Hooking up a boat, trailer, camper-van or caravan can be exciting and daunting at the same time. The potential for risk does exist, but with handy tips from Isuzu UTE, you’ll be able to tow with confidence…
Starting out
The first step to safe towing is ensuring that your vehicle and van are built for purpose both physically and legally. The rule to follow is: find out how heavy your caravan is when fully loaded and work back from there to make sure your vehicle matches the task at hand. An important factor often overlooked is the towing capacity includes the caravan as well as all the gear inside, such as fuel, fresh water, grey water, even your lunch box — every extra item in your trailer, boat or caravan has to be accounted for to ensure you aren’t left ‘punching above your weight’.
Reversing
Reversing a caravan isn’t as difficult as it might seem, and with a bit of practice you’ll be able to confidently and safely reverse. Taking your time and having patience is the key to successful caravan, camper and boat reversing. Oversteering can cause the caravan to turn sharply, so make gradual movements. If you get in a bind, just pull forward, straighten everything out and try again. And don’t be concerned if it all doesn’t go as planned — it happens to the best of us.
Braking
Even if you have the biggest and best brakes fitted to your vehicle and caravan, it is absolutely essential to allow for longer stopping distances when towing, as the extra weight will take longer for the momentum of your vehicle to be halted. A good rule of thumb on following distance of the vehicle in front of you is one and a half to two car lengths for every 20km/h of speed when towing.
Cornering
One of the most important points to keep in mind when you’re turning while towing is that you must take turns significantly wider than you typically would. It’s always a good idea to give yourself plenty of extra room when turning to ensure the outside edge of the van is clear of all curbside hazards.
Tools of the trade
When you’re on the open road, with van in tow, you want to know you have the right tool at hand to get you to your destination safely and in comfort without having to take out a loan for your fuel bill.
With more and more families turning towards utes for their daily drive, Isuzu engineers have developed a new three-span leaf spring setup for the D-MAX SX, LS-U and LS-T Crew Cab ute variants — a suspension tune developed with Australian customer feedback in mind. Through the use of stronger and lighter materials this new setup has been proven to improve ride quality and comfort levels, while retaining the payload capacity the D-MAX is famous for.
As well as being the most comprehensively developed, most efficient and refined Isuzu vehicles ever produced, both the Isuzu D-MAX and MU-X are capable of towing a large load — with 430Nm to boot — courtesy of the proven 3-litre turbo diesel engine. Whatever you are towing, you can be confident that the Isuzu range is equipped to perform. With the 18MY models now boasting ‘Trailer-Sway Control’ too, you’ll have the confidence to ‘tow your own way’.
The Isuzu D-MAX offers 3.5 tonne-braked towing on all high-ride models, while the seven-seat MU-X offers a 3.0 tonne-braked towing capacity across the entire range. These outstanding towing capacities give you the versatility to tow all you need, with ease. Engineered to handle your towing needs — wherever your work or weekend adventures take you. ■
For more information on the Isuzu range, and offers, visit www.isuzuute.com.au
