A quick video on how we hitch up and head off with the caravan in tow. Some simple safety considerations and common sense mean no arguments and less stress for the trip ahead.
any respected caravaner will gladly help you in any way regarding caravaning camping. never be too proud, or think you are disturbing thair peace by asking for advice we share a common interest and most treat each other as friends and even family. i have a massive 54 years of knowledge in every aspect of every type of outdoor camping and i still don't know all there is to know, so don't assume you should with your limited experience. there are many caravaners/campers on many forums you can request advice or just chat and share you experiances with like minded people. check them out Lucy , if you get stuck you can always ask me, glad to help. HAPPY CARAVANING-CAMPING. may the weather be kind to us.
When I hitch-up as an additional check before lifting and securing away the Jockey wheel I wind the jockey wheel handle down until I see it lifting the caravan and car together. Thereby confirming the caravan is securely connected to the tow ball! Then continue as you instructed. Thank you for a very clear an concise video.
just a little note, you held the hitch lock open then pushed it down when you lowered the caravan via the jockey wheel, nauthy boy, you should lower the caravan and let the hitch lock on its own snap into place on the tow ball. then crank the jockey wheel to raise the caravan and car to confirm its locked into place, then raise the jockey wheel. hopefully aswell you didnt have the handbreake engaged while in storage, as this can cause brakes to stick. nobody's perfect, .... well, i am when the wifes not looking,.... many caravaners learn from your great video's hope you guys keep making them, informative and fun to watch.
Another great video and clear explanations, much appreciated. Over the next few weeks, we will be going through many of your videos picking up your knowledge to aid us on our travels.
I really appreciate your calm way of explaining things. We plan to head to Europe in 10 years to caravan and watching your videos is a fun and informative way to spend the evening. Cheers!
Hi from New Zealand, great tips and hints on your videos. Thank you. Thankfully we have reverse cameras in the cars,i cant afford a divorce and pay for the caravan.
nice info for everyone, can I just say that it's always good practice to check the hitch had located correctly not just by the green indicated button but by also winding up the jockey wheel to raise both the car and van this will show if the hitch hasn't located, better for this to fail now than when you drive off had to help many caravanner after this has occurred.
Hi Ray, you are 100% spot on. I usually use the jocky when and stabiliser handle to lift and check that indeed it is located and hitched on the car. You cannot always trust those indicators. I should have filmed that part - but Thank you for raising it. Thanks again for your comment. Dan
Dan Thanks for the video, just seen this as both me and my girlfriend are looking at a caravan!! The hand signals you use are slightly different from the Emergency Response Driving Courses I have done, like you said they are what suits you and I think most people would get them also. Thanks again and loving the series so far!!
I wish I had seen this video before I tried going away with my caravan for the first time. Car and caravan parted company at the first turn 200 metres from home. Big adventure and huge lesson learnt. Fortunately no one was hurt and caravan was fine. All that needed repair was the breakaway cable (which did its job well) and the stabiliser thingee needed new friction pads as one pad was split (which is why, so the caravan dude thinks, it didn’t connect caravan to car properly. Live and learn.
lucky escape there joanne , having been 26 years as a tyre technician i have witnessed every mistake and consiquence of a failing to do proper safety checks before towing a caravan, you got off lightly mam, there are many youtube vids to help guide you through the checks you should make prior to setting off on your camping journey. hope you not put off by your 1 time mistake. happy caravaning and camping. .........
great video again I found fitting a reversing camera a must as my wife usually wanders off talking to everyone or stands behind the pillar so I cant see her lol
Thats a good idea. Do you get close to the 'van then get out and manually check or are you able to just get it under straight away ? Thanks for your comment ! Dan
I go slow when I'm near and just and so nudge the bumper protector and drive forward a inch and that's it and because the camera is bang on in the middle its a piece of cake
Cheers for the information, we are new to caravaning and found your site, the details you provide are really helpful for us newbies... Keep up the good work 👍 Thanks again, Andy and Tina.
Just to add.. We have motor movers fitted, I'm guessing it would be better for us to move the caravan to the car using the movers rather than the other way around?
When you have lowered the nose of the caravan to level it, it is worth remembering to raise it up again so that the hook will pass under the hitch snd not ram into it. Excellent video. I will show this to my wife and educate her ;-)
Just bought my first Caravan so enjoying watching your videos - Some really good info to be found for sure. If your car doesn't have a reversing camera, you can easily buy a wifi action camera (like a GoPro) from a well known auction site for about £15. This will have a suction mount so you can stick it to the tailgate and view the live video on your phone...But don't forget to take the camera off once you are hooked up !
