Do you tow an Elddis Affinity 550? Stability?

We bought our Affinity 550 in 2014 and towed for 2 years with no problems with a 60 plate Insignia SRi for 2 years even at a 93% match.

Changed the car last year for a Sorento and weve had a couple of 'snakes' with it.

The hitch is a Winterhoff with BPW chassis (IDC fitted).

Contacted Winterhoff who sent new friction pads and towed twice since they were fitted and no problems even towing in 25mph winds.

I can only suggest making sure towball is cleaned with fine (120 grit) sandpaper before towing.

Thanks for the reply Trini. Yes I remember that Elddis used to use the BPW chassis and for some reason have since changed to Alko. I don't see that the chassis should make any difference to stability though.

I take your point about cleaning the towball and will try that. The caravan club have suggested that I reduce the tyre pressures from 58 to 54psi so will try that also.

I'm reluctant to spend thousands of pounds changing our towcar in case the stability is the same with a replacement car.

Meantime I've dropped an email to Elddis and await their response. I'm just hoping there;s nothing wrong with the caravan itself - how would I know, unless I try towing it with a much heavier towcar.

You should always enjoy going away in your caravan, and that should mean stress free. Reading your post I get the feeling that the problem may be your tow car and not the van. A lot of estate cars sit very low on the back end when towing due to the length from axle to pin. We had only one scare of snaking many years ago, and when we got home I sold the car and brought a big heavy second hand shogun, and we have had shoguns for the last 17 years.

Thanks for your reply CGB. Yes I tend to agree, it's not much fun having a stressful journey before a touring holiday.  And then anticipating the stressful journey home whilst we're away.

We're going to have one more attempt after trying the suggestions above, but I guess if we still have problems then we will definitely change our tow car.

We have a Coachman 545 VIP which is quite heavy but I have towed it comfortably with a Mondeo 2.2 ST diesel estate and then with a 2.0 Kuga. Never  a problem with stability even at 60mph or a little bit more. With the same van hitched up to our BMW X3, what used to be a relaxed drive has become one of total concentration. You certainly know there is a van behind you! Clearly I shall have to experiment with loading and nose weights and tyre pressures. It's odd how I could tow one van with two different cars without having to alter the loading yet when the the X3 is hitched the van is twitchy to say the least.On paper it is a far more suitable vehicle being heavier with a longer wheel base and track. I have had the Al Ko tow hitch stabiliser checked and it is ok.

Thanks for your input Lansdorf. Although now I'm totally confused as the X3 is on our shortlist.  As you say, on paper the X3 should be a fine towcar, however I guess the weight of the caravan isn't everything as aerodynamics will play a big part and the front of our Elddis is quite "square" and the X3 sits quite high.

Whilst staying at the Broadway site recently we talked with a chap who towed his 1500Kg van with a BMW 530D estate. He reckoned that this was the best towcar he'd ever used in many years of caravanning. So maybe it's time for us to take the plunge and hope for the best....!!

Similar, we have a 2013 Avante 550. (BPW chassis) Ours has the plate upgrade so is 1500kgs loaded. we tow with a Freelander 2, 150 kg nose weight but I struggle to get the caravan down to its 100kg max. I have to put all the heavy stuff just behind the axle when loading it. I could take a gas bottle out of the locker I suppose but not tried it yet.

The caravan sits more or less level when hitched to the car and tows very well, much nicer than our previous Coachman that was slightly lighter.

I have driven over many bad road surfaces with the outfit and am guilty of nudging 70mph  on the odd occasion without realizing but it remains very composed.

I suggest you keep trying combinations of weight and where located.  I recently changed my van for a new Swift and found that it was very stable driving home.  Checked the noseweight once I put the gas cylinder in and found it very heavy, miles over the limit for my tow bar (90KG)and the hitch etc.  Therein started the messing around with placing weight inside to reduce noseweight.  Eventually succeeded but found it was a less stable tow and far more vulnerable to wind.  The answer, and against conventional advise was an awning in the rear bathroom, which is not where we are all advised to put it, is being over the wheels and not where I usually have it in the car boot!!  In my case the van had mountings for rear bike carriers to take up to 40kg which I don't use but I think the weights have been balanced to account for this and I assume putting an awning and weight there balanced it out

i suggest when you are next going away, get the van out in good time to allow,yourself plenty of time to move weight around and try different combinations.  A real fag but worth doing and aim to have noseweight right around the limit unless you have a car with a very high noseweight capacity

The last time I read of this particular problem it was resolved by a rear suspension rebuild on a high mileage car.

If I remember, new springs and shocks then a geometry check.?

I see someone suggested a clean tow ball (good idea) but have you also checked the pads on the caravan hitch?  Especially if you have had a couple of wiggles they may need replacing.  I had to replace mine after a trip up a bank while following parking instructions from an HGV driver!  The car does sound most likely we transformed the tow experience many years ago with Spring Assisters - I think they were called.