Entering hitched caravans

If you wind down the rear corner steadies it will make the van more stable and help spread the load.

yeah that's all we do, No need to put the jockey wheel down or take it off the car.

as above, but a cordless electric drill make life easier in winding steadies up and down.

We used to religiously put down the steadies at every stop but after 20 years or so and when the children stopped coming with us (less bouncing around in the van!j we decided it wasn’t always necessary. Sure, it puts a load on the tow bar but so does driving along so it’s down to comfort really. Agree that the cordless drill is a boon if you want to put them down.

We have steadies on the Motorhome but only use them if we are staying on site for several days. 

We don't bother winding down any steadies.  Yes it rocks around a bit, but generally all we do i open the fridge, bring out a picnic, sit down and eat it, use the loo, put the rubbish in the bin, and leave.

We very rarely use the caravan 'extensively' in transit so we don't bother with the corner steadies for a quick visit to the loo, or to fetch something out of the 'van.  I agree with Val in this respect.

David 

What we would do depends much on the van layout and why we are going into it.

For a brief often time critical loo stop we just pop in. For a lunch brake I tend to put down one under loo steady, and then importantly put the winder on the drivers seat.

The current van has a front end door and lounge, the previous a rear door and lounge, that was better placing at least a rear steady down.

Our car has air suspension so putting down the jockey wheel is an absolute no no as the car could end up hanging on the jockey wheel.

I see no point in placing a jockey wheel down anyway. The "A" girder  and hitch stressing dynamically when being towed I expect would place greater loads than we entering the van statically will inflict

Dropping the rear legs will not be much use if sitting at front of van, I'd firstly drop the jockey wheel to just take the weight off the car, then drop the rear legs to just steady the rear end. Entering and moving about in the 'van with it in " road  " trim is not IMO advisable.

Happy caravanning.

Family or just the the two of you? We both have never dropped the steadies nor the jockey wheel, yes it will be a bit rocky but if you can live with that then its fine. If a stationary car cannot handle the extra noseweight put on its towball with persons near to the 'A' frame then I would seriously question the cars capabilities and loading. The steadies are what they are, just for steadying.

On road and travelling the caravan certainly gets a lot more pounding than a couple walking in it whilst stationary.

In all the years we have had a caravan - now switching to a motorhome - we have dropped all 4 steadies when we stop.  I always understood that it put a strain on the floor if steadies were not used when the van had to cope with my 9 stone weight.