THANKS SO MUCH :-) I'm just about to go off but haven;t used my van for about a year and I was feeling SO RUSTY! AND I have to do it on my own (my BF is not into it at all - and he's at work) so I was really nervous. You're both lovely as you make me feel it doesn't matter if I take a few attempts to get it right. I'm just going to take time.
Hi Cat, thats great to hear - its always good to make a few mistakes, it makes you realise you're only human & in the end its character building. Enjoy your trip take care Dan
Hi Trudgians, thank you so much for your videos, I really like and learned from them so far. I am a beginner and I really miss videos from inside the van. How you connect the fridge, the stove etc. So are there any? ;) H. Maria
I'm just starting out, been out once managed to do great at reversing but as on gravel we needed to just pull it manually struggled so I'm go to get a square piece of wood to put under the jocky wheel hopefully then no problems 🙂
Hi Dan: Greetings from Pittwater, Australia. As you alluded to a better connection point for the breakaway cable may I suggest that the connection point should be totally independant of the tow bar/ball fittings in case you have a catastrophic seperation of the towbar from the tow vehicle. This is mandatory here but few carravaners take heed of the requirement. A friend recently had his 4WD serviced and 10 of the 12 bolts securing the tow bar had sheared off!. Admittedly he does dirt roads with a heavy van.
Dan, great video.. I am fortunate enough on my current car (Honda CRV) to have a reversing camera that means I can connect on my own. Previously we did the caravan club towing course, and they teach the 'bringing the hands together'. It is very useful.. For the guy having problems with caravan not going low enough. I have found that on sloping sites, and have had to stop, put front legs down, re adjust the hitch lock to a different position and then wind down again. I have another comment about packing the caravan, but will post on that video..
HI Darren, thank you for your comment. Its one thing that Angela & I never did - and that was the towing course. We literally sat one evening and came up with a solution that works for us. All noted on the adjustment for the towing height. I had to do the routine you suggest on a site where i couldn't get the nose low enough because of a sloped pitch. Thanks again. Dan
For 14 years I have been just pushing in the13 pin plug to the car socket, not knowing that one should give it a 90 deg turn. I've just learnt this and will do it properly next time out...I hope. Also, on a manoeuvring course, the instructor twisted the cable until it "spiralled" and became shorter. I personally just use a shock cord to hold the cable close to the stabiliser.
Just 1 extra safely check I add to that.... Once attached to the car I wind the jockey wheel back up slightly to check the back of the car raises (only slightly tho!!!) Lol
when i hitch up i just use mirrors to get aligned then reverse till my sensors say u are close [but il always stop so im further away so no damage done] then il use me caravan brake and its a good brake and manually move the caravan into position then lower down and this is on a down facing slight hill, never had a prob yet, i could ask mum to guide but she wont b like angela and might not kno how to tell me to turn so its best i do it and she fills caravan like angela [but i distribute it for weight] and i do outside checks etc but things like my mirrors go on last then we set off after final checks, also i check my lights, sidelights and fogs then indicators and brakes i have a pole i put onto my brake pedal [to check brake lights] ignition on but not engine so no danger then i can check all ok after all driver responsible for the load etc so driver knows all is ok, great vid sorry to go on
We are new to Caravaning and just had our first tow from dealer to secure storage. All went well till it came To un hitching. The al-ko stab leaver was so stiff son had to use a wooden hammer handle as an extra brace to . Release it. Can u by chance tell us (pair of oldies in our late 70’s) what we shoulddo please we have learnt a lot from your videos. Thank you for doing them
Hi Margaret. We've had our 'van just over a year now and had exactly the same experience as you the first time we towed it home from the dealer. My wife rang the dealer to ask how to lift the stabiliser off. It was just a question of using enough force, which I then did. It was a bit unnerving the first time but I've got used to it since. I was surprised, though, that first time just how much oomph it needed.
We always use the motor mover - two reasons - we park with the nose up against the garage as this puts the door adjacent to the back gate - we dont have arguments. Another reason is we have the AL-CO wheel lock which has the space between two spokes millimeter accurate to fit which is easier to do with a motor mover
SAFETY WARNING The green indicator highlighted at 8:12 is NOT an indication of secure hitching, it is a wear indicator for the friction pads in the hitch-head stabiliser. Also, I would not recommend wrapping the wiring cable around the bellows, but would retract enough cable back into the a-frame to leave enough slack for manoeuvring.
