We are new to caravanning and thought about purchasing a front cover for towing,the one that helps protect our treasured possession from stone chips and the likes on our (pot hole)infested roads.Having done a bit of research there is quite a lot on the market with various prices and some informative feed back.So i was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction as to the make that gives a positive purchase.Kind Regards.
We’ve always had specialised covers one, made to measure for your caravan. They aren’t cheap but definitely worth the money. Maybe look in your local second hand ads as you maybe lucky and find one that fits your van. Good luck with your new van and enjoy your travels.
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
Personally neither for, nor against in principle, BUT I would question the need in all cases! And it's like most things, there are a bunch of Pros and Cons, it's NOT all just benefits!
When I first acquired my near new caravan back in 2018, I certainly considered a towing cover, but a couple of long distance trips within weeks of getting it demonstrated something to me that questioned the need for a cover. My car is high roofed, square ended and wide (Citroen C4 Grand Picasso), and it shields the front of the caravan incredibly well, and with aerodynamics that seem to play their part in deflecting bugs, muck etc. from the front of the van. I never get bug splatter on my van windows, it only happens on the very top of the front as it rolls into the roof. Presumption here, but I would expect stones passing over the car to do the same! Certainly not spotted any 'stone chip' damage so far. I also get minimal 'road muck' thrown up from car wheels or splashed on the the van front. Conclusion was that a cover was an unnecessary expense/towing prep task.
Now a cover in itself presents a number of points worthy of consideration. Covers should ONLY be fitted to clean vans, so you may need to clean the van properly before fitting cover (wash and dry or use a dry clean product), otherwise you risk any dirt/grit present damaging paintwork from the chaffing movement of cover in the slipstream. Generally recommended not to leave them in situ during storage either (wet and muck get between cover and van with same effect as fitting to dirty van!), so needs removing ASAP after end of trip. On site, you need to store an often wet and mucky cover, and again after your return home - do you have anywhere to store it? - if left tightly packed in a wet/dirty condition for more than a few days it's likely to go mouldy and may suffer damage and deterioration, so you need to be able to dry it as well! Personally, I usually tow solo, so I'd be manhandling the thing on my own, which in anything more than a breeze can be challenging! Some caravans don't have awning rails on both sides, so additional suction cups become necessary to fit the thing. Legally, the front running lights on the caravan MUST be visible when towing, so it either has to have windows/cut outs to match the lights (that can be where custom fit covers benefit!), or some have additional battery powered lights that fit into pockets on the outside of the cover (I often wonder about the legality of those, fitted light units are generally a 'type approved and marked' type!). It's EXTRA weight! - I struggle, as do many, getting the nose weight of my van down to the required figure at the best of times, a cover weighs maybe a couple of Kilos, probably more like 4 or 5 Kg when soaking wet! - I REALLY don't have scope to add more Kilos to the nose of my van!!!!
As with many things, buy cheap - buy twice, seems to hold true from many reports, but others do seem to get good service out of the cheaper ones, so I suspect level of care comes into play.
I rarely seem to get to tow my van in the dry from start to finish (it may just be me and my own personal rain cloud! ), so the thought of having to grapple with a large wet cover in the rain does not fill me with the joys of camping!
I think I may just have argued myself into being an Anti!!!
Questions are, 'need', 'benefits vs disadvantages' - and only you can decide that!
We have never bothered in our many years of vanning. ( Since 1981, before such things had been invented!).
To me it's just another thing to be taken on and off and stored. I would not want to put it on a wet and or dirty van because of the risk of scratching the windows.
Of course it is down to personal choice.
We have towed thousands of miles in UK and EU without damage. The van has comprehensive insurance should damage occur.
One incident springs to mind, going along a French autoroute passing a German artic with a tipper type trailer. It's tarpaulin flapped up and a large amount of muck descended on our our car. The wipers struggled to clear it. Then the smell hit it was cow muck!
Next stop service area, out with bucket and sponge and wash car off!
At our first night stop the van front was cleaned!
Fortunately that car didn't have an open sunroof!( Our other car is a convertible which would not have been fun!)
I suspect we weren't the only ones hit.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
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Topic: caravan front towing cover
via mobile 20/1/2025 at 6:47pm
), so the thought of having to grapple with a large wet cover in the rain does not fill me with the joys of camping!
