Thread: What speed do you tow your caravan

Perhaps the driver was from a country where they drive on the other side of the road. Was fatigued and was making the wrong move when attempting to do the right thing and let people pass

Most caravaners travel at far to fast. The fact you are holding up people is irrelevant. You MUST travel at a safe speed. I go out of my way to try and let anyone and everyone past ( you always get the big thumbs up and waves from the truckies as they sail past me... I will be way over on the edge of the road with the caravan brakes gently applied by the controller.... The Bdoubles and road trains don't effect you much at all if you do this ... ).

I've just spend 3 months towing the block of flats up the coast and back. My speed is entirely dependent on the wind and road conditions. I've traveled as slowly as 70km/h ( heavy gusting winds down near warnanbool ..... I was blown all over the roads ).

The maximum speed I ever travelled at was 95kms/h ( absolutely ideal conditions). Generally it was 85kms/h. Just try and hold a big sheet of roofing iron in a gentle breeze to see why wind is what makes all the difference. There was quite a few places I'd slow down to 70km/h... Eg: kangoroo hop highway up in queenlands ( or pacific highway if you like .... god damn bloody kangaroo bloody hop highway. The road surface is built in "blocks" of road surface. The ridges between these were the exact harmonic frequency of the weight distribution bars.... so the whole thing "hopped" along for bloody hours ... flogging the **** out of the suspension and shockers). I would see the places of concern coming ... moutain ranges with wide open spaces and no shelter. The wind "swirls" badly through the surrounding mountings. I'd slow to 80km/h .... and often drop back 75km/h as felt the caravan starting to get buffeting. Almost everytime you would have a nomad up your arse.... I'd be watching the mirrors and say to the boss women "here we go again" .... grey nomad would haul arse past us.... probably doing a 100km/h with towering ( read unstable stupidly high offroad caravan) behind.... Pretty much everytime without fail they would start swaying ... panic, back off and them we'd be stuck behind them a short time as they dropped back to 80km/h in fright .... then they'd be away ... back to 100km/h ....

These people have absolutely no idea of how close the the limit they are travelling. They don't read the road conditions ... don't seem to notice "open" spaces where you could be hit by huge gusts of sidewinds as you come out onto the flats ... It's downright bloody terrifying to watch.



This is the block of flats. Expected road speed .... 75->95km/h. Generally 85-90km/h while guzzling 35'ish L/100km of LPG. The sail area of the sides of the thing is the biggest factor in road speed. If there is strong gusty winds, I'll go slower ... and slower ... and slower and stop if I have to. Whatever is the safest option (bloody warnanbool ... I always pick gale forced days to go there. Last time I was there, I arrived, unhooked ... and was blown over the bloody roads at 80km/h ... even when NOT TOWING ).

seeya,
Shane L.

I saw the question in the thread title and immediately thought: Isn't it obvious? All caravans are towed at 85km/hr on single lane roads and 115km/hr where there are overtaking lanes!

People that intentionally pull the right lane to not allow people to pass deserve to be cut off. Its not a practice that i endorse but sometimes it drives me insane. Isnt it common courtesy to slow down in the left passing lane and allow faster traffic to pass?
In saying that ive found that most caravaners and people towing are usually pretty decent and do the right thing. Its only a small percentage of people that are f@#k wits!

Can happily sit at 100 on the flat with no headwind... but mostly 90 to 95, 4th sport mode/tc locked. Full height 3t dirt road 21 '6" van

Jc

I towed my new to me Basestation back from Bathurst on Sunday. I sat on 85-95 in the 100-110 zones depending on road conditions. Cruised up Mt Victoria doing the 60 km/h speed limit and surprisingly averaged around 20 l/100.
It took a few attempts to get the brake controller where I liked it but the D4 V8 towed it with ease.

Basestation (2).jpg

Regardless of what speed is being done the Most annoying thing I find with caravaners is that they tend to "Hog" the centre of the road and make it extremely difficult to see past them so that you can overtake safely.
I tow a van and a boat at times and I have absolutely NO problems keeping as far to the left hand side of the road as possible, Especially when passing or when there is a vehicle behind me.

Originally Posted by shanegtr

Last local govnt change ditched it

Make that State (or Territory gubmint).
Road toll outside town areas was averaging 4 per year, introduced 130km speed limit first time, toll went to 24 (IIRC). Next change of gubmint went back to open speed limit, toll dropped again. Latest mob gets in, let's try it again! Doh!!!