Complete Caravan Touring Package in a Heavy Duty Specification

Everything at once: a mover, a stabiliser, a hitch lock, a wheel clamp, extension mirrors and a noseweight gauge, which is everything a first caravan needs and nothing it does not.

Towing is the one thing you can buy for a car where the wrong part is not merely disappointing. Every towbar listing here states the type approval number, the D value, the maximum noseweight and whether the bumper has to be cut, because those four facts decide whether a bar is legal on your vehicle and whether it will pull what you want to pull. Every electrical listing says plainly whether it is a dedicated loom or a universal one with a bypass relay, and what each will and will not do. We would rather lose a sale to a cheaper part than sell you one that does not fit.

Specification

• Fits: chosen above by caravan weight. Tell us the make, model and year and we will confirm the mover bracket, the stabiliser and the wheel clamp against your actual chassis and wheels
• Approval: the security items carry Sold Secure ratings and the stabiliser is a named type your insurer will recognise. Nothing in this package is a load bearing towing part requiring type approval
• Rating: sized to the caravan weight chosen above, and every component in the package is rated at or above it rather than at the average
• D value: not applicable, this is an accessory rather than a load bearing towing part. The towbar on your car is where the D value lives, and if you are not sure yours is right, send us the registration
• Noseweight: a noseweight gauge is in every package, because a caravan loaded to feel right is usually thirty kilograms out. Noseweight is the downward load the trailer puts on the ball, and the figure you may use is the lowest of four numbers: the towbar's S value, the vehicle handbook's noseweight limit, the towball's rating and the caravan coupling's rating. Most people know the first and none of the other three, and a combination that is legal on paper is often over the limit on the one that matters.
• Ball height: the stabiliser needs the towball clean, unpainted and free of grease. A friction stabiliser works by clamping pads onto the towball, so the ball must be clean, unpainted and completely free of grease. A greased ball with a stabiliser on it is doing nothing, and it is the commonest fault we see on a caravan that snakes.
• Electrics: 12 volt throughout. The mover cable, fuse and battery terminals are all in the box
• Fitting time: a day for the mover and an hour for everything else, or choose the fitted option and we do it at your address
• Bumper: not applicable
• Materials: uprated for the heavier end of the range: thicker section, a higher D value and a higher noseweight, which matters more than most people realise
• Weight: approximately 71.1 kilograms for the package
• Guarantee: five years across the package, two years on the electronics
• Saving: about 14 per cent against the same items bought separately
• Mirrors: included, and they are not optional equipment. If the caravan or trailer is wider than the towing vehicle, the law requires you to have an adequate view along both sides, and in practice that means extension mirrors. The requirement is a view of a four metre strip beside the trailer at twenty metres behind the driver's eye, under the Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations. It is enforced, and the fine and the points are real.
• What we left out: a generator, a satellite dish and a television bracket. Plenty of people want all three and none of them belongs in a package somebody is buying because they do not yet know what they need
• Substitutions: any item can be swapped before the order is placed
• Advice: a phone call with somebody who tows, included, and worth taking

What arrives

• the motor mover with cable and fuse
• the friction stabiliser and a clean ball
• a hitch lock and a wheel clamp
• a pair of extension towing mirrors
• a noseweight gauge
• a printed checklist for hitching up and for pitching

Fitting

The mover is a day's work and everything else is an hour. Choose the fitted option and a mobile fitter does the lot at your address, sets the roller clearance, fits the stabiliser, checks the noseweight with the caravan loaded as you will actually tow it, and adjusts the mirrors on your car with the caravan on the back.

Before you order

A package is the right purchase for a first caravan and the wrong one for a fifth. If you already own a stabiliser and a wheel clamp, buy the mover on its own and spend the difference on the battery. If you have just collected your first caravan and do not yet know what a noseweight gauge is for, this list is the one somebody who tows would write for you, and the phone call is the part that is actually worth the money.