Towing

Having had my V70 for a month and am completely happy with it I am thinking of purchasing a caravan. I have no experience at towing. I have spoken to the sales people at my local caravan showroom who advise my V70 2.4 petrol will have no problem towing a large caravan, is there anyone out there that can advise me on the pitfalls of towing with the V70. I appreciate the wear and tear on the rear suspension with the additional weight, the clutch and of course the mpg, is there anything else I should be aware of.
Thanks
V70 driver

Hi

I'm in a similar position to you - but in reverse. I already had part-ownership of a caravan and have recently bought a 2.4 170 V70 Auto for towing. I had to use my father-in-law's Discovery up until now. I have had a dual electric Witter towbar fitted to the V70 but have not had the chance to test it out yet. The price came in at around £250, but the chap at the installation centre wouldn't put any other make of bar on a Volvo.

In terms of general advice on towing you just have to take things very steady - everything takes longer to do and so needs more anticipation and awareness. Braking sooner, accellerating more smoothly and always having an awareness of where the van in in relation to your carriageway. You'll notice that the wind has much more of a influence on you - especially from overtaking high sided vehicles. With the Discovery, this was not too much of a problem if you keep an eye on the drivers door mirror and know when such a vehicle was approaching. Also be very careful with the loading of the caravan, not only with overall weight, but in its distribution too. Not too much in the front and rear ends. The Caravan Club have decent 'getting started' literature on their website and also run towing driving courses.

Hope this helps

Originally Posted by V70driver

Having had my V70 for a month and am completely happy with it I am thinking of purchasing a caravan. I have no experience at towing. I have spoken to the sales people at my local caravan showroom who advise my V70 2.4 petrol will have no problem towing a large caravan, is there anyone out there that can advise me on the pitfalls of towing with the V70. I appreciate the wear and tear on the rear suspension with the additional weight, the clutch and of course the mpg, is there anything else I should be aware of.
Thanks
V70 driver

anything else you shuld be aware of? what about the mayhem and havoc your about to inflict on us innocent non hutch towing motoristists who get stuck behind you deviants.

[James_N]

Im thinking of getting a caravan too. My 740 2.3 should be more than capable of towing a decent sized caravan.

I also have never towed anything but common sense says to take your time.

[CTCNetwork]

Hi,

Originally Posted by chow

anything else you shuld be aware of? what about the mayhem and havoc your about to inflict on us innocent non hutch towing motoristists who get stuck behind you deviants.

Any other valuable contributions you have to make?

Back to the topic though, a few things to make sure of:

• Any caravan is not much more than 85% of your cars kerb weight (car, 3/4 tank and driver - depending on whos definition you take)
• Make sure that the above weight is not above the max towing allowance for the vehicle - check with the dealer on the exact figures.
• Make sure you know what the nose weight is and the hitch weight for the car. Most likely 70Kg. Check your laden caravan using either a propriety scale or bathroom scales and a piece of wood.
• Load your caravan C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y... Heaviest items above the caravan axle, on the floor. Distribute the load carefully, Heavy bottom - light top. Do not compensate for a heavy nose weight by putting heavy stuff at the tail, it doesn't work - recalculate your load.
• Never carry more in the caravan that its Max permissable weight. Ever.

If in doubt, get a decent caravan magazine and have a read through..

And enjoy your holidays..

Des. . .

[Alec Dawe]

As above, and join the Camping and Caravanning Club.
I may upset some people here, but we found that the Camping and Caravanning Club was more 'children friendly' than the Caravan Club, but that may just be my biased perspective!
You'll save the membership fee with the members discount on a site in less than a fortnight, And the C&CC do 'initiation' courses, for novice towers, including reverse parking, reversing through a gateway etc etc. Well worth it.
I was a member for 10 years when we had a 'van.
Also, should you wish to venture abroad, they do 'all inclusive' packages, arranging foreign site bookings, ferries etc etc. We went abroad using their services at least four times, without any hint of a problem at all, everything went as smooth as silk.

BTW chow. I don't think I ever got in your way!

Black Forest to Delft in 8 hours! Towing that is.

Hello Alec,
I have looked in to the CaCC and the CC to seek advise. My children are still very young and we all feel we could achieve a lot of use from a caravan. We have no experience of this but a lot of my colleagues swear by it, the best thing since sliced bread. The Caravan we have seen is very nice and superbly equipped.
Over the years we have flown abroad as I am in the flying business, but thanks to Mr Bin Laden, he has curtailed all the benefits we used to enjoy.
Also I would like to see more of this country.
Cheers
V70 driver

Join either club and take things easy , be careful not to exceed the noseweight of 75kg , my v70 tdi pows an abbey vouge gts (1400kg) with no problems - I mostly find that its the sunday drivers who hold me up when towing ( need a good clear road to overtake them !! ) my old 740 with the b230k engine struggled a bit with this caravan.
don`t forget to fit towing mirrors when towing - I know it sounds daft but the number of people I`ve seen - and been stuck behind because they couldn`t see me - defies belief.
If you see a long line of traffic behind pull over at the next safe place and let them past .
happy caravaning !!!