Great video again, but just watched your safety video with you saying you check everytime that the hitch is attached to the car by lifting up the hitch. Or pulling up before the stabiliser is locked down.
Hi im new to caravaning and will be picking my van up next week. But im not sure of nose weight, i have a kia sorento 14 plate and ive been told the car towbar nose weight is 100kg ?. Also im not sure about the nose weight of the caravan, it a 2009 bailey pageant provence series 7? So when i pick it up its going to be empty , is that going to be ok to tow safely to tow to the storage facility .
Hi Steve, A good point. We generally don't use the motor mover. We only use it when i simply cannot get the 'van in place or when its simply too tight to move the outfit about etc. We do find that its really quick to hitch up with Angela watching and directing etc. If i was on my own i think it would be a different matter etc.
Hi, thanks for the video. What is the problem when the caravan hitch won't go low enough to drop onto the tow ball? I don't have too much weight in my boot and I end up trying to get the car higher than my caravan.
Hi Chris that sounds quite odd. Have you tried repositioning the cocky wheel ? So, put your steadies down, wind up the jockey wheel, then pull up closer to the hitch itself, then lock and wind back down to the ground level. This will give you the ability of getting the caravan hitch closer to the ground. I would also add, it may be worth getting your tow bar height checked over. Just to ensure its not too low. Thanks Dan
Hi Guys, I'm wondering if you could tell me how one goes about getting a number plate for the secondhand caravan we just recently bought, the two previous ones we had was bought from a dealer brand new and was attached on collection so a little in the dark.
Go to a car parts place - possibly even Halfords? that sell number plates. Take your vehicle document with you to prove ownership of that number. Buy the new plate !
Hi Barry, to be honest ive never had any issues. Its different on our new caravan as the wire is shorter, but if the bellows compress, they dont grip the cable, the cable simply squeezes out. remember the bellows are only a soft rubber that easily deform (their intended design) Hope that helps
Just watched this video & on the whole it's very good however just two points I personally would never put the electric cable around the hitch bellows for fear of crushing the cable under heavy breaking & I would always wind the jockey wheel back up slightly to double check the hitch is fully engaged even with the green indicator showing, Keep up the good work tho :-)
Hi Stev, have a look for the hitch up safety checks video - it goes into more detail on the hitching process. This video was only meant to cover how we work as a team on reversing the car to the caravan - but typically i forgot to show a step in the process ;-) Also the cable around the bellows is okay, their is nothing around that area to crush the cable - its silly that this cable is so long really. Hope that helps. Dan
Why not shorten the cable? Not by cutting and re-making the plug (don't go there, they are a pain) but by pulling it back. Mine is held against the caravan chassis with cable ties until it disappears up through the floor; so quite easy to pull back any slack and re-tie it with the slack under the floor instead of on the road.
Why do you not need a safety chain as well. If caravan breaks away comply it may cross the centre line before it stops- i.e. worn break pads etc. i have seen how narrow some of the smaller roads are in G B
I'm in New Zealand and have recently bought an English caravan with connector exactly as shown in this video. However the red button on top of the connector does not pop up! Why is this?
I take it you mean the "connector" to the tow ball, which is called the hitch. ("Connector" usually refers to the electrical plug). Anyway, if it is the hitch indicator button there is something wrong with your hitch, and it is dangerous. Get it seen to before you tow. It might be worn out or sticking.
Hi Guys,???the stabilizer `green indicator` ..that shows the `hitch` is connected?????...does it?? [your words]...the `green indicator` [on hitches that have them] shows this doesnt it....the green indictor on the stabilizer indicates the stabalizer is connected??...slightly confused//...wrapping the electric around the `bellows`..could that not get trapped when [if] you reverse]??
Hi, so to be clear there are 2 things on the hitch head that need clarification. 1 the hitch. The mechanical attachment of caravan to car. 2. The stabliser, the item that enforces some friction to the ball to reduce instability. The green indicator is designed to show the caravan is properly connected to the tow ball. it has no indication of the stabiliser. there are separate indicators to show wear etc. Also the electric cable is not wrapped, but placed across the bellows. they are soft, rubber so even when reversing the bellows will collapse but not crush a cable. 6 years of doing this so far, and still no issues or damage. I hope that helps and clears up any confusion. Take care Dan
good for you! this i think is now becoming the norm on many cars. I have one to install, but the prospect of taking interior panels off, makes me want to paint the bathroom even more.
