Tech Talk

By Philip Lord, Lionel Mussell and Malcolm Street

WHAT BREAKDOWN COVER REALLY MEANS

Roadside assistance membership is a vital safety net when touring with a caravan in tow. If you are in the situation where either your vehicle or caravan is immobilised and requires a tow to a workshop to fix it, if you don’t have the right cover your breakdown may cost far more than just the repair itself.

Free roadside assistance and free towing is offered by all the seven State motoring organisations covering Australia’s eight States and territories. By becoming a member of a motoring organisation and electing to take out roadside breakdown cover, it’s like you’ve taken out an insurance policy.

Just like insurance, it’s something you hope you never need, but also it is something for which it is important to check the fine print. Not all breakdown cover is the same.

One of the main problems facing caravanners, particularly of those with large vehicles and/or caravans, is that towing contractors appear to cater primarily for broken-down cars. Heavy-duty haulage is not within their frame of reference. That is not to say that caravans are especially difficult to provide towing assistance for – if your rig is not over the towing limits specified below then you have nothing to worry about.

Likewise, it is easier to get a big van towed than it is getting it onto a flat bed truck – if your vehicle, not your caravan, is broken down, getting your van towed should not be a problem.

Below is a State-by-State rundown of what you should expect from your breakdown cover.

The motoring organisations do try to harmonise their breakdown cover, but it is not always the case. Always see breakdown cover in writing before you assume you’re covered, as policies and conditions can, and do, change.

NSW and ACT

NRMA offers Premium Care or Traveller Care (which is specifically for trailers when the towing vehicle has a manufacturer-supplied roadside assistance scheme).

Towing benefits are not available for a trailer which exceeds 2 tonnes GVM or which exceeds 2.5m in width or 2.6m in height or is, in NRMA’s opinion, overloaded or not safely loaded or secure. In such cases, NRMA may help arrange for towing, but you have to pay the tow cost at commercial rates.

The NRMA says that vehicles which exceed 3.5 tonnes laden mass, or which are greater than 5.5m in length, 2.5m in width or 2.6m in height, are not eligible for vehicle transport.

Premium cover gives 100km free towing to your vehicle and caravan in serviced country areas and 50km free towing in metro areas. Outside of a ‘serviced’ area, you get 100km free towing plus 50km free within the area.

NT

The Automobile Association of NT offers Premium breakdown service, where your vehicle and van each must not exceed 5.5m long, 2.3m wide or 2.0m high. A 2-tonne GVM limit applies (although most depots can take up to 2.5 tonnes) A free tow up to 50km in metro areas and up to 200km in the country, but if it is over 2.5 tonnes GVM, AANT will pay $220 pa towards towing costs.

SA

The Royal Automobile Association of SA’s Premium cover will provide up to 200km free towing with a weight restriction of 2 tonnes. There are no particular requirements for a van beyond those of a towing vehicle: the car or van must not exceed 5.5m long, 2.3m wide or 2.0m high. If the vehicle or van does not meet these restrictions, RAA will provide a $220 pa subsidy for seeking out heavy-duty towing.

WA

The Royal Automobile Club of WA offers Classic or Ultimate cover, which offers a 100km free tow under the two levels of cover to a limit of 2.5 tonnes and 5.5m in length for vehicle or caravan, if either has to travel on a flat bed truck. Above this, the RACWA will pay only the portion of the towing fee charged by the contractor up to this amount; any surplus you will need to cover yourself.

The RAC says some of its contractors may not have two vehicles available at the same time to collect both vehicle and van, in which case they will have to return to the van after dropping off the vehicle. If your caravan can be towed by the coupling despite exceeding these limits, it can be towed free for up to 100km.

Qld

The Royal Automobile Club of Qld has Plus Care and Ultra Care, which offers up to 40km towing in any direction or up to 100km to the attending contractor’s location for free.

Towing is available only for vehicles up to 4 tonnes GVM, and a towing service fee can be applied for vehicles weighing more than 2.5 tonnes. If special towing is required, RACQ will contribute $110 (Plus Care) or $165 (Ultra Care) towards the cost per membership year.

Tas

The Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania provides, under its Roadside Ultimate cover, towing for vehicles exceeding 2 tonnes as loaded where practical, but where special equipment or specialised service providers are required RACT will arrange this subject to availability and will contribute $200 towards the cost.

RACT Roadside Ultimate benefits do not apply to vehicles used for commercial purposes weighing over 4.5 tonnes as loaded.

