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 Topic: When do we become "experienced"?
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03/8/2019 at 4:44pm
Location: London
Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524
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Well Tidburyboy that's a pretty intelligent and highly valid question, to which I doubt there is a definitive answer! Such is life!
I've been towing trailers of various types from car trailers to small goods/camping trailers to fairly big power boats for some 40 years, and with all sorts of cars/land/range/rovers, it's only in the last couple of years that I've towed a caravan though. Am I experienced? - Well partially, there is still more to learn despite a variety of outfits and many thousands of miles over all those years!
One thing I learnt from towing the power boats is that no two outfits are the same, I've towed the same boat in the same configuration behind a variety of cars, some were brilliant 'didn't know it was there' set ups and others were absolute pigs that felt like they were trying to throw you off the road at every opportunity! The 'numbers' were always OK, it was just the variabilities and characteristics of some tow vehicles in combination with the trailer, so don't take anything, including other people's experiences as a given.
When I was looking for a caravan a couple of years back, I took the opportunity at the NEC Caravan Show to have a free trial Towing Experience, just to get the feel of a caravan, and to have some professional critique of my abilities from an expert. I was a little rusty as I hadn't towed for some years, but it didn't feel alien. I was complimented on my driving standards/skills by the instructor, so all those years of towing other things must have had some benefit!
If the years have taught me anything, it's that assuming you are responsible enough to be legal in the first place, then correct loading of the car and trailer are critical for a safe and comfortable outfit.
And don't forget the small detail of things like tyre pressures! When I first picked my van up from the dealer, it was wobbling all over the place, and that was totally unladen in it's bare bones state. When I checked the tyre pressure, they were only two thirds of what they should have been! On inflating them to the manufacturers figure, it tows like a dream.
IMHO I think the 85% 'rule' is as dangerous as it's helpful, it could lead the inexperienced into a false sense of security, there are plenty of well set up outfits at or near 100% that are fine, but even at 85% a badly laden and set up outfit could and will bite you severely on the ar*se! That I think is where experience, or maybe it's more knowledge, pays off.
My towing 'rule' is only drive to the comfortable/safe limit of the outfit and to the road conditions, and never to theoretical expectations or the experience of others. I've cruised at 65, but I've also crawled along at 40 when circumstances demanded. I guess that is experience kicking in.
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