Hi there! I can hardly reverse a car, never mind my caravan. However, eager to learn, I asked the warden at the last site I stayed on to show me how. He did the directions, I did the driving and it ended up nice and neat. Lots of back and forwards stuff, think of it as a 20 point turn/manoever you can't reverse it like a car, it does take time. I think with a few good directions from someone you will do fine.
Well I got here, and I did it, I am at Trevayne campsite in Tenby and it is lush
only thing is as I left home I did not pull up my jockey wheel properly,it fell back down and when I got out to shut my gate at the top of my lane I noticed it was down and bent!!!
Quote: Originally posted by Hippygoddess on 07/8/2010
Well I got here, and I did it, I am at Trevayne campsite in Tenby and it is lush
only thing is as I left home I did not pull up my jockey wheel properly,it fell back down and when I got out to shut my gate at the top of my lane I noticed it was down and bent!!!
So what can I say the reversing went well
Hi glad to here all went well,apart from the jokey sorry jockey wheel, even the best of us can make a hash of it some times, I know i have, I should sell tickets for entertaining all the other campers,and give it to charity, they could make a fortun, and some good would come out of it.
------------- If everything runs smoothly then I must have done something wrong
If in Doubt Check it Out.
I was rubbish at reversing till I used a small trailer for business . Practice with the small trailer helped confidence and I proved to myself that it really is true that the bigger the trailer the easier it is to reverse.If you can reverse the trailer you have then do not be concerned about a caravan.
Just knock on a door and ask....You will get all the help you need....trust me
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
I must admit to being annoyed by people who laugh at new caravan actions on site. We had a couple who came out of the van to laugh at us hand pulling our van onto the pitch. The thing was, it was the only time they did come out of the van all week! They watched the telly whilst we explored the countryside. They were probably very troubled by our saggy awning too! Each to their own I say.
------------- 'Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been' - Mark Twain
At most sites, the wardens will watch you reverse onto the pitch. They do this several times a day and can offer good advise. I would be very weary of asking a stranger or even taking any notice of directions from a stranger. Even if they can reverse, most people who reverse a caravan well do it by instinct, not by thinking about it. Therefore, giving directions is not as easy as doing it yourself.
If you need assistance, you could unhitch in the roadway and start making lots of loud grunts and groans trying to push it... Someone will come and help you push.
Hi. I too am a novice caravaner and whilst I think I'm good at reversing my car the caravan terrified me. I have a Kia sedonna people carrier and and an Elddis 636 ( 26ft )caravan , even my husband went white when he saw the sizes of the pitch we were offered on our first outing at Easter. I couln't even have reversed my car into the space let alone the car and the caravan. The advice on this site is don't rush and don't panic - good advice. My husband burned out the clutch on my car in his haste to prove he was a "real" man and could park a measley caravan. He reveved backwrds and forwards and basically made it worse, getting angrier my the minute. Never to proud to ask for help, I approached the reception and told them we were novices. They then told us to pick any spot we wanted and suggested a corner plot adjacent to the road would give us more room What good advice. As we picked our new site, the other caravanners could see from our faces and my husbands bad language that we were newbies, before we could even get out the car our neighbour on the next pitch had unhitched the caravan and with help from another camper they moved the caravan into its pitch. The next day they helped us put up our awning. Even my husband conceeded what I have always known from my camping days that you can't meet nicer and more helpful people and has a new respect for caravanning. Don't be afraid to ask for help and don't be panicked into a pitch. Sometimes just for piece of mind get out and push.Your clutch will thank you. Good luck and enjoy!
I notice a lot of carvanners revving when reversing. With a deisel you just need to release the clutch and it will go backwards. Saves the clutch...avoids the burning.
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
Yes, don't rev the engine at all. Also, the clutch pedal must be either up or down. You can't slip it or the clutch will be destroyed. Not immediately, but each time you will take a few thousand miles off its life.
Reversing should always be done at or noear tickover.
If you go on a C&CC site, the wardens nearly always tell you exactly where to pitch and more often than not, will give you exact insructions on how to reverse the unit.
Five things to try and remember when you arrive at your pitch -
1. Aim to start the reverse with the pitch on the same side of the car/caravan as you are sitting. You will have better vision of the space you are reversing into.
2. Make sure you have stopped with the tail end of the caravan a little way past the pitch itself.
3. Tell your 'helper' (if you have one) to make sure he/she can see one of your reversing mirrors - if he cannot, you won't see him or his frantic waving! He is there to ensure you don't bump into something (or someone)not to tell you to turn right or left etc - if he does you will probably misunderstand him and that's where the quarrels/arguments start from. You are the driver not him/her and that includes wardens and the experts.
4. Now you engage reverse gear and very, very slowly you start to reverse and immediately as the car starts to move turn the steering wheel in the OPPOSITE direction that you want the end of the caravan to go. (So if you are set up with the pitch on the same side as you are sitting in the car ie on your right, you will be turning the steering wheel gently to the left. As the end of the caravan begins to turn into the pitch you should immediately begin turning the steering wheel to the right to counteract the rig continuing to turn (This is what lots of people sometimes do not do early enough in the reversing procedure and which can result in the van going everywhere but where you want it to go and howls of laughter primarily from those who cannot do it correctly themselves anyway.
5. The caravan should now be starting into the pitch with the car following and you can control the direction the caravan moves in by turning the steering wheel gently in the opposite direction you want the end of the caravan to go. When both the caravan and car are lined-up (straight) keep an eye on both mirrors (not at the same time of course!) and if you see the end of the caravan appearing in your left hand mirror turn the steering wheel gently to the right until the end of the caravan disappears from your view in the mirror and vice versa the other mirror. Your helper should tell you when the caravan is far enough into the pitch for it to be unhitched from the car.
Don't be too concerned if it doesn't quite work out the first time (or anytime for that matter) - just pull back to a start position and repeat the exercise but always always nice and slowly. Go and practice somewhere and good luck. It's easy when you know what you are supposed to do and dead simple when it becomes a habit after practice. There is, of course, the obvious alternative - unhitch off the pitch and call for help from those very people waiting to see how you reverse! and push the van into position. Not too difficult.
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Topic: Reversing
