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When driving a caravan, safety concerns should be paramount, and whilst a caravan stabiliser is not intended to be a substitute for sound practice in loading and towing, they are valuable accessories. A caravan stabiliser however, will not overcome problems created by poor loading or poor driving.
Follow the golden rules of towing: Set up the trailer so that is level when coupled to the towing vehicle. Make sure the nose weight is between 50 and 100kg (unless trailer is very light.)
Make sure the tyre pressures are correct. It should be remembered that you must not 
travel in the right-hand lane of a motorway, with three lanes or more, if you are driving a vehicle drawing a trailer.
The main purpose of a stabiliser is to stop a trailer or caravan from becoming unstable and snaking from side to side. They come in various forms and designs, popular makes include the Al-ko caravan stabiliser, the Snakemaster, and the Bulldog stabiliser.
A selection of caravan stabilisers can be found in our main store where you can compare prices of many of the popular models.
The most popular types are the trailing arm leaf spring and the coupling head stabiliser. "Snaking" is when the axles of the caravan/trailer move out of line from the towing vehicle. When this happens, the trailer/caravan tries to move back into line and it goes too far. This action starts the cycle of "snaking" from side to side.Unless the snaking is stopped, it will increase and will cause the driver to lose control.
Snaking can be caused by a number of factors such as: Incorrectly placed loads (excessive loading to the rear of the axle(s)) Very light or negative nose weight Side winds (when a large commercial vehicle or coach overtakes and causes the air to buffet the caravan/trailer, moving the axles out of alignment) Special purpose built trailers having awkward internal fixtures that may be not balanced, causing instability.
To stop snaking there are a few simple rules: Keep the vehicle steering in a straight line Change down a gear and take both feet off the pedals If the snaking starts whilst going down hill, change down a gear and very gently apply the brakes
Do not try to accelerate out, this could end in disaster unless the vehicle is exceptionally powerful. Do not brake hard,this may cause the trailer to jack knife. Do not try to steer out, it is very difficult to read the snaking action and it can make it worse.
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Once you have finished using your caravan for the year you should considering protecting it during the winter months with a suitable cover. The Kampa caravan cover is made from a lightweight material to avoid scratching and features a triple layer for complete protection against the worst of the winter weather.
The outer layer is made from a soft yet durable material which also reflects the suns harmful UV rays protecting the exterior paintwork of your caravan.
The second layer is the aeror micropore which is breathable and stops rainfall penetrating yet allows moisture to escape minimising condensation. As there is little moisture, this prevents mold and mildue build up which can be a problem after overwintering.
The final and third layer is made from a material that is soft, lightweight and, more importantly, non abrasive ensuring the outside of the caravan does not get scratched.
Two zippers offer easy access to the caravan door and sown in quick release buttons ensure easy installation and removal.
The Kampa caravan cover is a top of the range cover at an affordable price which will protect your caravan for many years to come. It is perfect for a 19ft or 21ft caravan. If your caravan is 21ft you should opt for the size up as caravan shapes and designs vary and the cover can sometimes be too tight on the larger size of caravan.
By protecting your caravan you will prolong the useful life of your investment and you will minimise cleaning during the spring when you start looking forward to a new holiday season.
Here are several Kampa Caravan Covers available on eBay.
 NEW HEAVY DUTY KAMPA BREATHABLE CARAVAN COVER 19 21 FT  £89.99
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 NEW HEAVY DUTY KAMPA BREATHABLE CARAVAN COVER 23 25 FT £109.99
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 Kampa Breathable Caravan Cover to fit 14ft 17ft £74.95
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Check out our main store for more offers on Kampa Caravan Covers
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Graham says:
Trying to manoeuvring a caravan can at times be a somewhat of a struggle. It can be tedious, back-breaking and sometimes dangerous work. It doesn't have to be that way however. Caravan Movers will enable you to move your caravan with relative ease, saving you time and grief.
Having purchased your touring caravan, you have spent weeks looking over the route on your maps, the car's jammed full of everything your family might need on a two week holiday, the cats been given to granny to look after, the open road is calling you. All that has been left to do at the last minute is attach the car to the caravan.
How hard can it be?
It is typically at this point in the caravan holiday that everybody realises the weight of stuff they've packed into the caravan to go on holiday. “It was a lot easier in the showroom” is what you can hear most people say the first time they try and hitch up their new caravan after filling it with holiday clothes for a family of four. If you think that’s heavy wait until the return journey home when you’ve bought half of Europe’s beer and wine and a souvenir from every town you visited.
You eventually swallow your pride and ask some neighbours to help you, but they won't be able to help when you get to your holiday destination, what will you do there when unhitching and setting up or hitching up to come home? Again you'll swallow your pride and ask others around you to help, but it doesn’t have to be like that. There is a simple piece of equipment that can make the whole process of hitching and un-hitching caravans really easy.
The Caravan Motor Mover is something that is used everyday at the caravan showrooms but is seldom mentioned when your buying your new or used caravan. Now I don't think it's an intentional ommission by the caravan sales staff but with so many add extra features I guess its not put on the importabce list. For many however a caravan motor mover can be the difference of having a great holiday or worrying about how they will start and end the holiday.
There's a few different manufacturers of caravan motor movers, Powrline, Truma, Reich, Rhyno to name a couple of them, but in theory they all have the equivalent function, to move your caravan for you. There are models that will move double axel caravans weighing up to 2500kg just every bit as easy as moving single axle caravans weighing a great deal less.
Contemporary caravan motor movers all include some type of smooth stop and start to preclude your caravan pitching forward or backwards. They function with efficiency and all ground types even snow, grit, gravel and even the muddy grass of your caravan site, you should never find yourself in a position were you can not move your caravan. They'll pull your caravan up slopes and easy them gently down hills just equally as safe.
Running off a 12v battery, caravan motor movers operate by compressing a rough roller against the caravan tyres and slowly (30cm/min) turning. The rollers can be controlled at the same time on each tyre to pull in a straight line or independently to permit the caravan to turn. All single and most double axle caravan motor movers will revolve the caravan on its own axes, cutting back the space needed to manoeuvre the caravan.
A caravan motor mover is such a good addition to your caravan they should be equipped as standard in my opinion. Regrettably they're not but it's something I advocate you invest in as soon as you buy your caravan.
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