Having towed caravans for 40 years without one, thought when we bought our previous caravan new, 10 years ago would buy one. Used it once and thought what a waste of time flaffing around making sure front is clean before fitting and then when wet when taking it off. Been in garage for the last 10 years,and now bought another caravan new and the cover will stay in the garage but most likely will be binned as never intend to use it
I think the 'need/benefits' depend quite heavily upon your tow vehicle.
I did think (very briefly!) about a front cover when I first got the van (it was only 18 months old and near pristine), but after first camping trip out found that my car provided a LOT of protection to the front of the van and I didn't get any bugs on the van windows, only a few on the very front edge of the roof. That trip was 180 miles of motorway from London to south Wales, so plenty of opportunity to get the front of van totally 'pebble dashed' with squished bugs and road muck! Same was true for return journey, and for the thousands of miles I've done since over the 5 or so years I've had the van.
My car is a high roofed MPV (Citroen C4 Grand Picasso), with a squared off rear, so working on the theory that the height of the roof and the aerodynamics work to sweep muck and bugs pretty much clean over the van roof. I can appreciate that a more conventional shaped car may not provide the same degree of protection.
Mostly using the van on my own, doing long journeys which means early starts and late returns to the limited access times storage yard, and likewise difficult timings on chosen camp site, a front cover and all the cleaning and drying of van before fitting (most sites don't like you cleaning your van on pitch! - how does that work when you NEED it to be clean!), removing after journey, storage of wet/mucky cover etc. was looking like just too much aggravation for little or no gain.
AND, probably a totally overlooked factor for many users, I struggle to get my nose weight down to the max permitted figure for my car (van is horrible nose heavy - even exceeds Alko van chassis max limit in MIRO state by 15Kg!), so adding another 2Kg or so (CONSIDERABLY more if wet) in the form of a towing cover, to my already challenging task of reducing nose weight seemed nothing short of foolish!
About the only time I'd perhaps benefit from a towing cover is the muck splashed from rear wheels of the car which splatters the lower corners on front of van, but a bucket of water, not always needing a sponge or brush, usually deals with that - a LOT less effort than fighting a towing cover!
I inevitable seem to arrive and depart camp sites in the rain (yes, I do seem to subscribe to a personal rain cloud!), the thought of solo manhandling an unwieldy cover in those conditions would be a task too far (a wet awning is bad enough!), suspect many a time I wouldn't bother with it even if I had one!
I got a universal one three years ago via Towsure using the UKCampsite discount.
Do all our towing on continental Europe ... summer ... the heat often means more 'tar' pick-up, and higher levels of insects, and frequent rolling over recently laid chips ... the cover does a great job.
Added a second channel on the non-awning side ... simple enouigh job ... three sections of straight channel to cope with the curveed shape of the front.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: caravan Front cover
via mobile 13/9/2023 at 12:23pm
