{"id":13179,"date":"2021-01-18T14:36:18","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T04:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/?p=13179"},"modified":"2021-01-18T14:43:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T04:43:04","slug":"caravanning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/driving\/caravanning\/","title":{"rendered":"Caravanning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-13180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/caravan-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So there have been one or two posts on towing, as well the ones on the best-suited vehicles capable of towing.\u00a0 So, for those of you who have the right tow vehicle, let\u2019s take a look at some tips when it comes time to hitch up the caravan and be off on a trip of a lifetime around Australia.\u00a0 Caravanning is still one of the best ways of seeing Australia and meeting plenty of people along the way.<\/p>\n<p>If you are going to be travelling for a long time or for a great distance, then there are a few things worth considering so as to make your trip as rewarding as possible.\u00a0 Here is a list of suggestions for you to consider before departing on your next caravan trip:<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m assuming that you\u2019ve already got the right tow vehicle.\u00a0 The tow vehicle manufacturer&#8217;s towing recommendations shouldn\u2019t be exceeded.<\/p>\n<p>You may be thinking seriously about your caravanning adventure but still be at the pre-caravan purchase.\u00a0 Do ensure that you take your time\u00a0purchasing a caravan; this will help you make the right decision for you and your family (if they\u2019re going to go with you).<\/p>\n<p>If your tow vehicle is an automatic, then you should look at investing in a new transmission oil cooler, particularly if the tow vehicle has seen a few kilometres.\u00a0 Hauling a big load does put higher stress loads on the transmission, thus heating it up.\u00a0 If the transmission cooler isn\u2019t up to the task, it won\u2019t be long before you\u2019ll cook the transmission and hit problems.\u00a0 An overheated transmission is likely to cost plenty to repair or rebuild.\u00a0 The price you&#8217;ll pay for a decent new transmission oil cooler will be cheaper than a new gearbox or gearbox overhaul.<\/p>\n<p>Planning ahead always helps; so write a\u00a0checklist\u00a0when planning your caravan holiday.\u00a0 This is so that you don&#8217;t leave anything important behind.<\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind that your camping gear, which includes equipment such as water, food, clothes, blankets, camping gear etc, will generally add another 3-to-500 kg to the weight of the empty caravan.\u00a0 And it\u2019s also important, when loading the caravan, that the heaviest items are packed on the floor of the caravan, close to the middle where the caravan axles are, above the wheels. \u00a0This distributes the weight nicely over the axles and prevents the caravan becoming front-or-rear heavy.\u00a0 If the weight bias is toward the front or rear then you\u2019ll strike handling and braking issues.\u00a0 Light items should be stored at the top, and can span the length of the caravan easily enough, but the more weighted items should be distributed evenly on the floor and in the middle and over the caravan axles.<\/p>\n<p>Always carry a fire extinguisher on board your caravan; that way you\u2019ll be properly prepared to stop any fires from getting out of control.\u00a0 And, on the topic of fires\/heat, a great idea when having a BBQ at caravan parks is to use baking paper on the BBQ plate, this way you can simply fold up the paper after use, and the plate will remain clean.\u00a0 I\u2019m all for avoiding doing dishes as much as possible!<\/p>\n<p>Make sure you do pack some flat blocks of wood.\u00a0 These can be used as a sure footing for the caravan\u2019s parking-stability arms when your camp site is on uneven ground.\u00a0 They can also be used as a firm base for changing any tyres.\u00a0 Oh, and make sure you have a spare wheel for the caravan, just in case your caravan gets a puncture a long way from a service station.<\/p>\n<p>One addition that makes hitching up very easy is a reversing camera.\u00a0 You can even buy an aftermarket unit for reasonable money if your current vehicle doesn&#8217;t have one fitted.<\/p>\n<p>Do check out the caravan and camping accessories that are for sale on the market.\u00a0 These can help make your caravan holiday even more comfortable and enjoyable.<\/p>\n<p>There will be even more great tips, so do share your ideas\/experiences with\u00a0us&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>Have fun and enjoy the sights!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So there have been one or two posts on towing, as well the ones on the best-suited vehicles capable of towing.\u00a0 So, for those of you who have the right tow vehicle, let\u2019s take a look at some tips when it comes time to hitch up the caravan and be off on a trip of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86,58,6796],"tags":[6797,6799,3824,6798,6800],"class_list":["post-13179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-driving","category-towing","tag-caravan","tag-caravanning","tag-towing","tag-towing-a-caravan","tag-towing-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13179"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13183,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13179\/revisions\/13183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}