RV FEATURE

And then , it ’ s important to consider why the sway occurred in the first place . Was it a freak incident caused by environmental conditions ? Was the tow vehicle unsuitable ? Or was the van improperly loaded ?

TIGHT SPOTS

If you ’ re new to towing , you will soon learn that manoeuvring your rig in tight spaces , such as supermarket carparks , is not easy .

The best advice : unless you are completely confident and have an ‘ exit strategy ’ – how will you turn the rig around again ? – then just avoid them . Keep driving until you find somewhere open , safe and sensible to park , allowing you to get back on the road with a minimum of emotional expenditure .

REVERSING

A word on backing up the van . This is not for the faint of heart and never feel embarrassed about asking for help . In time , your skills will develop . Nowadays , I ’ m as cool as a cucumber . But when I finally arrived on site at my Great Ocean Road destination , do you think I could back the van ? No – I was the butt of many jokes that evening .

The advice that finally turned things around for me : hold the wheel at the bottom and turn it in the direction you wish the van to travel . This helps the brain overcome the fact that you need to turn the wheel in the opposite direction to the direction you ’ d turn it when unhitched .

GORV CONTRIBUTOR MARTY LEDWICH RECALLS PICKING UP THIS FIRST VAN …

Marty ' s first rig : a Nissan Patrol and a River caravan .

I remember when we pick up our first caravan . Before then , we had done all our travelling in camper trailers and I think the biggest trailer I had ever towed was a large tradie ’ s trailer . This new van was 17ft long and weighed 2200kg .

We were going to have to tow it home from Springvale to Craigieburn , Vic , along Citylink in peak-hour traffic . I wasn ’ t prepared for this in any way at all . It was a nerve-wracking drive .

When we finally got home , we wanted to plug the van into power and try it out . We virtually forgot everything we were told during handover .

Regardless of how much experience you think you ’ ve had camping and towing small trailers , the first time with a caravan can be an overwhelming experience .

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