On my old caravan the Alko stabiliser handle got so close to the brake lever that i bent it over to one side a bit as i thought it had the chance of being knocked on . It also had what i would call a hair trigger , lift it slightly and it came shooting up , the cause seemed to be that the handbrake lever was getting caught on the fairing ( not because i'd bent the lever over as i'd only bent it slightly ) , instead of being fully off it was touching the front of the fairing slot , i ended up cutting a small amount of the fairing away to sort it .
I knnow of a similar situation when a van was hitched onto the back of a Landcruiser, the hitch was pushed in and a person connected the safety cable to tight so when the vehicle moved off and the hitch pulled out the hand brake was applied and not being a heavy van on the back of a Lancruiser resistance was not noticed by an inexsperienced tower until he was flagged down by a passing motorist because of smoke coming from the vans wheels. The van had to have new shoes, return springs, bearings and drums
The breakaway cable wasn't the culprit because I ensured that the loop was tight around the towball with plenty of slack(It's something I do)
More than enough people have commented on the shock through the commercial chassis plus the 'ordinary'towball which I think combined to put the brake on.
As stated in my original comment, this is one for everyone to remember.
------------- How come when some people visit the fountain of knowledge, they only gargle!!!
David, to half answer your question I am Breakdown Insured by 'More Than' and they use an army of private breakdown firms ranging from the first one which had the latest trucks etc.
The second firm was a one man band in deepest darkest Somerset (no offence intended to those on 'the level') but I don't wish to name them as the claim as far as the Breakdown supplier may not be over and I haven't got my excess back nor the cost of transporting the 'van to the repairers.
I just wondered if the more caravan orientated service as provide by either of the Clubs would be better prepared in such circumstances as AlKo hitches have been fairly common on caravans now for some years. I suppose it could be worth checking.
Condition 13 of the Bailey Warranty says "That private cars or 4x4 vehicles substituting as private cars shall have only towed the tourer". So, strictly speaking, if you come home on a tow truck, you have invalidated your caravan's warranty. I suspect most manufacturers are the same.
This is probably to do with the fact that a tow trucks suspension is so hard it causes damage to the caravan body, causing cracked panels and leaks.
I would never allow my caravan to be towed by a truck for this reason.
My wife, who will not tow the caravan, despite my best efforts, has clear instructions that, if ever anything happens to me on holiday, she needs to get a friend to use our Jeep to get the caravan home. If the Jeep is broken, I will arrange for a friend with a 4 x 4 to tow the caravan.
Only in the most desperate of circumstances will it be attached to a truck. Certainly not for a routine breakdown.
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Topic: Beware of Breakdown Trucks Towing you.
