We have just purchased a caravan which we have never pulled before, we have a Mitsubishi Pajero Shogun 2.5 petrol - just wondered if anyone has any experience of towing a caravan with this 4x4, if so any comments would be greatly appreciated!
We are nervous about towing and just making sure we do it right.
Avoid using full lock on the steering. Smaller turns will achieve better results.
Watch your speed!
When you are towing you have to stick to a lower speed limit. The general rules are 50mph on a single carriageway, 60mph on a dual carriageway and the same for a motorway. You are also not allowed in lane 3 on a motorway when towing.
Good luck and enjoy yourself!
------------- I've heard it all. I've seen it all. I've done it all. I just don't remember any of it.
The Shogun/Pajero is well respected as a tow car, although I expect the majority are diesel powered rather than petrol. As other have said just take it easy until you get used to it. Try a campsite not far from home for your first outing. Two things which are really important that you should check before towing. Tyre pressures on both car and van. Secondly loading of the caravan. I expect the Shogun has a fairly good max tow hitch weight, although to be legal you should establish what this is. Weigh the nose weight of the caravan using the bathroom scales. Aim for 7% of the laden weight of the van. Hope it all goes well.
Thanks for your advise and all your replies, it has put our mind at rest. We took the caravan for a trial run today and all seemed fine until we tried to reverse back into the driveway, it all went a bit pear shaped, but I guess thats the way it goes, lucky a nice chap pulled over and helped us - thank goodness to other caravanners!
We are off next week so wish us luck - lol!!!!!!!!
I hated reversing when i first started towing, now I don't worry about it, sometimes it goes well other times not so good! Try and find a quiet carpark for some practice.
it is a strange thing when it comes to reversing, you can do all the practising you want get so it goes exactly where you want, but as soon as you get to a campsite and you can feel all those eyes on you, thats when it all goes wrong!! dont worry about it , it happens to all of us.just do this, you put your car in reverse, take a deep breath several if you have to and relax then go at your own pace, turn the steering wheel the opposite direction you want the van to go for a short time then chase the caravan with the car straightening up
When we first started, the one thing we had a problem with was reversing. So one Sunday morning we took our outfit to the local railway station which has a massive commuter car park and, following all the advice received, perfected our technique in about an hour or so by reversing into and out of the marked bays.
There was no one watching to put you off, no one to witness us making idiots of ourselves and it really did the make the whole thing much easier to master.
As for going forwards I wholeheartedly support everything that's gone before.
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Topic: Towing