RACT cannot guarantee recovery of vehicles that are either longer than 5.5m, wider than 2.3m or higher than 2m, or weigh more than 2 tonnes as loaded. Where recovery of vehicles outside these limits is possible, the member may be required to pay any additional charges.

In the metropolitan area towing is provided for up to 15km for RACT Roadside Advantage members (no distance limit in Tasmania and a 20km limit Interstate for RACT Roadside Ultimate members).

In country areas RACT Roadside Advantage covers the nearest RACT towing agent travelling up to 32km (no distance limit in Tasmania and 100km limit Interstate for RACT Roadside Ultimate members) and towing the member’s vehicle back in the direction of the agent’s depot up to 32 km (no distance limit in Tasmania and 100km limit Interstate for RACT Roadside Ultimate members).

If the member requires the vehicle to be towed a greater distance or travel in another direction, an excess charge applies free towing within Tasmania (and up to 100km interstate) for vehicles for up to 2 tonnes. For vehicles more than 2 tonnes or any trailer, RACT contributes $200 to the cost of towing.

Vic

The RACV offers Total Care or Extra Care Trailer and Caravan Assistance under which the RACV will provide free towing so long as the vehicles do not exceed 2.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight. Vehicles between 2.5 and 4 tonnes gross vehicle weight are entitled to towing up to $500 per service call, wheel changing up to $300 per service call, and vehicle recovery.

Drivers will incur commercial charges for towing provided to vehicles exceeding 4 tonnes gross vehicle weight. Towing, wheel changing and vehicle recovery may not be available outside of Vic.

RACV will provide unlimited towing in the metropolitan area or up to 150km in the country to the attending Service Depot. RACV will also provide up to $100 for alternative trailer hire costs in the event that they cannot fix the problem on the roadside. If you are more than 100km from home and your caravan or trailer is at a place of repair as a result of a breakdown or accident, and is expected to be at the place of repair for more than 24 hours, RACV will organise and pay up to $110 per night for up to 12 nights for accommodation for you and any passengers travelling with you while your caravan or trailer is being repaired.

Under Extra Care, up to 30km free breakdown towing in metropolitan areas and up to 140km in country areas back to the attending service depot. If special towing equipment is required, up to $220 per tow will be provided. PL

TERRITORY GEAR

We have ordered a Coromal Princeton 6.5m tandem caravan, which we will tow with a current model Ford Territory six-speed auto. The van is rated as Tare weight 1870kg.

This will be our first venture into caravanning. Should we drive the Territory in fully automatic mode, or in manual over-ride mode, and if the latter, which highest gear should I select out on the open road?

At what speed should I drive to be comfortable and safe, while taking care of the engine and transmission, and not wasting fuel?

We are retired, and we’re not in any hurry to get anywhere quickly. Your practical advice here to get us started with our first caravan would be greatly appreciated.

Graeme Dennes

Via email

When loaded up, your van is likely to be within a few hundred kilos of the maximum towing and towball download capacity of the Territory AWD (2300kg and 230kg, respectively). You shouldn’t have a problem, but do get your rig to a weighbridge to make sure it’s within the limits when loaded up.

Be aware that, at the maximum 230kg towball download, you have a 340kg payload maximum for passengers and gear inside the Territory.

As with many vehicles fitted with an automatic transmission, the factory recommendation is to use ‘Sport’ mode for the Territory.

Sport mode is engaged by moving the selector to the left hand ‘D’ position. This means that the vehicle will remain fully automatic but will lock out top gear (sixth), instead only changing up to fifth. This results in cooler transmission temperatures.

In addition Ford does not recommended that you tow with a brand new vehicle – it suggests you clock up a minimum of 3000km prior to towing a van.

As for speed, Ford recommends not exceeding 80km/h (subject to legal road limits) in any situation. This seems a little on the slow side to me – a slightly higher cruising speed of 90 to 95km/h in freeway 110km/h zones permits passing traffic a better degree of safety (in terms of the faster traffic’s closing speed to your rig) while not affecting touring economy or stability.

Ford says that it makes its towing recommendations provided that the Territory is equipped with a Ford-approved heavy duty towpack (given your caravan is over the 1600kg limit for the standard Ford towpack), including: Ford approved Heavy Duty towbar; Ford approved Heavy Duty 2300kg rated gooseneck and Load Levelling kit; Ford approved trailer wiring kit; ADR approved towball and that the caravan is equipped with brakes, and that you have read and understood all other aspects of the towing components of the Territory owner’s manual. PL

POP-TOP ROOF: UP OR DOWN?

My wife and I are relatively new to the caravanning caper, having had our van for only about six months. We took it to Tasmania in February and toured around for four weeks and learned a lot in a hurry.

