Draw curtains on your privacy
My wife and I have recently completed our first season as caravanners. We’ve had great use from our 2006 Compass Omega during a fabulous summer, on our seasonal pitch within the Northumberland National Park, staying at the caravan most weekends. When preparing the caravan for storage, we didn’t want to risk moisture damage to the new curtains that we bought to spruce up our ‘budget’ van, so we removed them. We also didn’t want to leave the blinds down over the storage period, but we still needed to find a way to cover the windows, to deter prying eyes. Instead, we decided to modify a couple of patterned shower curtains. All this took was a pair of scissors to cut the curtains to the necessary widths and lengths. There was no need to hem them, and the existing shower-rail rings accepted standard curtain hooks. We now have moisture-proof storage curtains, costing about £18. They don’t look out of place either, with their striped pattern. John Sanderson
IS THERE A GREEN TOW CAR CHOICE?
Having now retired, and had our fill of starting our holidays waiting in airport lounges, we are keen to enjoy the freedom that caravan holidays provide. We have been visiting shows and caravan dealerships in our search, and settled on a four-berth caravan with an MTPLM of around 1430kg. So far so good; however, when it comes to deciding on a suitable car to tow with, we are faced with a much trickier decision. Diesel tow cars seem to be the default choice in terms of safe and powerful towing ability. The mpg return seems to come down on the side of diesel, too, despite the current and growing gap in price per litre. The problem for us is the fact that diesels are penalised for the levels of harmful gases (NOX) they emit and, in all honesty, we are very uneasy about this. The demonisation of diesel continues to grow in terms of banning and tax increases. Hybrid cars that have been homologated either cannot tow enough, or seem to be seen as
uneconomical for towing long distances. Petrol cars have become lighter, and therefore either fall foul of the 85% rule or are far too polluting in regard to CO2 emissions. You can see our quandary, and here’s hoping you can help answer our question! Is there an ‘affordable’ greener alternative to diesel that we can tow with and use economically on local, low-mileage journeys? It must surely be a concern for the caravan community if this situation continues to develop. Kevin Reffould
David Motton says…
There is no perfect solution to your predicament, Kevin. A tiny handful of fully electric vehicles are homologated for towing (such as the Jaguar I-pace and the Tesla Model X), but they are expensive. In our experience, most plug-in hybrids have very poor fuel economy while towing. And, as you point out, petrol cars are generally lighter than the equivalent diesel, and make suitable matches for a smaller range of tourers.
For most caravanners, especially those who regularly tow, I still think a modern turbodiesel is usually the most sensible choice. The permissible difference in NOX emissions between the latest generation of petrols and diesels is actually very small, diesels use less fuel and emit less CO2 while towing than the equivalent petrol, and the torque characteristics of a diesel engine make them well suited to towing.
CHECK THE BOLTS ON YOUR TOWBAR
I have read a lot about checking the wheelnuts and tyre pressures on caravans, and ensuring that the van is properly attached to the car, so I always check these things very carefully. However, when attaching our caravan to the towbar a few weeks ago, I thought I detected a slight movement. I always check our towbar by standing on it, so I did that again and it showed the towbar was able to move up and down. I had recently checked the ball-to-bar nuts but, on further investigation, I realised the four bolts holding the bar to the chassis rails had come loose. Our towbar has been on the car for four years now, and I had noticed a creaking noise – thinking that it was the hitch control pads, I cleaned them thoroughly prior to our trip, as well as the towball itself. Of course it wasn’t, it was the loose nuts – I nipped home for the spanners, tightened them up and off we went. On our return, I went back to the installer who had put on the towbar all those years ago – apparently, they do loosen up over time and after lots of movement, in spite of lock nuts or star washers. This should be checked on the MOT or service,