Without exception, dangling a trailer on the back of your chariot will alter all it's handling characteristics.
In all but a few cases, the first thing is, the back end will sag. The only exceptions here are with cars like Citroens, with hydraulic suspension.
I own a Xantia, but like the BX before it, and the C5 after, and the CX, SM, XM, and GS/GSA ranges, the car sits level whether solo, with a caravan, or a concrete coal bunker in the back. Primarily because all the Citroens mentioned have hydropneumatic suspension.
As the trailer has the effect of pushing the tail of the car down, the nose appears to run high. This in turn affects the steering.
If the rear springs or shock absorbers on the car are not 100%, as both the car and trailer negotiate bumps and imperfections in the road surface, the back of the car moves up and down in an arc, changing the steering as it moves. If any component of the rear suspension is worn, this oscillation will appear to be magnified. In extreme conditions, loss of control will occur. Do you fancy driving a car when the steering is only 50% responsive? I don't!
Cornering with a single axle caravan is easier than with a twin axle, as the caravan simply pivots about the axle.
With a twin axle 'van, (TA) the pivot is between the front and rear axles, and so the caravan wants to try and go in a straight line!
This is most apparent when demonstrated in a car park.
If you've ever watched an articulated lorry negotiate a tight turn, you'll see that the axle bearing the least weight gets dragged sideways, leaving tyre marks on the road. A TA will leave marks too, if pulled around a tight enough bend. Like when on site, or when hitching up!
The 'backwards and forwards' motion that you'll feel for the first 50 miles or so, is called 'hunting'. Hunting is not dangerous, but it may cause travel sickness.
The 'up and down' motion is 'pitching' or 'yawing' is usually indicative of a problem with nose weight, or suspension, or more likely bad loading. This can be dangerous if not corrected.
The sideways 'swing' of trailers is called 'snaking' and is very dangerous! If not corrected, this will eventually get so wild that it snatches control of the outfit, and can either spin the whole outfit around, jack-knife or even flip the towcar over!
It has happened! Some episodes of Police, Camera, Action! have footage of the tail wagging the dog, and thus we see pictures of the remains of rampant caravans!
Because trailers over a certain weight have to be fitted with a braking system, the simplest system is fitted, usually the 'over-run' type.
The end of the 'A' frame (the pointy bit at the front) has a housing that a piston can slide in. The piston is held in a forward position by a spring. At the front of the piston is an inverted cup that fits over the ball on the back of the tug, and the back of the piston rests against a pivoted bar that is attached to the cable that operates the brakes.
Thus, as the outfit loses speed, and the spring pressure is overcome, the piston slides backwards and pulls the brake cables, thus the trailer brakes start to apply and this will assist the whole outfit to slow down.
You'll 'feel' the back end of the car dip when the trailer brakes apply, and heavy, or very sudden braking, may well cause the trailer wheels to lock up.
If the trailer tries to slow more quickly than the tug, the piston is pulled forwards, and the brakes are released.
All newer caravans have a 'breakaway' cable attached. This cable is attached at the trailer end to the lower part of the brake pivot lever, and has a 'dog-collar' type clip on the other end. The idea of this is to attach the loose end to a strong point on the tug (not around the towball!) so if car and caravan become parted, the cable will try to apply the trailer brakes, in order to limit the potential for damage.
There is also the thorny problem of rearward vision. In the UK, the law simply states that you must have adequate rearward vision. Define adequate.
This very subject came up on Clic recently. Some Clicers preferred their big, chunky hook'n'strap type mirrors, and others favoured their lackey band mirrors! The former have their own frame, and hook over the door, whilst the latter strap over the tug's existing mirrors.
When I first started towing in 1978, I had a Renault 12 saloon and a Sprite 400. The 12 was quite a narrow car, and the Sprite was just over 2 metres wide. I needed towing mirrors! The first ones I tried were the expanding sort by Raydyot. They waggled around at anything over 40 mph when towing, and whistled when solo! So I bought a pair of door-brace mirrors. Managed to break one last year when I tried sticking them on the borrowed tug!
When we went on holiday last year, we used a Tata Safari pulling a Sprite Musketeer. Now, the Tata isn't the mightiest forby (forby-four or 4x4) about, and the Sprite isn't the widest of caravans, so with little fidgeting in my seat, I could see down both sides of it, and because the Tata is fairly high, I could see through the 'van. Things would only have been improved marginally by towing mirrors.
I maintain that my rearward vision was adequate, but a really pedantic copper could have argued otherwise.
Pulling out from crossroads was scary in the Tata. It was underpowered to begin with, but add a few hundred kilos to the back end, and the skin of rice puddings springs to mind!
So, setting off, you'll use more engine revs to get moving, the steering appears strange, and unless you have self-levelling suspension, you'll notice a slightly nose-up attitude to the car.
Passengers with a slightly less robust constitution may suffer from queasiness.
When you decelerate or brake very gently, the car will have the tendency to run on beyond where you think it ought to stop. This can lead to panic, and jumping on the brakes will not help the situation!
You'll need to change gear much more often, and if you have an auto, the gearbox may 'hunt', or continually flick up and down between gears.
You must remember to keep away from the left-hand kerb, the violent bouncing of the 'vans nearside wheel will probably help remind you of that! But if you clip the kerb whilst turning left, you could be deeply embarrassed.
Not as much as the guy with a Granada I watched in London once. He was towing a fairly big caravan, and he'd got the nearside 'van wheel up against the kerb. The kerb was granite, and at that point was a bit high. Well, he tried to pull the 'van up it, and the neck of the towball snapped! I'd heard of it happening, but this was the only time I'd witnessed it!
Of course, it was the councils fault for building high kerbs, the towbar makers fault for not building to higher specifications, my fault for being there, his wife's fault for not being there, and when I suggested it just may have been something to do with him hauling the trailer up a wall, he went mental! Told me what I could do and all sorts.
Until that point I was going to try and help him, but after that tirade, I left him to it. Passed the same spot about 4 hours later, and the caravan was still there! By this time the motor factor opposite, the one with a lovely display of towing equipment in the window, had closed.
Another point to consider is lighting. According to the Road Traffic Act, all trailers must have a set of tail lights. The minimum requirements are tail, number plate, stop, and turn, and if the trailer is over a metre wide, it must also have a rear fog lamp. If the trailer is over 2 metres long (internal length, not including the drawbar)it must also carry white front marker lights, and if it's more than 4 metres long, amber side marker lights must also be fitted.
All trailers must also carry two triangular reflectors in addition to the lights.
The standard method of getting the electrickery into the trailer is through the 12N/12S cables. Not to repeat myself too much, but the 12N carries power to the road lights, and the 12S caters to the accessories.
As you're sailing along, king of the road, you'll probably notice a distinct tendency for other drivers to ignore you, as they pull out in front of you. One that I witnessed was in an aged Austin Allegro that wandered out into the path of an Isuzu Trooper with a 23 foot TA (Twin Axle) caravan topping 70!
There couldn't have been much change out of around 4 tonnes with this set-up, and had it not been for several others drivers diving out of the way of both vehicles, there could have been a tidy wallop!
The clown in the All-aggro hadn't a clue as he trundled off!
Still, if you can read the road ahead, you shouldn't really have a problem.
Just remember that your car is now twice as long, only half as fast, and half as wide again!
All sorts of caravan and camping-related information can be found at http://www.clicreports.co.uk (or http://www.eclipse.co.uk/samwise)
