GORV - Digital Magazine Issue #27 | Page 13

RV FEATURE Star Wars or Star Trek? Holden or Ford? Labor or Liberal? There are plenty of problems to nut out around the campfire. Here’s another: motorhome or caravan? A meaningful understanding of towing weights is mandatory. What is the towing capacity of the vehicle? What is its towball maximum? It’s personal preference, you say. True. So is whether Picard was a better captain than Kirk. That doesn’t mean we can’t examine the pros and cons. As for the caravan, what is its ATM, and is that figure no greater than the towing capacity of the vehicle? Is its laden towball weight no greater than the towball maximum of the tow vehicle? Arguably, the principle difference between a motorhome and caravan is how the living quarters are transported from point to point. Are the living quarters pulled by a separate vehicle, or are they combined with the vehicle that does the transporting? Because a trailer rests on a towball, with wheels positioned a couple of metres behind, a caravan also needs to be sensibly loaded. Get this wrong and, at best, it’ll be a little ‘fidgety’ under tow. But at worst, a poorly loaded van could develop a dangerous sway. Therein lies the rub… Assuming it’s not towing a trailer or even a small vehicle, a motorhome requires less understanding of weights. It has a Tare and a GVM, and the difference between them is the payload capacity. Don’t exceed it, and you’re golden. (There are exceptions, of course – loading up the very rear of a motorhome with equipment, such as a motorcycle, could place undue stress on the chassis, for example.) THE WEIGHT OF IT Towing a caravan rather than travelling in a single vehicle with a bed and kitchen, etc., in the back, requires a great deal of forethought, common sense and education. / 13