Towing vans with a VE

[MySV6]

Has anyone towed a caravan with a VE? Any suggestions on fuel, best speeds etc? While I have towed a trailer heaps, never something like a 15 foot, 1200kg van before, so it's a little new to me at the moment.

I got the mirrors, a CB installed (for fun lol) and brake unit installed. Any other suggestions?

 

[RayLamp]

I tow my boat all the time, and it weights about as much as your van. It also sits surprisingly high, so it does cop a bit of wind drag- not as much as a van though!

If you have the 2100kg towbar, then holden provide a hitch leveller as part of the kit. they dont provide it with the 1600 or 1200 kg tow bars, simply because you dont need it for those rated towbars.

I havent done a thing to my car in terms of towing (apart from the towbar of course!!). Some people do things like get gearbox cooling and firmer rear suspension. But then they are also towing something which is right on the limits of the vehicle.

The only mistake I see people with towing, is incorrectly loading your car and trailer/van/boat. If you put everything in your boot, and everything in the front of your trailer, then its gonna sag over your car's rear wheels. If you balance things out, then you should be sweet.

I wont tow my boat over 110km/h, and I usually sit on 100. I also will rarely leave the car in 6th gear, as I have found that 5th is good at highway speeds. Bear in mind that I am towing on a crappy road which does rise and fall heaps (I go through the mountains on the south coast of NSW). When Ive taken the boat on the hume highway, at 110km/h then 6th gear is good. But I am also in a V8, so it handles it easily. My VY V6 only had a 5 speed manual, and its 5th gear seemed ok for towing.

Just watch how you react with your steering wheel. The VE is very accurate with steering movements, and you will get a lot of sway with your caravan if not careful.

I always carry a jerry can of fresh water, some coolant and a mixing container. Probably a good idea as a van will cause more drag than a boat, and if you are towing a van up a hill on a windy hot day, then carrying some spare coolant and water is cheap peace of mind!

 

[UFO]

load levelling kit.... so the camper doesnt put too much downward pressure on tow bar, lifting the front of the car and affecting handling.

tyres pressures... both on car and camper. make sure they are increased (look at tyre card in doorwell).

because campers are basically massive wind sails, the slower you go the more efficient you'll be with fuel. but not very practical on hwy. stick to about 100km/h and you'll be fine.

cause your baby is working hard, give it some good fuel... I prefer BP Ultimate.

get used to the width (if its a big bugger). take corners wide to avoid catching camper tyre on gutter.

and most importantly.... be curteous. if there's a few cars behind you, pull over and let them pass when you can. i dont know how many times I see arses with 10 cars behind them and think that its perfectly ok to keep doing 20km under the speed limit without so much as a thought for other road users.

 

[wikky]

I'm pretty sure the criteria for towing a caravan is to drive at least 40km/h under the speed limit, slow down around sweeping bends but increase speed on straights, speed up when you get to overtaking lanes so people following have to nudge 150km/h to get past you and cross over the centre line when being overtaken so you scare the **** out of the other driver. That should do it.

 

[MySV6]

Thanks - I never thought of the coolant and water, although the van has a slot for a pair of 20l Jerry Cans on the rear so I might just use them. I only got the 1600kg towbar as thats all the lease company would allow, but realistically I never considered a van, just a trailer at the time. I tend to drive mid range, a little aggressively at times so that will be a rude shock when dragging a tonne behind lol. The van is really well balanced at the moment, and has a pair of 80 litre water tanks that could be used to minimise the towball weight to near nothing, but I hope to pack the van so that I balance the weight without having to add additional weight for nothing.

As far as speed goes, 90 to 100 is all I would want to do, and because I hate slow users yeah I will definately pull over or slow down to allow people to pass. I have yet to see an advantage in terms of running premium in normal use but towing, yeah I'll definately run it in the car when I tow.

 

[UFO]

I'm pretty sure the criteria for towing a caravan is to drive at least 40km/h under the speed limit, slow down around sweeping bends but increase speed on straights, speed up when you get to overtaking lanes so people following have to nudge 150km/h to get past you and cross over the centre line when being overtaken so you scare the **** out of the other driver. That should do it.

so its you im wishing death to on school holidays every time then!

 

[FLYING FATMAN]

G'day fella's, I am only new to the forum but have been towing a 1200 kilo + van and boat for years. The best advice I can give is do everything smoothly, don't jump on the brakes, don't accelarate too hard and don't jerk the steering wheel, because you have so much weight behind all of your imputs are amplified and before you know it you will have a hell of a sway up. Even though you have electric trailer brakes still leave yourself some decent braking room. A load levelling tow hitch setup is great as it balances the car and trailer well by transfering more weight to the front wheels and stops the car sagging in the bum, and makes towing less stressfull. Make sure you get decent mirrors, I have tried several different types and the best ones (I have found) are the ones that attach to the bottom window frame and bottom of the door. The car mirror mounted ones get pushed in every time a truck goes past. I hope this helps and enjoy your trips away.

 

[Simon Maskey]

I'm pretty sure the criteria for towing a caravan is to drive at least 40km/h under the speed limit, slow down around sweeping bends but increase speed on straights, speed up when you get to overtaking lanes so people following have to nudge 150km/h to get past you and cross over the centre line when being overtaken so you scare the **** out of the other driver. That should do it.

You only get to see all that bs in a truck