change from Caravan to a Motorhome

[Clive]

Good to see you on the forum Mel. Yes, I had forgot that detail so hope that your endevours do finally get somewhere. Hope you make York as we shall be there. Generally, We did tow a Swift Challenger 510 4SE with a TDI Land Rover Discovery for a couple of years. This combination was never able to achieve the fuel economy that we get with the Merc 312 based Autotrail Scout we have now. Keeping weight down was paramount with the caravan and to this end I failed miserably with the resultant breakage of the tow hitch on the van and resultant welding and plating in Beziers to be able to get it home. Many complain about the residual capacity of motorhomes but believe me those with caravans fly a lot closer to the edge. Finally the towing vehicle for a caravan tends to be a car working much harder than normally. Not so with a motorhome. regards C&J

[howie]

Your comments on having the extra guest room are spot on Geoff. My brother in law David was having difficulty accommodating his two daughters and four grandchildren on their frequent visits. He was even contemplating a major and costly extension being added to the house until someone suggested he use his Lunar caravan instead. This works a treat, with one of his daughters always staying with the children when they visit, and the kids love it. He is lucky in respect that he has room at the side of the house to park the van, so its just a case of bringing the van up from the compound and connecting the hook up. Works in all weathers and yet another use for your motorhome/caravan. Howard.

[Basil]

I would like to respectfully point out that the 85% 'rule' is in fact only a guideline not a rule at all and is, as quoted by a CClub interperatation as aimed at new or inexperienced towers. You may legally tow up to what was known as the Gross Vehicle Train Weight or what is now known as MAM I believe. Furthermore contrary to your statement moving payload from the van to the car is the recomended, by the CClub, method of improving the weight ratio. Now whilst I would not suggest that it is wise for everyone to tow above 100% it is legally permissable. In the case of my last car/ caravan combination, yes it was large and no it was not restrictive any more than our current motorhome, which is a larger five berth coachbuilt. The caravan had an ex works weight of 820kg and an all up max weight of 1147kg giving a payload of 327kg, bearing in mind that you dont carry the five occupants in the carravan, at 75kgs per person equalling 375kg this is equivelent to a motorhome payload of 702kg! Now add to the caravan payload the towing vehicles payload of 1027kg you have a total payload of 1354kg. Incidently the GVTW or MAM of my towing vehicle is 5025kg, so with this combination fully loaded my ratio was in fact around 41%, with around 1053kg still available to reach the MAM. I also towed the same caravan with an ealier vehicle where the ratio was around 98% with no problem whatsoever. Regarding grease on tow balls most modern caravans use dry towballs as the damping devices use friction on the towball so would be made innoperative by grease, however you do get rust. I can honestly say I enjoyed towing and never had a bad experience the change to a motorhome was just a different experience, currently the motorhome suits what we want but if I thought the need arose I would not hesitate to go back to a caravan. I certainly would never tow with a motorhome as to me it defeats the whole object of the motorhome and you may as well tow a caravan..