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quoteManoeuvring your caravan on to a tricky pitch is a nightmare made worse only by the fact it’s usually done in front of an audience on the campsite. The fear of doing it wrong, crashing into something and causing damage to your ‘van is enough to give anyone sweaty palms.
But by following a few simple rules, and remembering our top tips, reversing your caravan needn’t be something you dread – in fact, with a little practice you’ll be negotiating a tricky pitch with ballerina like precision and poise in no time at all.
Slowly does it
“Slow”, “really slow”, and “barely moving” are the only three speeds you need when reversing a caravan onto a campsite pitch. Go too quickly and you won’t have time to make adjustments correctly, which will slow things down in the long run. Plus you’re much more likely to have an accidental bump when moving too quickly.
Practice makes perfect
The more times you’ve done it, the easier it will be – so get in some caravan reversing practice in a wide open space such as a deserted car park, flat open field or a particularly quiet campsite. Go slowly and get a feel for how the caravan moves in relation to input on the steering wheel, and practice reversing in a straight line slowly as well. Just make sure you’ve got plenty of room!
Ignore the audience
As already mentioned, it’s fairly likely there’ll be some friendly (if a little nosey) observers when you’re reversing on to a caravan pitch. The main thing is not to rush and don’t worry about people watching! They’ve all done the same thing and you definitely shouldn’t pander to the crowd and try to speed up your usual technique.
It takes two
Whilst it is quite possible to reverse onto a pitch with one driver and no helpers, having a well-trained partner relaying instructions makes the job a whole lot easier and quicker, as there’s no need for the driver to keep getting out and checking progress or looking at spacing.
It’s all about visibility
As well as having a willing and able helper outside the car, investing in some good quality towing mirrors will make reversing much easier, as you’ll have a much better view of where the caravan is moving. Plus, adjusting the angle of the mirrors when ready to reverse will allow you to see obstacles lower down which may obstruct the caravan. If you’re into your gadgets you could consider a caravan reversing camera that sends live footage from behind the caravan to a small screen inside your tow car.
Have a routine
Handbrake off, mirrors adjusted, window wound down, partner at the ready. Check?! Having a mental checklist stops little oversights (like leaving the handbrake on) slowing down the process as a whole and gets you in the right frame of mind from the start.
Consider a caravan mover!
Caravan movers are a great invention as they take all of the work out of manoeuvring on to a pitch. Simply drive up, unhitch, and using a handheld remote simply steer your caravan onto the pitch whilst walking around it to check the spacing. If you don’t feel confident reversing, or simply want an easier life, this is the device for you. Remember though that motor movers can be costly and if you do invest in one make sure your caravan insurance policy includes cover. If you’re insured with Caravan Guard you would need to make sure you have included the value of your motor mover within your caravanning equipment insured value.
Feeling fit?
Ever pushed a car that wouldn’t start? Then you can push a caravan. On a flat (don’t attempt it on a slope!) dry pitch it’s perfectly possible for one or two fit people to push and pull a small or medium sized caravan around by hand. So if you’re struggling to make a small adjustment to the caravan’s position with the car, then consider unhitching and giving it a push, it might just be easier.
Back to storage
Of course, many of the above tips apply when you return from your trip and reverse your caravan back into its storage position. As a caravan insurance specialist, we receive hundreds of claims every year for manoeuvring mishaps at home or in storage sites. Watch out for those pesky drive posts, gate posts, walls, trees, and other caravans!
As Dave Mitchell says, when I first started towing I placed a load of traffic cones on a flat field and practiced towing and reversing around them, they do far less damage than a gatepost!!
Good idea Linda
Reading through the reversing comments can’t find one that refers to cones. I was an LGV instructor and we did the reverse into a coned garage sequence. I now have a set of football trainer cones, the small 1 foot high luminous coloured. I place four of these out in the area I’m backing into and my wife and I are on speaker phone on our mobiles ( not on public highway). This makes the whole process calm and professional.
Great tip Dave.
An idea which might be worth considering is a front of car tow hitch. You fit it on arrival at the site and turn the car round to drive forwards. It will still turn ‘the other way’ but you can see where you’re going better. They seem to be on offer in the small ads in caravan mags.
Fortunately I don’t need any of these as a folding camper is much easier to manoeuvre, except up hill!
