Why you should get an RV safety check

Caravanning is one of the great Aussie pastimes, but it’s also one of the most confusing – and potentially dangerous if you don’t get at least a few things right…

Unless you’re very experienced or take the time choosing the right caravan and tow vehicle, set it up correctly and pack it right, there’s a good chance you'll be either breaking the law in some way, or towing a rig that’s unsafe on the road.

Get it wrong, and you could end up with a bad towing experience, fine or costly repair. Get it really wrong and you could end up rolling the caravan – a not infrequent occurrence these days...

To complicate matters further, towing rules can vary from state to state, caravan manufacturers don’t always follow the rules when it comes to compliance, and it’s not uncommon for the actual Tare weight of the van to differ from what it says on the build plate, even when new.

Not to mention second-hand caravans that have been modified or upgraded in some way.

But what to do? You could spend the time (and money) doing the research and due diligence – a hassle for time-poor travelers who’d prefer to spend their free time on holiday.

You could fork out for a once-over at the local repairer, or hit the scales at a public weigh bridge or enlist the services of a mobile weigh station.

Perhaps the easiest and cheapest route is to sign up for one of the free RV safety checks being offered around the country at various times and locations.

Often held in conjunction with a caravan show, the free checks are often held in Queensland and Victoria, although other regions are starting to get on board.

Also read: How to avoid a roll-over

I attended a session at the Bendigo Leisurefest in Victoria, where free RV inspections were offered over the week-end for anyone who wanted to turn up...

Weighty issues

To hammer home the road safety message and add some legitimacy to proceedings, the free inspections are often run by the state caravan associations in conjunction with road and traffic authorities.

So with the four annual shows organized by Caravan Industry Victoria, for example, you'll often see representatives from Victoria Police, VicRoads, EnergySafe Victoria, and the Victoria Building Authority.

Also on hand are technical specialists to provide specific advice, often around towing, suspension and chassis set-up, along with experts from enthusiast websites and forums.

To encourage participation, no fines or breach notices are issued on the day, but attendees usually have to pre-book online to grab a spot in the queue. As part of each inspection, which can take around 30 minutes, each car and caravan (or motorhome) is weighed (separately and combined), gas connections and electrical equipment checked, and towing set-up and overall condition assessed.

Unfortunately, no gas or electrical specialists were in attendance at Bendigo, but there were a few experts including Gary Gardiner from Hayman Reese and Michael Peebles from caravan repairer Epsolm Palms Caravan World, along with representatives from G&S Chassis and the popular Everything Caravan & Camping website.

Also read: The truth about caravan Tare weight

Heavy up front

I watched around seven vans go through on the Saturday morning session, with some overweight in either the van or tow vehicle, or in some cases both.

Hayman Reese towing expert Gary Gardiner, who has attended many of the Victorian and Queensland free inspections conducted in recent years, said he's increasingly seeing more overweight tow vehicles than caravans.

“In my experience with the Queensland inspections the vans all started heavy and the cars were OK, but it has definitely slowly switched the other way where the tow vehicles are getting heavier and the vans are getting closer and closer to being compliant,” he said.

He said most people who attend the safety checks have never weighed their rig before, and said the main benefit of getting it done at the show rather than a public weighbridge is that owners get “a full explanation of what the weights mean and how they relate to their particular set-up”.

“Most of them are surprised when find out they’re overloaded,” he said. “Generally I ask them how do you think you’re going to go and most of them say 'I think I’m OK', and are often surprised when they find out they’re not.

“When I told some-one earlier that he was 100kg over on his Jeep, he couldn’t understand where it was coming from,” Gardiner said. “I then had to explain to him that the GVM of his car was quite low, and that with his wife and kids on board he was 100kg over.”

Caravan repairer Michael Peebles said many owners mistakenly believed that because their tow vehicle had a significant tow capacity, it also had a correspondingly large payload or GVM.

“The most common issue (I found at Bendigo) was the vehicle capacity for load, not caravan issues as such," he explained. "By the time they loaded up the tow vehicle and after hitching up the caravan, the car was overweight.

“In one case an (almost empty) Pajero had only had 45kg left (in payload) with only one person sitting in the car!”

“That was the biggest surprise for me. You expect the caravans to be a little above, but the fact that the cars in many cases were a lot overweight was really surprising.”

Grey nomad dilemma

One interesting example at Bendigo was a 21ft Jayco Silverline towed by a 200 Series Toyota LandCruiser, that was overloaded in both the tow vehicle and caravan, as well as on the tow ball.

The LandCruiser with caravan attached weighed 3430kg, or 70kg over its rated GVM, while the Silverline hit the scales at 3232kg (161kg over the plated ATM). The tow ball mass recorded was also 11kg over, at 361kg.

Also read: The truth about overloading

On closer inspection it was clear there was too much gear in the back of the LandCruiser (70 litre fridge, toolbox, 125Ah battery and charger, etc, along with the full tank of fuel and two passengers). The Jayco van also appeared ‘nose heavy” with the front boot jam-packed with camping gear, alongside a slide-out generator and two gas bottles.

Melbourne-based grey nomads Keith and Margaret Lord explained it was difficult staying within the weight limits when loading up for extended trips away in their Silverline, which they bought new in 2016.

“Even though (the overweight issues) are concerning to us, it’s difficult  when you’re travelling four months at a time over the Melbourne winter and you need to carry your generator because we do a lot of free camping, and if you’re free camping you also need your water tanks full,” Margaret said.

The couple said the main reasons for attending the safety check was to try and avoid a hefty fine if pulled over by police, and not to make void their insurance cover.

“It’s also the safety aspect. We’ve seen so many accidents with vans on the road, where things are blatantly not right,” she said.

They're now considering various ways to shed weight including leaving a portable solar panel they’ve been using to charge up the portable fridge at home. While noticeably sagging at the rear, they said the LandCruiser towed “fantastic” despite the extra weight, and the AL-KO ESC stability control unit fitted to the Jayco had never been activated.

However, it’s clear some participants are less successful when it comes to ‘slimming’ down. Peebles said one caravan at Bendigo that was found to be 300kg overweight was a ‘repeat offender” after also presenting as overloaded at a previous inspection.

“When we walked around the van, you could see he still had a ladder strapped up underneath, two pole carriers at the back, a gas bottle that had been turned into a fire box… He actually expected he was going to be close to (the plated ATM) this time, but wasn’t unfortunately.”

Other caravan owners at Bendigo were a bit smarter, either buying vans with massive payloads (close to 900kg in one case) or getting their van's ATM upgraded via an engineer’s certificate, to provide greater payload.

Each participant received plenty of advice throughout the inspection, with plenty of recommendations made especially concerning weight distribution hitches, tyre pressures and weight distribution when it comes to accessories.

Expansion plans

While helping hundreds of RV travellers each year, the free safety inspections only reach a small percentage of the 600,000-plus recreational vehicles registered in Australia.

Only 24 spots were available over the two days at the Bendigo Leisurefest event, and there's only been around 200 checks conducted by the CIV in Victoria over the past three years.

However, that's expected to grow signficantly with proposals to roll out the program to more Victorian regional towns, while Caravanning Queensland has 10 safety check days lined up for next year.

With no licence or training required to tow a caravan in Australia (hell, even a P-plater can tow a van under some circumstances), any initiative that helps make caravanning a less daunting and ultimately safer activity for all road users is worth any amount of support...