Hint for caravan owners.

knightstyle

Having just got a caravan so I tried some clip on extension mirrors which vibrated and were not very good.
So I bought a cheap reversing camera and screen, fitted the camera to the back of the caravan, long lead to screen and works great.
Much better than the mirrors and cost under £25.
Thought about wireless camera but was worried about the range of the signal.

forgotmyname

Having extended mirrors is a legal requirement.

Your rear fitted camera does not show obstacles to the side of your van.

Unless you have a very wide car and a very narrow caravan.

BeenThroughItAll

forgotmyname wrote: »

Having extended mirrors is a legal requirement.

Your rear fitted camera does not show obstacles to the side of your van.

Unless you have a very wide car and a very narrow caravan.

This is good advice.


You still need towing mirrors. I recommend trying some better quality ones - the £9.99 ones I bought for towing a van home having forgotten mine were rubbish - the £50 pair of Milenco Aeros I normally use are very good indeed.

forgotmyname

I have the Milenco ones that screw onto the mirror frame and dont really vibrate. They have an added strap for security just in case a screw comes lose.

But they are not really needed.

The ones that only attach with rubber bands are not very good. I probably have a few sets in the shed.

harveybobbles

Remember, if you have a queue if traffic behind you to do a complete circuit of a roundabout to let the traffic flow speed up.

Paperbird

It's the ability to see objects in a particular area that is the legal requirement not the towing mirrors.
I use a pair of cheap held on by rubber band type and have never had a problem with vibration, Maybe it's the shape of your wing mirrors that stops them fitting tight enough.

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

This is good advice.


You still need towing mirrors. I recommend trying some better quality ones - the £9.99 ones I bought for towing a van home having forgotten mine were rubbish - the £50 pair of Milenco Aeros I normally use are very good indeed.

Stooby2

I used the rubber band type for several years. Getting the bands good and tight stopped vibration. I now have the Milenco Aero type as the new car's mirrors are too big for the old type.

forgotmyname

harveybobbles wrote: »

Remember, if you have a queue if traffic behind you to do a complete circuit of a roundabout to let the traffic flow speed up.

eh?? Why would i do that? I would be travelling at the legal limit. If you want me to go faster then lobby to increase speed limits.

If you dont want to follow me then take another route.

Herzlos

harveybobbles wrote: »

Remember, if you have a queue if traffic behind you to do a complete circuit of a roundabout to let the traffic flow speed up.

If you do a complete loop of a roundabout, being that you're about 30ft long, you'll maybe let 1 or 2 cars behind you past, whilst holding up everyone else on the other exits. Have you ever taken a caravan (or large trailer) round a roundabout?

If traffic is building up behind you, pull into a layby and let them pass properly.

forgotmyname wrote: »

eh?? Why would i do that? I would be travelling at the legal limit. If you want me to go faster then lobby to increase speed limits.

If you dont want to follow me then take another route.

But your limit is lower than unhitched cars, which is perfectly reasonable since you're probably double the length and weight of them, with all of the associated problems with inertia and flexibility.

BeenThroughItAll

Paperbird wrote: »

It's the ability to see objects in a particular area that is the legal requirement not the towing mirrors.
I use a pair of cheap held on by rubber band type and have never had a problem with vibration, Maybe it's the shape of your wing mirrors that stops them fitting tight enough.

I agree, but I believe you'll struggle to find many car/caravan combinations (excluding commercial vehicles and massive American imports here) where the vehicle mirrors will allow you to see right down the side of the van with no blind spots within 4m either side of the caravan at a distance 10-20m from its rearmost corner, which is, IIRC, what is checked.


For that to be the case, the mirrors on the car would need to be AT LEAST at the outermost edge wider than the caravan.


Take a Discovery, for example. Including mirrors it is just under 2,180mm wide or 7ft 3in. A 'narrow' modern van such as a Lunar Venus is 7ft wide, and when you consider the mirror casing and inward tilt for required visibility, I doubt even with the seemingly clear width advantage the car's mirrors alone would allow you to meet the requirement.

owen_money

Or simply have a proper holiday and stay in a hotel and stop clogging up the roads.............

Or as it was nicely put in the inbetweeners....

Jay: It's a sense of freedom you don't get with other holidays.

Will: It's a sense of shi**ing in a bucket in a cupboard you don't get with other holidays... in England... with your parents!