Ins and outs of caravan cornering

How to cut out the bad results of too much cut-in when caravan towing

If all you had to do was tow your caravan in a straight line on a wide road to the campsite and back (forgetting for a moment the various skills needed to successfully back it onto the site), anybody could do it. But there is always a corner involved between where you head off from home and where you park the 'van, and that’s where some of us can come unstuck...

What is cut-in?

When you take a corner with a trailer, the trailer wheels will take a shorter path around the corner than the vehicle’s wheels – ‘cutting in’, as it’s called.

In fact, your tow vehicle, even when driven solo, already does this. You have become used to the fact that your vehicle’s rear wheels cut in and allow for it when negotiating sharp corners. If you’ve ever driven a larger car or SUV in a multi-level carpark or through inner-city streets, you probably have already faced the cutting-in problem.

Cut-in is a bigger issue when towing a large caravan

A caravan or camper trailer takes this principle and makes it a whole lot harder – and the longer the trailer and the further away the trailer wheels are from the tow coupling, the more you’ll notice this problem. The trailer will be way over to the side of the vehicle on a sharp turn and you can end up taking out roadside furniture or other vehicles if you’re not paying attention.

Plan your towing trips

The first step to avoid cut-in is to plan your trips; if you are going to tow on roads where you know that the corners are tight even just driving solo, can you avoid them altogether when towing? Or can you tow at quieter times so you’re not getting into log-jammed traffic that will make taking turns wide impossible?

Some mountainous back roads warn drivers not to tow large trailers on them; make sure to avoid such roads if that's the case.

Left turn, Clive

Left turns are usually the most problematic when towing in Australia, because we drive on the left and you’re already much closer to the side of the road and the corner before the turn. Left turns are where you more often discover those pesky roadsides with all sorts of hazards on them for your trailer to run into, and its the harder side to sight what your trailer is up to when turning.

So we’ll concentrate on left turns, although right turns are much the same, just you usually have more room to move.

You begin by moving your rig as close as you can to your side of the centre line (of a two-lane road) before the turn and turning as late as possible and as wide as possible.

Practice makes perfect

While all that might sound obvious, it can be quite a skill that might take you a bit of work to do well. It’s not a bad idea to practice somewhere safe if you’re new to towing, or even if you’ve upsized from a small ten trailer to something bigger.

An empty carpark, for example, where you can set up marker cones as the ‘corner’, and see how you go staying within the cones. Tighten up your imaginary corner by putting the cones closer, and see how you go.

Practicing in a safe place can help reduce cut-in

While some find towing mirrors helpful to ‘sight’ the trailer’s wheels as you turn, even the larger extendable mirrors can be compromised on tighter turns. They simply won’t be a wide enough angle to give context with where the trailer’s wheels are turning on a tight corner, or on sharper turns even show the rear wheel and roadside at all - all you’ll probably see in the mirror is the bow of the boat.

Look for the roadside hazards

One solution is to take note of what is potentially a hazard on the corner before you take the turn (such as a traffic light pole, fence or parked car) and then slow to a crawl or even pause to have a quick look over your shoulder to check how close the trailer is getting to the corner and the potential hazards.

At times (such as quiet, narrow suburban roads) the only way you will make the corner without the trailer climbing the inside kerb is to use both sides of the road. In such cases you have to simply stop and wait until an oncoming vehicle has passed. Position your vehicle so other traffic know what you’re up to.

Roundabouts also require a different steering technique than when not towing, by turning later than you normally would to allow room for the trailer to stay in the lane.

Not all roads are straight so you need to know about cut-in

Do not overtake turning vehicle

If your rig is long enough, you can affix a sign to the rear advising other vehicles not to overtake while you are turning (it must have one if rig over 7.5m long), which legally allows you to straddle two lanes on a multi-lane road just prior to a turn, reducing cutting in on the corner.

Have you ever watched a good semi-trailer driver neatly get their rig around a tight bend? You probably don’t tow your caravan around day in and day out like that truck driver does with his rig, so be realistic. Take your time. You soon develop a feel for how much room you need to get your trailer around a corner, and with some practice it’ll be much easier to do.

Tips on how to avoid cut-in

1. Plan trips to avoid towing around tight turns on narrow roads where possible. Don’t tow on roads where roadsigns specifically say not to.

2. Practice making turns somewhere safe like in an empty carpark or similar

3. Try to focus on left turns, which are harder when towing

4. Don’t rely on side or towing mirrors to save the day; you probably won’t even see the trailer in them when turning

5. Take the corner wide and note what hazards are close to the corner before the turn

6. Be prepared to cross over to the other side of the road on quiet streets to successfully negotiate the turn

7. Get a ‘Do Not Overtake Turning Vehicle’ sign on your trailer (it must have one if rig over 7.5m long) to allow you to straddle two lanes when turning off a multilane road.