Thread: Caravan stability control

Yes, Melbourne Trailer & Caravan Supplies at Chelsea Height in Vic are the agents for them.

Was near there last Thursday...

Might drop in next time I'm in the area and get a bit more info.

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

all it does is apply the caravan brakes where oscillations side to side are detected .............. so I can't see how it would interfere with any of the towcar electronics. The towcars electronics would assume to the caravan just stopped swaying without intervention

seeya,
Shane L.

I queried several owners with the Alko setup, and all were disappointed. It may very well work, but the owners I spoke to felt the intervention was too slow. Perhaps they expected it to eliminate sway altogether, but it seems passing a roadtrain going the other way, still throws the van around, Alko ESC fitted or not. It also seems the system takes several off line movements before it reacts.

I have had a few hairy moments with our van ( 2.5 tonne ) on loose surfaces, and the D4 has helped me out of them each time. I am no longer even considering fitting any ESC setup to the van. I believe the D4's systems are superior. ( and proven first hand )

Maybe those people also had badly set up vans to start with, that were inhenantly unstable, and assumed some sort of sway control would fix it, rather than loading the van correctly (some vans just can't be as they are designed so badly). How many vans do you see with racks hanging off the back with bikes, spares and jerry cans attached, and have heavy ensuites and grey water tanks behind the axle? I was always taught (and physics proves it) that you should have as little weight behind the axle as possible. It's no fluke of design that semi trailers have the tri axle group right at the back. I've only got the bed behind the axle on mine, the heavy stuff - fridge, batteries, stove, water tank, etc are all over or just forward of the axle. On some big vans, all that weight at the back will only exacerbate how long a swaying van takes to become stable again.

Personally my little brick is rock solid behind any car I tow it with. It does move to one side when a big truck comes past the other way, and that's always going to happen - it's very large for its weight (1975 full height, full width van 16' long that weighs 1,300Kg), but it snaps back into line straight away and never gives the feeling of being twitchy or unsafe to tow. It has got a longer draw bar than standard which improved things greatly though.

Originally Posted by ADMIRAL

I queried several owners with the Alko setup, and all were disappointed. It may very well work, but the owners I spoke to felt the intervention was too slow. Perhaps they expected it to eliminate sway altogether, but it seems passing a roadtrain going the other way, still throws the van around, Alko ESC fitted or not. It also seems the system takes several off line movements before it reacts.

I have had a few hairy moments with our van ( 2.5 tonne ) on loose surfaces, and the D4 has helped me out of them each time. I am no longer even considering fitting any ESC setup to the van. I believe the D4's systems are superior. ( and proven first hand )

My parents have done several trips north with there's. My father is a long time caravaner and knows how to load a 'van. It's never moved, never swayed .... the ESC has tripped several times, never due to swaying though.

I consider it an absolute last resort, it is NOT supposed to stop swaying, it will however save your skin the day you need it. If I could have ESC on a 'van .... it's a no brainer, I'd have if fitted without a single seconds hesitation. There is no way a cars ESC will save you the way this system could. Simply because the car cannot remotely apply the caravans brakes. If my caravan ever takes off ..... The accellerator will be rammed to the floor ...................... and I'll be throwing on the caravans brakes too. If the caravans braking, and the cars not .... the whole lot WILL straighten up without relying (fingers crossed) on some electronic package in the car hopefully being able to overcome the laws of physics by applying the cars brakes individually ( this will never be as effective as the caravan throwing it's brakes on if you think about it).

In theory I could fit it to our old 'van ( twin axle electric brakes). I just don't have the spare available funds though.

If you have a caravan that sways, the answer is NOT fitting something to "catch" the caravan when the **** has hit the fan. You need to fix the underlying cause of the swaying.

seeya,
Shane L.

Spot on Shane, but it's amazing how many people fit sway breakers or load levellers or similar to stop the van from swaying. My FIL has been towing vans regularly since before I was born, but he doesn't get it. His current van - a single axle, late 80's pop top is horrendous to tow and sways all over the place just going in a straight line on the freeway. The only time I towed it for him I thought I'd got a flat tyre, but he said 'don't worry, that's normal' I've talked to him about what the problems may be and that he should get it sorted properly because vans shouldn't do that, but he said 'it's just a part of vanning' - 'I've stuck the old load levellers on it since then and it's much better'.

I wonder how many out there are like this?

And thats exactly it Gav & Shane! You guys have nailed it...

**** poor design is the common cause of instability and these modern van builders really need to be held accountable!

A one size/design fits all approach - doesn't work either - A tug is not just a tug - and people need to take into account what their intended tow vehicle is when working through the appropriate choice of van.

And with modern design, modelling and composites - I believe its about time van design and weight are reduced to suitable levels - 3500kg is a lot of cases is way beyond many vehicles (and operators) level of capability.

The aussie baileys mentioned in the other thread. There really going to shakeup the local caravan industry. The current Jayco Silverline with slide .... The bailey will be sold for less money ... with the same slide features but will be 700kg less. I don't understand how those modern jaycos are so incredibly heavy. Are they built with chassis made of lead or something

When bailey gets going in Australia with there locally made 'vans ... there going to kill all the local manufactures as there product is so superior for similar costs.

seeya,
Shane L.