It seems that everyone has a differing opinion as to the best way to garage a pop-top van when not in use for an extended period, ie, with the roof up or with the roof down. What do you blokes reckon?

Rod Faithfull

Email

You are right about the different opinions about storing pop-tops, but the general consensus is to store it with the roof up and with at least some vents open for ventilation.

However, quite often the reason people buy a pop-top is because they have limited height under a carport or garage and in that case I think it’s OK to leave the roof down. LM

MAGIC MIX

Some time ago I saw on your website a formula you use for the caravan toilet. I can no longer find this - could you tell me what was in the “magic mix”?

Last year you kindly advised us about towing a 20ft Jayco Sterling with a Falcon. You said go right ahead - and you certainly are right. The van tows like a dream, no problem with enough power, etc. Full marks to Jayco for an excellent product and to you for your advice.

Colan Kevill

Email

Here’s the recipe for the toilet mixture as I wrote it at the time. It may not be approved by the makers of your toilet so the onus is on you – no responsibility from us although we used it successfully for more than a year.

1 cup borax

1 cup cloudy ammonia

1 cup eucalyptus oil

Dissolve the borax in very hot water. Add ammonia and eucalyptus oil after it’s cooled. Mix with enough water to make into 3 to 4 litres. Use about half a litre each time.

However we have now switched to Bio-Magic, with excellent results. LM

CONTROLLER PROBLEMS

I read with interest the article on brake controllers in the March issue of CW.

I drive a 2002 AU Falcon Forte Series III. In October 2004 I had a Tekonsha brake controller fitted.

I went out to the garage one evening and the stop lights were on even though no-one was in the car. I started the car, trying to turn them off but this did not happen. I turned the ignition and took the key out and the engine kept running. It stopped when I released my foot off the brake pedal.

When I applied the brake pedal again the ignition lights on the dashboard came on. I went to the auto electrician the next day and he said I had a faulty brake controller and fitted a new one.

I have contacted the Ford dealer where it was fitted but I have not been able to find any answers.

Les Kays

Gisborne, Vic

I’m sorry to hear about the frustrating and worrying failure of the brake controller. Without knowing the specifics, it’s hard to comment on what happened with your particular unit, however the symptoms do sound very much like a fault Tekonsha had with its Voyager units a few years ago.

There are several importers for Tekonsha, so it is hard to say which yours came from. However, from information I can glean, there is a five-year guarantee for Tekonsha products.

I would not assume that the Ford dealer was trying to fob you off. It is unfortunate that the dealer did not take your problem more seriously, although there is a chance that it did not know about the fault with Tekonsha.

If you still have the old unit – which would only be three years old now – I would strongly recommend approaching the fitting dealer again to see if you have any joy with some kind of compensation. Speaking to the electrician who replaced the unit to relay what the problem was before approaching your Ford dealer could also be helpful. PL

LPG PROBLEMS

When we went to the NT two years ago, we found lots of LPG pumps out of order. Luckily, we have dual-fuel and we could switch to petrol. On the return trip we had to back-track about 80km to find gas, when a pump was out of order. I was told on more than one occasion that it took more than six weeks to get a service van out to fix the problem.

On another issue, we also see electric cords being coiled neatly at van sites and it seems that people don’t realise that it creates an induction coil, or heater.

John & Nelly Schweinsberg

Moonta, SA

The LPG problem seems to be an issue of demand – I bet you won’t see a diesel pump broken down for six weeks out in the bush!

Peter Linahan, from the Australian LPG Association, investigated the matter of closures or failed LPG pumps in remote areas and this is his response:

“There are usually several reasons, but generally if the volume of sales does not stack up then the business case is not there. In all these outlets there is a considerable capital outlay and hence the business case needs to support the recouping of a financial return on such investment. Also there can come a point in the maintenance program where statutory inspections create a review of further inspections and this can be the trigger for removal of a pressure vessel, for example.

“There have also been some changes of company structures, as you would expect in a very competitive industry where margins are low and large volumes are required to create a successful business case. One site was a casualty of such a change of ownership of the distribution company and as a result the hardware was not transferred in the new ownership.

“The business case presumably did not stack up at the time to reconfigure the site with different equipment. Some years later the numbers may have improved to reconsider the business case. It is still a focus to ensure and maintain a supply of Autogas to regional areas at a reasonable refuelling radius on main routes.

“LPG Australia has a trip planner on its website (www.lpgautogas.com.au), which we endeavour to keep as accurate as we can but we do depend on other parties for information to update our database.”

