why you need a tough caravan and an airsafe hitch
As I looked into the rear view mirror of my truck and saw the sparks flying out both sides I couldn’t help but think back to how many times people had inadvertently warned me this would happen. To my delight I got to relive the whole episode for days to come as a passing motorist was fast enough with their phone to capture the whole thing. They promptly sent the video to channel 7 news for the following evenings news report. There my poor caravan was sliding down the M8 barrier after snapping the draw bar and careering across the freeway. Probably should have gotten that Airsafe Hitch
The final stint of the drive home from Willinga park was mostly me stewing on my very hard lesson about caravans and trucks. However as I always say there is lessons in every mistake. These lessons I will share with you today in hopes that you won’t make the same mistake.
Why A Truck Towing A Caravan Is Different To A Car
Leverage
The first reason is the length of the vehicle, and therefor the amount of leverage the truck has on its trailer. There is nothing that makes for a more bumpy ride for your caravan than the length of your truck. This means that the longer your truck, the worse your caravan will fair as the truck flicks it up and down violently with each bump.
Suspension
The second reason is the difference in suspension. Truck suspension is far more rigid than the average car suspension. Therefor it creates a much more rigid flicking motion than that of a car.
These two differences in a truck basically mean that even your little Isuzu single axle truck (like mine), still has more than enough force to break a draw bar. Well its all very doom and gloom isn’t it, but no one wants to sleep in a swag. So what can we do about it?
Throw the basketball out (shocker hitch)
When I first moved to a caravan and truck setup i scoped the market for reviews on different hitching solutions and couldn’t find anything. So here I am doing everyone in the industry a favour. I would advise not to buy a shocker hitch for the purpose of towing a caravan for the simple fact that I had one and my draw bar still snapped. They are by far the cheapest option for towing and can be quite attractive because of that. However sadly I have heard many stories just like my own where people have had broken draw bars while using the shocker hitch.
Why you should be using an airsafe hitch
The Airsafe hitch is the next most simple hitch on the market without needing to change your whole hayman reese setup. The one that I have had experience with is the Airsafe class 6 and Airsafe class 7. Both of these are a great option for a reasonable price. Do your own research to make sure the Airsafe is right for you. I just want to be clear that there are other options on the market that are of a high standard. However this is the one iv had experience with and can vouge for.
Pick the right caravan
You can upgrade and update your towing setup until you’re blue in the face. However if your actual caravan wasn’t designed to take a bit of a beating it isn’t going to stand a chance. This means you are going to need to splash a bit of cash if you want to go down this route. In my experience the following are all a good choice: dual axle , full off road models, bigger tyres and a thick walled/ reinforced draw bar. Within these limits you can find a caravan that will not only survive behind your truck. But might actually be able to keep your beer inside the fridge where you left it.
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