmer setting?
Click to expand...
Firm them up…

what hitch have you got on the caravan?
 
It's a standard ball hitch but with the AL-KO stabiliser

l can feel a bit of a bounce when we go over a bump in the road, but l've never towed before and this might be normal. After all l've got 1,000 kg on the back.

The actual towing seems effortless for the 110, although it's obviously slower going up hills, however l've currently got my spare ECU fitted as the regular one packed up again.

The spare one is just a standard TD5 map. The regular one was remapped by Dynachip a few years ago so the Defender should be better when that's been refitted
 
Last edited:
The bounce is where the caravan acts like a seesaw & slightly lifts the rear. Pack the caravan correctly & all will be fine.
Don’t speed downhills,
If you sit at 50mph all lorries will overtake you.so get used to a bit of movement from the air turbulence(move to the left a bit when they about to overtake helps)
Flash your lights when they have got past you & it’s safe for them to pull in.
Now if you sit at 57mph you will be doing all the overtaking ;)

you enjoy your travels,(travel early in a morning to avoid traffic jams ;))
 
lt's a small single axle

AD3C462E-AD01-4F51-9335-2AF028C10C0B.jpeg
 
110 will hardly notice that, ensure you have the correct weight at the tow point when loaded [ info should be available in vans instructions ] as may be expected a single axle type can "bob" more than a double axle type and this is where correct loading on the drawbar comes in to limit it. As for your damper setting just experiment and see what is best.
 
Hicap phill said:
The bounce is where the caravan acts like a seesaw & slightly lifts the rear. Pack the caravan correctly & all will be fine.
Don’t speed downhills,
If you sit at 50mph all lorries will overtake you.so get used to a bit of movement from the air turbulence(move to the left a bit when they about to overtake helps)
Flash your lights when they have got past you & it’s safe for them to pull in.
Now if you sit at 57mph you will be doing all the overtaking ;)

you enjoy your travels,(travel early in a morning to avoid traffic jams ;))
Click to expand...
And if he sits at 54 mph every lorry driver on the motorway will curse him for miles.
 
I know that this isn't the answer to your question, but as you are new to towing I will add my two penneth worth, gained from painful experience with weaving / snaking with a trailer.
Make sure that your towball is low enough, many 4x4 can be a bit high which can upset the handling of trailers, particularly on twin-axle setups.
Always have positive nose weight, store all your heavy stuff at the front of the trailer. If the trailer / caravan is heavier towards the rear it WILL snake. A weaving / snaking incident is probably the main cause of caravan accidents, and big 4x4's are just as vulnerable, if not more so, as they are prone to roll over.
If you do get into a weaving / snaking situation slow down gently NEVER try and accelerate out of it, some people claim this works but it doesn't, because speed combined with weight distribution will have been the cause of the weave. That's why many caravan accidents occur on long downhill stretches of road.
Top Gear did an experiment with this a few years ago and the stunt driver admitted that he scared himself when he tried to accelerate out of a weave.
(Anyone who advocates accelerating out of a trailer weave should be bludgeoned at the side of the road with the handle from a rusty hi-lift jack.)
Take care and have fun.
 
l've tried to do everything right.

The caravan came with the motor mover, but l am going to take it to an industrial estate on a Sunday and practice.
There may be occasions when l need to reverse on the road. The caravan also has ATC which apparently applies the caravan's brakes if it detects a loss of control.

l had a tuition on nose weight on the driving course and l also bought a nose weight gauge so will take care to get that right.
 
I would rather reverse a big farm trailer than any of the tiddlers. Plus one on just slowing down to control a weave, do not brake hard but keep steering in the direction you want to go until the weave stops.
When I was a serving Coastguard we had a small trailer to carry extra equipment. Thing was it was small enough not to be seen in the mirrors of out of our Toyota Hilux rescue vehicle. In the excitement of an emergency rescue call heading down a rough track I was only reminded it was there when I spotted it bouncing into view of the interior mirror.:eek::eek::oops:
 
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