Surf Towing & Caravan Things

[Tallyman]

With a mover fitted you can move the van which ever way you want, even in a complete circle around a point at the centre of the axles. If you have problems with the van being too close to a wall, etc then you can just drive it in the other way if you've got room. Mine has to go into the garden at the side, through an 8ft gap and goes in no problem at all.

[Rincewind]

Hi Mike,

My query is about a twin axle van, can these movers cope with moving one of those around in a circle?

[dirtydog]

Hi Mike,

My query is about a twin axle van, can these movers cope with moving one of those around in a circle?

I cant see why not, jack the front wheels off the floor with the jockey wheel and it will behave like a single axle. Presuming you want to turn it on flat ground?

[Tallyman]

Hi Mike,

My query is about a twin axle van, can these movers cope with moving one of those around in a circle?

Short answer..YES. Powrtouch do a version for twin axle vans, so there would be no problems in moving it at all and you don't have to jack the front up so that only one set of wheels are on the ground. I believe you get four individual motor units so each wheel is driven. The difference is that the rear units work in the reverse direction to the front units. It'a all controlled by the computer and the wireless handset (or wired if the h/set battery goes or you get poor reception).

Try their website: www.powrwheel.com or give them a call on 0870 7521762.

[marky]

Thanks for the info. guys, I did think that all towbars had to be designed to have the ball at a certain height but perhaps not! It is the one from towequip which lots of others have used, I don't think my suspension is raised perhaps I need to check Perhaps the caravan has sunk as it used to tow completely level behind my Octavia vRS (superb tow car by the way). Anyway I will get the tape measure out to see how high and get a drop plate if necessary.

I did think that reversing the van into the drive would be a solution but it puts the door on the wrong side, which is why I was wondering if a mover could turn it through 90 degrees, a guy accross the way has got one on a single axle and as da slug man says it is cool and very bizarre seeing the caravan make its own way up the road.

Otherwise perhaps I need to get a continental van with the door on the otherside and then I can reverse it up the drive and have the door on the right side.

It would be really handy if there was another fuel shortage as you could use it instead of the car

[Rincewind]

It would be really good to sit in the front of the van with a steering wheel and remote control and pretend you were actually driving it

I will investigate Powrtouch a bit more, perhaps they will be at the Caravan Show coming up in November! I think it is trying to imagine how the close coupled wheels are going to behave as I guess there is a lot of sideways movement.

[marky]

It would be really good to sit in the front of the van with a steering wheel and remote control and pretend you were actually driving it

I will investigate Powrtouch a bit more, perhaps they will be at the Caravan Show coming up in November! I think it is trying to imagine how the close coupled wheels are going to behave as I guess there is a lot of sideways movement.

Some CARAVAN dealers may have a chassis rigged up so you can play with it.

[Keith]

I have a Powertouch fitted to my twin axle and it is excellent but does not spin the van on a sixpence like a single axle. There are two heavy duty motors which pulse when turning. I had mine fitted so that I could reverse into a storage bay at 90 degrees to the direction the van was parked in when it was unhitched from the car. The width of the roadway on the storage site was less than the length of the caravan but by starting about six feet past the parking slot I am able to reverse in although I might have to comne forwards a couple of times. I could not do it by hand and it does pay to assist the mover by pulling on a corner to help overcome the twist that can build up in the tyres.
If you want to use one on grass get a pneumatic tyre on the jockey wheel as there is a likelihood of the wheel gouging into the ground when turning.
Powertouch have an excellent reputation and the 5 year guarantee is a big plus. About £1200 and well worth it when you are getting older. I do believe that one firm is about to release a four motor mover but at huge cost.

[Rincewind]

Thanks for that Keith, it is the twist in the tyres that I was wondering about, but it would seem that you are doing pretty much what I need to do, so that is great news. I will start looking more seriously at twin axles as none of the single axle models seem to have everything I want i.e fixed bed and large bathroom and some space!

Keith

[marky]

Thanks for that Keith, it is the twist in the tyres that I was wondering about, but it would seem that you are doing pretty much what I need to do, so that is great news. I will start looking more seriously at twin axles as none of the single axle models seem to have everything I want i.e fixed bed and large bathroom and some space!

Keith

Keith have a look at the ABBEY SPECTRUM 5* Hotel on wheels.

[TJG]

Keith have a look at the ABBEY SPECTRUM 5* Hotel on wheels.

The outlaws have just acquired their second one of these, fair enough it has a fixed bed, the bathroom is I think smaller than my 2 berth Bailey Ranger and the living area is no bigger than mine. That said the kitchen is fairly big with a huge fridge freezer. They don't tow their's, it is stored on site, which is just as well as the (fairly large site) they stay on has only one pitch big enough for it and the hexagonal awning they put on it.

[marky]

My ABBEY SPECTRUM was huge it was a year 2000 model with no fixed bed but the bathroom was massive

[Rincewind]

I can't remember what it was (must take notes) but saw a van which had a full width bathroom behind the bed with a fully enclosed shower but I do agree that this kind of van seems a bit short of space up the front and tends towards claustrophobic.
I guess that we will probably be looking around year 2000 vans when we come to buy but in the mean time I thought we might go to the London Caravan Show and compare the various manufacturers, find a van we really like and then wait five years until we can afford it

While I am on here, I checked the height to the centre of the ball and it was 18 inches, and a quick search reveals that it should be between 14 and 17. Does this mean I have a suspension lift are all surf towballs at this height?

[Tallyman]

According to the CC handbook the towball height should be measured with the vehicle fully laden (i.e. as if you were going off on hols) but without the caravan attached. At that point it should be between 350 & 420 mm from ground to ball centre. So if you've measured with the Surf unladen then it might be showing too high. It also says 4x4s are exempt from the height requirement but that it is suggested 4x4s use a variable height towbar. So if your Surf is still to high when loaded then a drop plate would probably be sensible as towing nose up makes the outfit unstable.

[Rincewind]

Ahhh, I thought there should be a standard height, but I wasn't aware that 4 x 4 were exempt. I have towed at this height but the caravan was tail down hence me making enquiries, fortunately it was only a small amount and didn't really notice but I did get caught with a wiggle or two after particularly strong sideways blasts and would like to avoid that in future. I guess a two inch drop will be about right.

Thanks for the info. Mike