RV FEATURE
Star Wars or Star Trek? Holden or Ford? Labor or
Liberal? There are plenty of problems to nut out
around the campfire. Here’s another: motorhome
or caravan?
A meaningful understanding of towing weights
is mandatory. What is the towing capacity of the
vehicle? What is its towball maximum?
It’s personal preference, you say. True. So is whether
Picard was a better captain than Kirk. That doesn’t
mean we can’t examine the pros and cons. As for the caravan, what is its ATM, and is that
figure no greater than the towing capacity of the
vehicle? Is its laden towball weight no greater
than the towball maximum of the tow vehicle?
Arguably, the principle difference between
a motorhome and caravan is how the living
quarters are transported from point to point. Are
the living quarters pulled by a separate vehicle,
or are they combined with the vehicle that does
the transporting? Because a trailer rests on a towball, with wheels
positioned a couple of metres behind, a caravan
also needs to be sensibly loaded. Get this wrong
and, at best, it’ll be a little ‘fidgety’ under tow.
But at worst, a poorly loaded van could develop
a dangerous sway.
Therein lies the rub… Assuming it’s not towing a trailer or even a small
vehicle, a motorhome requires less understanding
of weights. It has a Tare and a GVM, and the
difference between them is the payload capacity.
Don’t exceed it, and you’re golden. (There are
exceptions, of course – loading up the very
rear of a motorhome with equipment, such as
a motorcycle, could place undue stress on the
chassis, for example.)
THE WEIGHT OF IT
Towing a caravan rather than travelling in a single
vehicle with a bed and kitchen, etc., in the back,
requires a great deal of forethought, common
sense and education.
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