Pack your caravan correctly and you'll keep your outfit
well balanced to stay safe in transit. And as Martin Healing explains, it's not what you pack – it's the way that you pack it
Below is an extract from the full article published in the April 2006 issue of Practical Caravan.
My home is very close to one of the main routes into Cornwall. Throughout the summer I hear local radio reports about how part of the route is blocked due to an accident involving a caravan. While speeding is a major cause of accidents, more often that not they result from caravans that become unstable
as a result of poor loading.
There is often a temptation to think of your caravan as one big storage space on wheels, leading you to cram every available locker and drawer with everything you could ever possibly need until you're right up to the MTPLM. If you really must take a full load of equipment with you,
it's vital that you think about packing it in a way that doesn't unbalance your caravan.
One area that is all too easy to overload is the front locker. Placing too many items in here means you can easily exceed the noseweight limit of both your car and your caravan. It's for this reason that some manufacturers now make the front locker deliberately small. If you consider that this space usually already contains a couple of heavy gas bottles, a spare wheel, a mains lead and levelling blocks inside the front locker, it already takes up a vast chunk of your payload before you start thinking of adding 'just one more thing'.
Remember that noseweight limits exist for a reason. Exceed them and your tourer won't be able to perform on the road to its best ability. And it's for this reason that exceeding your car's noseweight limit will invalidate its insurance and warranty, as well as turning your outfit into a liability on the road that could endanger your passengers and other road users.
It's equally important to pay attention to how you store items inside the caravan. Heavy items, such as the awning, should always be placed on the floor as close as possible to the caravan's axle. Placing the awning at the van's rear will make the van tail-heavy, causing a pendulum effect that could lead to 'snaking', with the ultimate effect of the caravan taking control of the car. This will cause you to lose control of your outfit completely, ending your holiday before it's even begun.
Medium-weight items, such as chairs and empty Aquarolls, should always be placed at floor level equally allotted to the front and rear. This will help to counteract the heavier items that you have already placed in the centre of the van. Lightweight objects are the only items that can be placed at head-height in the upper lockers; placing heavy items up there will also contribute to snaking.
As is the case with the front locker, you must also avoid the temptation to overload other large storage areas in the caravan because this can also affect the stability of your outfit. For instance, just because there is a large void beneath your rear fixed bed,
don't be tempted to fill it up with heavy items, or you'll end up with that pendulum effect. Likewise, your luxury end-washroom van might have his-and-hers wardrobes and a floor area to
rival that of a ballroom, but
don't make the mistake of placing all the heavy gear in there, thus risking an accident.
Remember that you can also transport some items in your car.
I travel with my awning on the back seat, for instance, and in some cases your car's boot or roof box can make a safe alternative
to overloading your caravan.
|
