Learning to tow

Almost two weeks ago now, Megan and I attended a towing course run by Tow Ed in the car park of Priceline Stadium.

At this course – where we were lucky enough to have one-on-one training – the instructor walked us through our hitch setup, caravan readiness and then towing procedures. Essentially, just learning to tow… safely.

Level that caravan

We hadn’t been anywhere where we could easily check until this course, but we found out our tow ball was a little high, placing the van in a slight nose up attitude. Optimally you want the caravan as level as possible, but without an infinitely variable hitch this is often difficult. Inverting the tongue switched us to a slightly nose down attitude which is preferable to nose up for stability. At first the instructor thought we might be a little too much nose down, but after the cars automatic levelling kicked in we were pretty close to perfect.

Our interior and exterior preparation was pretty good with just a couple of minor details needing tweaking. An example was to place the TVs under the quilt and not just under the pillows on the bed to prevent them bouncing off.

Forward and reverse

Next up was a set of towing tasks. Simple as some were, it was all about confidence. The tasks included:

• Setting the tow mirrors.
• Left and right turns. Judging clearance and noting the path the van takes when following the tow vehicle.
• Slalom, to demonstrate just how tight a turn can be made – and how to do it.
• Reversing the van in a straight line.
• Reversing into a site or driveway at 90° to the road.
• Calibrating the brake controller.

Finally, we went for a drive through nearby streets, learning to negotiate turns including tight roundabouts.

We both passed, and we definitely learned some things.

Time to put it into practice!