Towing Advice

[Quest]

Hi All,

Looking for advice and opinions on towing vintage caravans with an 1962 Ek Holden Ute and Sedan.
What length van would be the maximum for safe towing?
Not worried about towing power as both vehicles have adequate power and brakes,more interested in safe handling and stability on the road.I know weight is important, any advice on safe weights on vans for these cars
Was looking to buy a 14ft fiberglass vintage van, would one of these be safe and suitable?

Many Thanks,Mark

[gregh]

Hi Mark,

Great cars to have!! FB's are my favourite - only wish I had the time.

I'm not sure what the towing capacity is of these old girls, but be sure that any 14 footer would be fine. The early fibreglass vans were very light and easy to tow - I believe the 14foot Olympic Debonair's weighed around the 550-600kg unloaded. The most important thing is to load the van correctly; you should have approx. 10-15% of the vans loaded weight on the tow ball e.g.weight loaded 800kg, then 80-90kg weight on the tow ball.

Most are fitted with override brakes; it's important that these are functioning correctly - they do help in emergency stops and steep downhill runs.

Hope this helps. I'm sure others will provide more info based on actual experiences.

Cheers,

Greg

[Quest]

Many thanks Greg.

Mark.

[twodragons]

We are in the process of identifying which new car to buy once the farm is sold. It will be small eg Subaru XV, Skoda,VW Golf etc. Need to have modern car but would love to have a matching vintage car sigh. MY ideal vintage van is wooden...perhaps teardrop or roundy but realistically '60's 70's 12' to 14'. Any advice on what modern car would pul something of this style. I am looking forward to the Show in Adelaide so i can really get immersed in the vintage caravan world [

[Don Ricardo]

G'day Twodragons,

Welcome to the forum, and great to hear that you're enthusiastic about vintage caravans! You've definitely come to the right place for inspiration and info. 

One way of tackling your question is to look at the towing limits of the cars you are considering. Two of the aspects to consider are (a) the maximum towing weight of the vehicle, and (b) the maximum tow ball weight for the vehicle (ie the weight exerted by the coupling on the tow bar of the car). As a rule of thumb the tow ball weight is often around 10% of the weight of the van but not always!

If you can find out those statistics for a couple of the vehicles you are considering we can then give you some indication of what vans might be suitable. Based on the vehicles you mentioned, I would think you are looking at something not too large - 10 to 12 ft, as you suggest. Having said that, there was a Subaru XV and a Corolla which were used as tow vehicles for reasonable sized vans at the 2014 Vintage Caravan Nationals at Broken Hill. You can see photos of forum member Willow5075's Subaru XV and van by clicking on this link. In addition a person we know has successfully towed a 12 ft/1,200 kg Jayco quite extensively up and down the eastern states with a Subaru Forrester (diesel? I'll check) for a few years, so you may have a few options.

Australians tend to think that towing a van requires a large car (or these days a very large 4WD), whereas in the UK people tow with vehicles most Australians would never consider in a million years. But then if you've ever watched Top Gear, you'll also know that they apparently tow at much lower speeds in the UK than Australians would be happy with. There are limits though - don't try a Renault 5 for example...



(Just a bit of light relief for you as you consider your possibilities!)

Anyway, if you can provide some more info about the vehicles you are considering I'm sure that people on the forum will be able to give you some more specific advice.

Don Ricardo

[boblor]

Hi Mark
I currently have an Olympic 'Debonair' 14' for sale and it tares at 660kgs, this will equate to about 1 tonne for travelling and require 100-110kgs ball mass and a 4xbar 'shepard bars' for weight distribution to return some weight to your front wheels to assist with steering and braking.
I have travelled many caravan klms useing a Subaru 'Outback'. Suggest 2nd or 3rd generation models as you cannot use WDH on the later models - shame.I have used both the 2.5 ltr and 3.0ltr. Outbacks.
Cheers boblor 0428 850 666

[Roehm3108]

I would stay away from front wheel drive vehicles, unless you only plan to drive on flat roads, or have a partner prepared to jump out of a moving car and jump on a bonnet to help retain traction.

[Don Ricardo]

Jan 5, 2015 7:04:53 GMT 10 Roehm3108 said:

I would stay away from front wheel drive vehicles, unless you only plan to drive on flat roads, or have a partner prepared to jump out of a moving car and jump on a bonnet to help retain traction.

Hi Roehm,

That's a helpful comment. I was sort of assuming that Twodragons was thinking of an AWD because of his reference to the Subaru and Skoda (some of which are AWD), but it is good to make the point more explicitly.

I did mention the Corolla tow vehicle at Broken Hill, but I did not mean that as a recommendation.

Don Ricardo

[telemike]

I am towing our Sunliner, which weighs in at 700kg without our stuff in it, with a 2004 Subaru Forester. it is adequate to the job.

[King Fisher]

Our Bessie, 14 1/2 ft bondie, is 1050kg on the rego unloaded and we tow her with a '99 Ford AU Fairmont. Handles it well, very comfortable for the long trips, and is well within the 2300kg towing capacity.  For towing I would defiantly look at the ford pedigree, as they are renound for being great tow vehicles.