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Hi all, at the moment i've got a lovely single axle sterling but recently my head has been turned by the Bucanneer caravel, a beautiful van with everything you could ever need, the only thing is it is a twin axle! So, i've a couple of questions for any twin axle owners...

1. When manouvering , is it very difficult to....swing the van in , or in general difficult to position?

2. What do you use to level the van on uneven ground? on mine i just use the big yellow chocks but dont think both wheels will fit on !

3. does the rear end "kick" out when turning corners more than it would with a single axle?

Many thanks in advance.

Bryan

Hi

You will find a twin very responsive, and easy to tow.  Much more stable than a single.  You won't find any bad habits about the rear swinging, and you'll get used to the differences in ten minutes.

When you say position the van, do you mean with the vehicle, by hand or with a motor mover?  We have a large twin axle, and only ever position the van with the car.  It reverses very well, and is extremely predictable.  We don't have a mover - never had one, don't want one, and we never move it a single inch by hand.  No problem.

We carry a couple of the plastic ramps, which you can use on the same side if you work at it, but mainly we just use a couple of planks, long enough for both wheels to go on.

The only thing I would say is do be sure that your vehicle is rated for the noseweight, which can be quite a bit higher than a single axle.  If that works out as well as the overall weight, just do it, you won't regret it.

Jim

Thanks for that jim, I guess i meant moving by hand, mainly because in France i've had to do a fair bit of manouvering by hand to get it into position in some snug areas and smaller pitches.

As for the car i tow with the Sorento so i'm not anticipating any problems, but i'll check it out anyway.

Bryan

Hi

Twin axle is great easy to move on car OH an hgv driver, but we do have a twin mover on and find it much easier to move, also it is easier to get on to the yellow levellers using the mover, We also have a pair of the bulldog levellers and use them when we are away for longer holidays,

We find we get a bit of a sway on the back of van but it is very road stable(i think it  is sometimes the motorway ruts and the large lorries passing ) but tows like a dream,

We got a twin axle for spill-over accomodation & though it's stayed at home since we picked it up & towed it here, it has been moved around a lot for various reasons. 

This has involved manouvering in some very tight spaces & awkward corners between barns etc. & we don't have a mover. Someone we know well practically screamed in horror & insisted we would "never be able to manouvre it" (to where we wanted it) - absolute b****cks !

He says though he personally has no problem  (he has had a lot of previous experience driving twin axle trailers) he does think they are probably initially a little trickier to reverse. You get scrubbing when turning tightly, due to the point of pivot being between the tyres, but, with a little bit of practice they are no more difficult than a single axle (provided you are ok at reversing in the 1st place!)

As regards stability whilst towing, OH agrees totally with Greendemon & ideally would choose a twin axle over a single every time.

Levelling not an issue for us.

As regards your final question OH's verdict is -  no !

Sorry don't think I was very clear on the moving/manouvering thing there bcam specially as I actually missed that 2nd post of yours..

as others here have said if manouvering without a vehicle, you would need a mover unless you are part ox & in your prime.

LOL, gypsydoll, part ox no, part ass aye!!! lol, many thanks for all the advice, I now just need to find a dealer who sells Bucanneer, Anyone any ideas?

Bryan.

Hi Bryan, just thinking if you still want to find out about dealers for Bucanneer, it would probably be better to post a new thread - ?

Good luck & hope you get fixed up with something nice