Towing 8ft wide caravans

I agree or take a course

Ps have you measured the width of your extended mirrors

Obesity ain't just affecting the population, even caravans are getting fatter. 

We now have a new 8’ wide Adria, and yes, one does need extra care. We’re currently in Cornwall/Devon and there have been some tight meetings in small roads, sometimes A roads. But all doable with care. The extended mirrors on the car give a good indication of positioning and capability.

Another factor we have found with our van is that, (as is the case on many continental vans) with a longer than normal A frame (overall unit length is 8.24m) the pivot relationship between Towbar and caravan axle/wheels, is slightly different, as the distance is longer than on previous 7.5m long caravan - even though body length is very similar. This does make a difference when turning, particularly sharply, and of course when reversing.

Having tried an 8’ wide caravan, I think it may be difficult to go back to 7’6”, simply because it feel so spacious inside.

agreed...we are currently on a site in Devon, been here 3 weeks so done quite a bit of touring without the caravan in and around Devon & Cornwall.

Even with just the car had some quite scary moments, a lot of the Hedgerows have not been cut so difficult to see over them to judge oncoming traffic and difficult to see what is lurking beneath them, on a number of occasions have had to wind in the mirrors to save them from being bashed, we have a 7.4 ft caravan, and although the journey down was reasonably ok, i can honestly say that with another 8 inches things could have been a little different and i have an HGV and PSV licence. meeting a tractor with hay bales on a trailer is good to get the heart pumping.

An additional 8 inches is not for me even if it does make the inside nice and spacious, be even more spacious if you arrive on site with the side peeled back

Yes Tinny, done Kit hill, maybe take another look today with the dog once we have done the domestics, great place but could not see the Eddystone Lighthouse, a little bit too misty, needles to say we left the caravan on site.

We now have a new 8’ wide Adria, and yes, one does need extra care. We’re currently in Cornwall/Devon and there have been some tight meetings in small roads, sometimes A roads. But all doable with care. The extended mirrors on the car give a good indication of positioning and capability.

You must be in a different area of Devon/Cornwall to me, i have a few scratches on my car driving solo that were not there before we arrived.

The cafe at the foot of the hill is good. 👍 

Yes, just the thought of an 8' wide cvan on our lanes with the granite boulders in the hedges is nerve wracking. It's because his van is 8' that I recommended the route I did for Ian the other day. Our roads just aren't built for it.

The cafe at the foot of the hill is good. 👍Not tried is as site only 15 mins away so can trundle home, now if it had been at the peak, well what can i say, but as you say roads around Tavistock/looe/Bude etc not built for 8 footers

Just looking at our present pitch , which i consider to be big, space down side for water butt, caravan, 7.4 ft, awning, Kampa 390 air ,car, and then grass area for sitting on, not parking your car, would struggle to get an 8 footer on, and dont fancy leaving car in car park  . 

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It depends a lot on the type of touring you do. We favour a lot of CL's in rural areas which often have narrow roads. For years we towed the usual 7'-6" vans and 2 years ago changed to a 7'-10 wide unit. However despite the fact I have one of the widest 4wd tow cars it needs great care on both narrow roads and even some entrances to Club sites. In my opinion the extra internal space is not really necessary and certainly not worth the the problems of towing than can arise. I would not consider an 8 ft wide van and next time will probably return to 7'-6" which seems the ideal width.