There are potential threats while driving a Caravan and they could be fatal, if not fatal they could be severely damaging. According to a survey, last year alone, out of all the caravan accidents in Australia, a whopping 64% were due swaying.
Swaying is a common issue faced by the caravan drivers. There are various reasons for swaying like- imbalance, wind, overloading etc. Although, today the caravans are equipped with sway control features like round bars, AKS system, frictions pads etc. which handles the snaking without manual intervention yet.
here are some things you should not do while your caravan sways.
Do not apply brakes– While your caravan starts to sway, do not apply the brakes. Hitting the brakes could change the track of your movement and could take the caravan off the road.
Do not tow brakes– While on a flat road and your caravan starts to sway, do not apply the two brakes, instead of slow down the vehicle gradually.
How to stop caravan sway while moving:
Speed– Keep your speed under check and try to maintain it on the same pace. Keep maintaining the speed until the swaying stops. If it doesn’t stop, stop the vehicle and get down to see what is causing the swaying.
Uphill– While moving uphill accelerate the caravan a little till the swaying stops. Then stop the caravan and restart the engine.
Downhill– Apply the electronic brakes while going downhill to reduce the speed of the caravan and slowly bring it to halt when you have reached the bottom of the slope.
Here are how you could prevent swaying of your RV.
Tyre pressure– To avoid swaying it is recommended to keep the tyre pressure in a range of 3-5 psi.
Laden weight– The laden weight is that weight of the caravan when it is full. Preferably the caravan should be 30% heavier than the loaded tow vehicle with a condition that it is longer than 5.5 meters.
Loading– Positioning of loading the stuff in your caravan is important. While you are loading your caravan keep the heavier things closer to the axle and the lighter things in the front and back.
Also, note that the mass of the tow ball should be 8%-12%.
