Does anyone have any brainwaves about how I can hitch up on my own? or where I can get long magnetic stalks with red bobbles on the end to see through the rear-view mirror? ...Any other advice for solo caravanning would be appreciated too.
To hitch up on your own....its good to have some sort of a 'bash plate' to go behind towball. With a flange ball you can have a metal plate permanently behind ball. With a swan neck you can make up a sheet of plywood with slot to jamb onto neck(remove after hitching up obviously), this to protect bumper if you go too far.
Wind up jockey wheel until just above level of towball & reverse back square with caravan, when you get near, get out, check & adjust height of hitch so its just above ball & carry on back, put a chalk mark on the ground to help if you want. If you do go too far, bash plate will protect your bumper.
Will have a look for something to protect the car. Explain about the chalk mark?- I don't get where you mean I should put it (or maybe I should just write 'help!' in huge letters and wait...!)
Going away on a small trip soon, on my own for the first time (used to go with a friend) and I am getting a bit nervous... Going to do it though!
Reverse up nearly to caravan. Measure distance still to go from ball to hitch. Put a chalk mark on ground(or use twig as marker)that distance back from front wheel of car. reverse back until wheel is on that mark.
Chalk marks are a good idea on hard surfaces , a stick will do it on grass which is likely to be 50% of the time . To line up tow ball with hitch you really need to use both mirrors and see that the same amount of your caravan is in view in both mirrors as you reverse on to it . The ``bash`` plate is good , I always use one . Towsure or eBay has them from £5.00 , if appearance is important , go for stainless steel and as large as you can . If you still want a marker stick , go to a diy store and buy a length of white curtain tube and paint a ping pong ball with nail colour then make a hole in it and stick it to the tube .As Tentz says , raise van on jockey wheel above height of towball , move to position gradually , stopping as often as needed to check until safe to lower jockey wheel . Don`t be shy of taking your time , lots of us have been doing it for years and still hitch carefully . If you are going to use an awning , take a small step ladder to ease pulling it along the awning rail and put up the middle pole first and peg it out before the sides . I have to do mine solo and it seems awnings get heavier as we get older.......
I had a mover on my caravan so it was pretty simple, but it's an expensive option.
The main problem I found was checking the lights, especially the brake lights at the back of the caravan. I got a piece of wood and jammed it between the brake pedal and the front of the driver's seat.
I check my lights in a similar manner to Nora except I use the handle for my Kojack and press the brake pedal down with it and put the ends under the clutch and accelerator pedal. Checking the lights has become part of my walk round prior to moving off when I check roof lights, gas and electric settings, plus all lockers are securely fastened and TV aerial is stowed in transit position. A sticker on the back window of the car and another on the caravan are useful to line up on so that when one is over the other you know you are fairly close to having the towball under the hitch. Practice, patience and not rushing are the best tools to use. On CCC sites I often find that someone nearby will offer to help when they see me on my own but strangely on CC sites and many commercial sites I just get the peering from behind the curtains syndrome.
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as the van is a silverline nova cant you just heave the van onto the towball, on hard standing it should be easy enough to do, that is what I do with mine, reverse to within 6 inches and apply a bit of muscle, a quick "haw jimmy, geez a shove" (translation to english) "excuse me kind sir, can you assist me in hitching my ickle caravan to my car" always works too
Well Alan I can try- but I am not very strong, more of a little elf lady, so I think I will try the other suggestion (but in my Geordie accent of course....)
In my picasso when I need to hitch on my own, i open the boot and put the middle seat down so i can see how far away i am at the last bit and can see if it is central...
Once you have hitched up once, put a piece of tape somewhere on the bottom of the rear window, and then another in the sight line from your driving position on to the caravan. Then when you want to hitch up next time just get the 2 marks in line.
Quote: Originally posted by LlaniDavis on 09/6/2011
Once you have hitched up once, put a piece of tape somewhere on the bottom of the rear window, and then another in the sight line from your driving position on to the caravan. Then when you want to hitch up next time just get the 2 marks in line.
Used to do that when i was learning to drive,Reversing etc.
Before I had motor mover fitted used an old magmount cb antenna sat on top of the hitch. In conjunction with a marker bottom centre of the rear screen. Worked for me anyway...Mick
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Topic: solo hitching
