Never towed/owned a caravan before.. advice

**Graeme** · 22nd December 2017, 07:22 PM

The D4's suspension will never try to adjust height when a wheel drops into a depression as there is a programmed 5 second delay to allow averaging of height before any adjustments are considered.

The issue with levelling bars for on-road use is that if incorrectly set too high will cause the air volume in the rear airsprings to be inappropriately low as the suspension tries to lower to level the rear which will upset the ride and handling. Properly set bars will slightly increase road pressure on the front wheels for improved steering when the van's draw-bar weight is high and can take some of the bounce out of the rear for a more comfortable ride. Levelling bars are inappropriate for off-road use, regardless of whether the tow vehicle has air suspension or not.

**Lukeis** · 22nd December 2017, 08:47 PM

It turns out pin 4 on the white plug is the only one with the live feed needed for the fridge in the van, this is also needed for the stability control so I’ve not wired pin 4 (car side) to
Pin 9 and 2 of the 12 plug.

i can see the stability control works now so that’s a win but have no idea if the fridge is working because there is no light in it and they are so slow to start up - any ideas how I can confirm this?

also. i installed the narva load resister to the left indicator wire at the A frame of the caravan (to be bolted to the metal at a near time in the future), started the car and put it in reverse but still the reverse sensors came on, assuming this means the car still doesn’t know there’s a trailer attached?? What did I do wrong?

DiscoMick · 22nd December 2017, 08:48 PM

Some useful backing tips here:
Reversing a caravan: The fundamentals | Without A Hitch

**DiscoJeffster** · 22nd December 2017, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by Lukeis

also. i installed the narva load resister to the left indicator wire at the A frame of the caravan (to be bolted to the metal at a near time in the future), started the car and put it in reverse but still the reverse sensors came on, assuming this means the car still doesn’t know there’s a trailer attached?? What did I do wrong?

Did the left indicator of the van work when you tested it? Did you wire it in parallel to the indicator?

**Lukeis** · 23rd December 2017, 02:39 PM

Yep the indicator worked fine before I connected the resister, when set up parallel and when used as the only connection (ie wire through the resister only)

Any clues?

**disco4now** · 23rd December 2017, 04:45 PM

So are you saying one end of the resistor is attached to the wire and the other end of the resistor is attached to earth? This is how it should be.

**Geedublya** · 23rd December 2017, 07:35 PM

If it is wired correctly the trailer light on the dash will flash when the indicator is operated

**scarry** · 23rd December 2017, 07:46 PM

My load resisters are wired from the brake light circuits to earth,all seems to work fine.
There is one load resister on each brake light.

**DiscoJeffster** · 23rd December 2017, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by scarry

My load resisters are wired from the brake light circuits to earth,all seems to work fine.
There is one load resister on each brake light.

Very weird. All the text says you put them into the indicators however if you’re correct, then you’ve proven it just needs to see a load on one of the trailer light circuits.

**67hardtop** · 23rd December 2017, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by ATH

I'm no electrician but yes if it's over 750kg you'll need a brake controller by law. As to parking on a hill I'd suggest you use chocks as well because the handbrake shouldn't trusted.
AlanH.

Like this??

Cheers Rod

Thread: Never towed/owned a caravan before.. advice

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