Caravan Towing and UJ's

[iainbja]

I have a 1500 Spitfire and tow a lightweight Freedom Caravan it weighs about 600kg I think fully loaded. Car tows it fine at a nice 55 mph on the motorway etc.

My question is do you think it could be killing the UJ's in the half shafts. I have only done about 3000 miles on a new one and its making a noise again. Was purchased from a local motor factors.

I am considering perhaps more heavy duty ones but not sure where to look.

The club seem to offer a more expensive one has any one tried fitting these ones.

 

Regards Iain 

 

[Wagger]

The Courier last year had a feature on a tour with a Herald and a classic caravan. I believe that is may have a Vitesse engine fitted. Maybe ask them. The 1500 engine will be tougher on u/j's than the smaller capacity cars, but it may have larger shafts like the Vitesse Mk1. The yokes can get worn, and this results in 'Clicking noises'. There are several versions of needle roller inserts, and they vary in size and quality. The club shop will advise. I used Loctite when replacing mine.

Towing will increase loading, so avoid hard acceleration and use the brakes instead of changing down as that does load the tranmission more than braking. I towed a caravan for 20 years, then switched to motorhoming. Anticipation is the art with both. Everything needs more time and concentration.

[Josef]

AlanT suffered from UJs failing in quick succession on his 1500, that was due to the driveshaft yoke being bent. When you replace this latest failed one it’s also worth checking the state of the yoke and the flange that bolts to the diff. You also need to make sure the UJ cups are held sufficiently tightly which may require thicker circlips, or shims (which you can make out of an empty beer can). The UJ must be tight enough that it’ll just hold its own weight and that of the flange under gravity.

[PeteH]

Back in the 80`s. I did several thousand miles towing a Lightweight Baily caravan, Mostly in the west Country, circa 800(ish)kg loaded, with the Vitesse (2L) Did not experience any issues with the Transmision. Had some issues with carburation until I swapped the Carbs.

The ultimate answer may be a C-V Joint conversion?. If they do one?.

When???. the 13/60 finally get on the road. I`m looking to do the opposite and tow the car with the Motorhome.

Pete

Edited May 11, 2023 by PeteH

[Wagger]

1 hour ago, PeteH said:

Back in the 80`s. I did several thousand miles towing a Lightweight Baily caravan, Mostly in the west Country, circa 800(ish)kg loaded, with the Vitesse (2L) Did not experience any issues with the Transmision. Had some issues with carburation until I swapped the Carbs.

The ultimate answer may be a C-V Joint conversion?. If they do one?.

When???. the 13/60 finally get on the road. I`m looking to do the opposite and tow the car with the Motorhome.

Pete

Should I even consider towing my Vitesse with a 3000kg motorhome? Both about the same power.

[JohnD]

I tow my Vitesse with the TRansit.  It's a LWB, HiTop day camper, RWD and 2.4L of diesel, but it's my best tow vehicle ever, having used family saloons before.

I think you'll be fine.  But get tyre pressure sensors for the trailer - I've had blown tyres twice because you dont notice them when they go flat, and once noticed the impending flat before the tyre was ripped, because I had sensors.  

I presume you have a braked trailer?  Check the shoes frequently - trailers sit for weeks in the rain.  The next you know they are seized, or else the linings have rusted off the shoes!  Don't ask how I know that!

Do not consider towing on an A frame!    The towed car has no brakes and you may jack-knife!

John

[johny]

8 hours ago, iainbja said:

I have a 1500 Spitfire and tow a lightweight Freedom Caravan it weighs about 600kg I think fully loaded. Car tows it fine at a nice 55 mph on the motorway etc.

My question is do you think it could be killing the UJ's in the half shafts. I have only done about 3000 miles on a new one and its making a noise again. Was purchased from a local motor factors.

I am considering perhaps more heavy duty ones but not sure where to look.

The club seem to offer a more expensive one has any one tried fitting these ones.

I think youll find a lot is to do with the quality of the UJ which is the same type for all small chassis cars. The price for these can vary from 5 pounds to 50 so although theres some mark up there must be other differences as well! Theres another recent thread on here where I advised someone of the strongest (and most expensive) type available which is an uprated version for Landrover Freelanders and I believe they subsequently got these from the club...

[PeteH]

3 hours ago, JohnD said:

I tow my Vitesse with the TRansit.  It's a LWB, HiTop day camper, RWD and 2.4L of diesel, but it's my best tow vehicle ever, having used family saloons before.

I think you'll be fine.  But get tyre pressure sensors for the trailer - I've had blown tyres twice because you dont notice them when they go flat, and once noticed the impending flat before the tyre was ripped, because I had sensors.  

I presume you have a braked trailer?  Check the shoes frequently - trailers sit for weeks in the rain.  The next you know they are seized, or else the linings have rusted off the shoes!  Don't ask how I know that!

Do not consider towing on an A frame!    The towed car has no brakes and you may jack-knife!

John

John. I’ve towed braked cars behind motorhomes for something like 20 or more years now. Never yet had any issue. Almost 20k miles in the USA towing a FWD Toyota Tacoma behind a 33ft Winnebago. The tow rig is fully braked, simple ones have an overrun system, more complex are powered and capable of being adjusted from the driver position. I took cars down to Spain in that manner for years. Before the Spanish police got the “hump” over it and started fining folk. My current P-107 tows and brakes properly behind the Sprinter, 3L V6, it has tyre sensors by tyre-pal I just move the car readout to the cab on the move.

The only issue is with reversing more than a few ft. I can cope with that as it only takes a few seconds to uncouple, raise the bar an drive it normally.

Pete

[JohnD]

PeteH you misunderstand me.   You said, "I’ve towed braked cars behind motorhomes for something like 20 or more years now. Never yet had any issue."   Of course you haven't.   If the towed car is modified to apply its brakes as the the tow vehicle slows, then it acts just as a braked trailer does, it's safe and stable.   Many committed motorhome owners do this, and all is well.  But an unbraked car is very likely to jack knife.

John

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by JohnD

[Wagger]

I always towed my caravan with aftermarket pressure sensors fitted that also have temperature sensors. Found a binding brake with them on the Moho two years ago, straight after an MOT too.

The car trailer is 450 miles away now with my son, so it won't be something I'll be doing anytime soon. I'm keeping the Hobbies separate for now. Would be nice to go to a show one day and 'Stop over' for the duration. Expensive now though and The Blandford Steam Fair is not happening this year.

[trigolf]

21 hours ago, iainbja said:

My question is do you think it could be killing the UJ's in the half shafts. I have only done about 3000 miles on a new one and its making a noise again. Was purchased from a local motor factors.

In my experience, from first a Herald then graduating to Vitesse, is never buy 'cheap' makes of UJ such as Powertrain etc. Having tried a few different makes over the years, I found that I was lucky to get a year or so of use out of them before developing play in the joint. Most, if not all had weedy sized needle rollers in, when compared to Hardy Spicer or GKN. As they have a hard life, particularly driveshaft joints, I would only fit the above, preferably ' heavy duty' types.

[iainbja]

thanks for all your hep will order the better ones from the club