As for coiled electrical cords, they do create an induction coil, which can induce currents in nearby electronic equipment. However, the risk is minor – the main reason you should not leave electric cord coiled or overlapping is because of the heat generated due to resistance in the wire. The resistance is small, but coil up enough cord and run current through it for long enough, and you risk melting the insulation, creating a short-circuit and fire. PL

SMALLER WHEELS

We have bought a new house and found our pop-top is too high to fit into the garage. We let down the tyres and found we were still about one or two inches too high.

Would you know if there are any aftermarket wheels that are smaller than the 15in wheels we have on the van?

Our van has light truck tyres so there are six bolts to undo to change the wheel.

Allan Colleen

Email

There are smaller wheels that would fit but it sounds as though you would still have a problem unless you let the tyre pressure down every time. Have you thought of getting a secondhand pair of rims from a wrecker and fitting them without tyres when you store the van?

You could run them on strips of masonite or rubberised material to prevent them damaging your concrete. LM

I am planning an Alice trip mid this year: would you suggest June or September school holidays?

Where do I find out about RV hire and hidden costs, in America? I have two adults and two children (12 and 9) so would a class B camper be OK to travel and sleep for about three weeks? Is there a Melbourne agent for these type of things?

Do you know about the school holiday schedule in America in 2008?

Vlad Peska

Email

In the Alice, June is winter – cold nights. September is Spring – a little warmer usually.

For motorhome or car hire anywhere in the world try Motorhomes Worldwide,

<a href="http://www.motorhomesworldwide.com/"><u><font face="Arial" color="#0000ff" size="2">www.motorhomesworldwide.com</font></u></a>

I’ve no idea how you would find hidden costs except by asking the hire company if the rates are all-inclusive or if there are extras.

As far as school holidays in the US are concerned, it seems to me that each State and indeed School District has its own dates and unless you know exactly where you are going it’s hard to find out.

It could pay you to do a Google search narrowing your request down to where you intend to travel or alternately join one of the US-based RV forums and ask there (MSN and Yahoo both have RV groups). LM

WHICH TOW VEHICLE?

I have purchased a new Jayco Sterling 2165. It has an ATM of 2498kg, a GTM of 2308kg, Tare is 2028kg and empty ball weight is 190kg. I feel that when fully loaded the ball weight will be about 250kg.

At present we have a NH Pajero 3.0-litre manual, which has served us well and had no problems towing our last van, a Jayco 18ft Westport. Our new van is considerably heavier and on the limit of the Pajero’s tow capacity; although the Pajero has towed our new van, you soon know it’s there.

Because we are on a limited budget, I was considering a second-hand LandCruiser 100 Series 4.5-litre or a GU Patrol 4.5 on gas. I would prefer a dual-cab ute but the only one with the tow capacity is the Navara diesel and I feel it would struggle to tow our van. What are your thoughts – are there any other vehicles in that price range worth considering?

With the caravan weights you’re quoting, you’ll need to buy a sturdy 4WD tow vehicle. You don’t mention a budget, but as the first of the 100 Series petrols, a 1998 model, is worth about $20k, I assume this is the kind of money you wish to spend.

If you can overcome concerns about patchy reliability, a Land Rover Discovery Series II V8 on gas would be as cheap as chips and a good tow vehicle. It has a 3500kg tow capacity and 250kg maximum towball download and represents great value on the used market. You should be able to find a very tidy, low mileage 2003 V8 upgrade model for less than $25,000 on the private market. Not including rebates, it’ll cost about $4500 for the LPG conversion.

Fuel range with the Discovery V8 on gas may be a problem (as it may also with the GU Patrol 4.5 on gas) as gas is usually less efficient a fuel than petrol and certainly in the Discovery’s case, the LPG fuel tank volume is small, unless you’re prepared to install tanks that will eat up cargo space. The Discovery II requires sequential gas injection to work properly too, as the earlier design conversion can have backfire problems.

With any fuel type, but especially LPG, carefully work out estimated consumption versus fuel capacity to ensure that you don’t run short of fuel on your planned trips. LPG is up to 30 per cent less efficient than petrol, and don’t forget to find out the usable volume with LPG tanks (as they cannot be filled to capacity).

If you can contemplate owning a Navara turbodiesel, why not a Patrol, Discovery or LandCruiser turbodiesel? The ‘Cruiser will be slightly more expensive, but a GU Patrol 4.2TD will be well within your grasp. The only catch is that the 4.2TD it is not available with automatic transmission and when towing, performance won’t be quite as strong as the petrol models. Fuel consumption and – depending on the vehicle condition and how it tows your specific van – fuel cost and touring range will be better. PL