Thanks Brian
Great idea
When I bought my first caravan earlier this year, I tried reversing it onto my single width driveway. I consider myself to be quite a competent driver and have an untrained ability to reverse trailers. However, trying to reverse a 7.5m caravan onto a driveway, 90 degrees from a residential road, was almost an impossible task. My towcar certainly didn’t enjoy it (burning clutch has a distinctive smell). I managed it (with the help of 2 banksmen) after quite a number of shunts and using the footpath opposite my driveway. This gave the neighbours something amusing to watch.
I now have a motor mover and can complete the task in under 4 minutes and can position it 3″ from a wall parallel with it and 2″ from a gutter over my garage door to the rear. A very worthwhile expense.
Motor mover sounds like a great investment Andy
My wife took a caravan towing course at Askham Bryan College, York and afterwards spoke to her tutor who promised to send some notes but he never did. Also the actual instructions on towing in this article are almost non existant. We do not know if the course was run by the college, The Caravan Club or Caravan Guard.Are you able to help? My wifes name is Sue Barnes-Wilson. Her e-mail is [email protected]
Hi Tony,
I’m afraid there’s nothing we can really do to help as we’ve never ran towing courses. Perhaps best if you try contacting the college directly.
Sorry I can’t be of more assistance.
Many thanks
Lucie
message for Alan Scarff!!!
the hitch should not “leap off the towball” at any time!
Do not tow this caravan- seek specialist advice- life and limb are at risk here!
It may be just that you are using a alko stabiliser without an alco towball ( longer neck and more clearance around it).
I myself am poor at reversing my caravan but manage to shove it somewhere near.
I’m going try releasing the stabiliser because the outfit does seem rather stiff when I’m “bending” it. Also, while I’m on here, does anyone have trouble with the hitch leaping off the towball especially when the car is not in line with the van?
if people are not willing to voluntarily take tuition then it should be compulsary.for every vehicle you want to drive learning and test are required.a person working in say a factory or office only drives a few miles to work and back then gets the caravan out at the weekend and goes like a bat out of hell on a motorway.what experience has that person got? none..
re.stuarts letter 13.october 2011.as a retired hgv.class 1 driver he has hit the nail on the head. all caravanners should have compulsary training before being allowed on the road.after 56 years of truck driving i have seen it all.the past few years has seen people with large caravans towed by large 4x4s well over the legal speed limit in the outside lane of a motorway.i followed one a few weeks ago i was in my car he was in a toyota landcruiser with a twin axle abbey doing 97 mph. in the outside lane of the m.5. on a busy friday evening[total lunacy].he turned off at the burnham on sea turn.talking to caravanning friends they have witnessed similar things.so as far as i am concerned tuition and tests should be compulsary..
i was nervous when we bought our first large caravan.my wife booked a one day towing course for me with the caravan club.the instructors put us all at ease,and simple instruction makes you confident(and competent).i am now quite proud of my parking skills
Good advice on reversing and as an instructor for the Caravan Club I would recomend the courses run by them. The one and a half day course for new caravaners covers the driving and all the other things like legal issues and insurance and how to connect electric. Not to blow my own trumpet but most people say at the end of the course that they are more confident. I met an old student the other day who said that he had been to europe but would not have had the confidence to do this if he had not done the course.
Good solid advice overall. I would make only 1 point, specifically regarding the motor mover.
Rather than spend hundreds (possibly thousands) of pounds on something which has a finite life, takes a very large chunk of your useable payload, and needs servicing (more money), why not invest in some proper reversing lessons from the places which teach the B+E test?
I hold the HGV1 (C+E if you prefer) and despite having a maximum length outfit, I have never needed a mover. Why? Because I can manoeuvre the thing properly. I also have a camera on the back of the ‘van so I can see directly behind from the driver’s seat. Yes I have my better half as a banksman too, well two sets of eyes are better than one.
Just because you aren’t legally obliged to take a B+E test is no reason to avoid the training. This will teach you the skills which will stay with you for life whereas a mover will break sooner or later, usually when you most need it.
Perhaps if the insurers gave a financial reward (discount) in recognition of those who aren’t too proud to take lessons, or who hold vocational licences then more people would do it, there would be less incidents and the number of claims would go down Everyone’s a winner then.
Don’t forget to undo or release the stabiliser when turning sharp angles and reversing as this will take the pressure off the tow hitch and make manoeuvring much easier.