How to prevent caravan sway

[@robertwilson1827]

Enjoy your video! Thankyou for sharing your experiences! Would you know somewhere i could buy a set of que cards, for the glovebox, on propper towing techniques, please?? Kind regards, r

[@darylcarson6937]

Keep the weight low is a rule to abide by and not to be broken. This rule gets totally ignored when the decision is made to load the roof with solar panels. The added inertia from the high mass in a dynamic instability instance with have the same effect as 100+ tins of soup in the top cupboards. When the spuikers of sway prevent guidance start addressing this issue and not ignore it the sooner we’ll see positive results.

[@TedHarrold]

I wish caravan and electrical suppliers would stop pushing the Redard knob type brake controller, they are far from adequate, especially when needing to apply the caravan brakes in an emergency. By far the best unit is the Tekonsha P3, it has a large easy to use lever you can apply gradually and will go to the maximum that you have the brakes set at and will not change the settings, it also does all the important diagnostics and readouts, it also can tell you when the brake coils are warn and shorting out on the drums. The Red Arc cannot do any of this. I know, I have had them both. And please stop being precious about your vehicle and mount the unit on the top right hand side of your dash where it is easily seen and safe to use.

[@thelonewolf666]

sway: too light a tow vehicle single axel van

[@Judge_Dredd]

Well, most of this advice does not translate to outside of Australia; in the UK for example, we have specific speed limits for towing of a maximum of 60mph (~96kmh) on Motorways/Dual Carriageways, and a maximum of 50mph (~80kmh) on single carriageways, or less depending on the posted limit, where as in many Aussie States there's no limit for towing. In addition, we have a maximum Nose Weight (Trailer/Caravan) or Drawbar Weight (Vehicle), and we don't all tow with 4x4s. For example my tow car is a Toyota Estate with a Drawbar Limit (weight on the 50mm tow ball) of 75kg, and maximum tow capacity of 500kg unbraked/1800kg braked, my caravan is a twin axle (better for towing) with a Nose Weight Limit of 100kg, and an MTPLM (max laden weight) of 1700kg, so I have to secure load the caravan to ensure that the Nose Weight doesn't exceed the Drawbar of 75kg, with all heavy items best loaded in the tow vehicle, or over the axle(s) of the caravan, with minimum weight items in the rear or at any height within the caravan. So the idea of 60% of the load being forward of the axle would overload the Nose Weight Limit of the caravan, and more importantly the Drawbar Limit of the tow vehicle. My 1973 VW 412LS Estate has a Drawbar Limit of 50kg, and a max braked trailer/caravan limit of 900kg. Interesting video though as I have an open invitation to join my Aussie relatives to join a touring convoy (although I'd elect to hire a Motorhome) for a round trip from Brisbane to Darwin, and obviously I'd follow Aussie rules/laws on anything whilst in the Country. I note on your outfit (British terminology for a tow vehicle/caravan combination), that you have a greased hitch on your tow ball, we normally have an ungreased hitch on modern caravans which employs a passive AL-KO stabiliser system with consists of a set of brake pads inside the hitch mechanism (grease would not be a good idea for this), which is a modern change on the stabiliser bar arrangements that many used to add alongside the greased hitches used on old caravans (and modern trailers), which helps in reducing sway to a great extent. Obviously AL-KO also market the AL-KO ATC active stabiliser, which is a further addition to assist in reducing sway, indeed it's my next purchase. You can still purchase the sway bar passive stabilisers for older caravans here (expensive though) www.strongholddirect.co.uk/products/bulldog-caravan-towing-stabiliser