What is the best tyre pressure for towing?

Keep your caravanning questions coming and our experts will do their best to answer them...

Ask a handful of experts and you’ll probably get a handful of answers, but these are ones that there is some consensus on...

For bitumen touring, where you tend to travel faster for longer and hence heat your tyres up more, set your tyres at the upper end of their recommended pressure range, which in most vehicles is around 45psi all round.

The higher pressures will decrease your rolling resistance (friction) meaning better fuel consumption and also open up the tread, so they will drain water better in wet conditions and give you better traction and braking grip.

On formed, unsealed roads, pressures in the 30-35psi range work best, as they allow the tyre tread to spread better and give you better grip, but only if you reduce your speed at the same time. A max cruising speed of 65-70km/h is best and this will allow you to ride the corrugations better, while also reducing the stone peppering on the front of your caravan or camper.

Always pay particular attention to the pressure of the rear tyres of your tow vehicle, as the ball load will drive them harder into loose stones that may cause punctures.

Don’t forget to raise your pressures again when you hit the bitumen, as higher towing speeds will build up heat quickly and could lead to tyre carcass failure.

On very loose surfaces, such as sand, drop your driving tyres to 15-18psi to get maximum ‘balloon’ from your tyres and hence distribute their load better. Avoid turning sharply at these low pressures to avoid the tyres from breaking their bead sealing on the rim and releasing air.

Should I carry spare fuel on a long trip?

When towing, I’d always advise ‘Yes’, particularly if travelling inland on less frequented roads.

On these less travelled roads, towns and hence refuelling options are often further apart and sometimes run out of fuel if the tanker doesn’t make its scheduled stop.

Carry a spare jerry or fuel can that will hold at least 10 litres of fuel – ideally stored outside the cabin of your tow vehicle – that you can use in an emergency. A funnel for the fuel is also a necessity.

How can I protect myself from unwanted visitors when free-camping?

When we free-camp, we get off the main road, ideally out of sight of the road to deter opportunistic passers-by.

If possible, equip your van or camper with outside lights on each corner that can be turned on with a single inside switch, perhaps with a motion sensor fitted. Most times the noise will be hungry possums or grazing kangaroos, but humans can be deterred, as they won’t know if you are armed or not.

For token safety we carry a small hatchet in the van, but doubt if I’d ever have to use it.

Yes, if you have to, but unfurl it again to dry at the first opportunity to avoid mildew.

I definitely would not store a van overnight or longer with a damp or wet awning.

That depends on whether you like sitting outside at night and embracing your surroundings.

But if you're more attached to your TV and van heater, perhaps not.

Also, the joy of making your first tea or coffee of the day inside before you’re properly dressed to face the day can’t be over-estimated.

They can also eat into valuable payload – many caravans only offer around 400kg ‘packing’ weight, so a 40-50kg slide-out kitchen can really cut into that.

Firstly, it’s not the caravan manufacturers’ fault. They would love to deliver more vans earlier and get paid, but with shortages still in many component supplies like awnings and blinds, they can’t finish them.

Most say that despite the price increases they are still losing money per unit delivered compared with a few years ago.

So even with increased prices, they are still not making as much on each unit, as their standing costs like insurance, rent, etc, march on.

The good news is that it appears that waiting lists are stopping to drop, unless you’re after a high-demand motorhome or off-road caravan from a low-volume manufacturer.