Prepare your caravan quickly and safely for travelling
Whether you are travelling on to the next campsite, on another stage of your tour or on your way home: Setting up and unhitching a caravan is a little more time-consuming than a motorhome. It is helpful to know the right steps and, ideally, to have a checklist - we give you tips on what is important.
On the towing vehicle
Before starting your journey, the towing vehicle must first be checked. In addition to a routine check of the MOT sticker, you should pay particular attention to the following points before long journeys:
- Are the tyre tread, surface and pressure in order?
- Is there still enough engine oil?
- Are the headlights, indicators and tail lights working?
- Are the windscreen wiper blades intact?
- Are the safety waistcoats, emergency hammer and first aid kit to hand?
- Are the vehicle and insurance documents on board (if travelling abroad, please remember the ‘green card’)?
Around and inside the caravan
Before leaving for another campsite or heading home, there are a few things to ‘work off’ on and in the caravan. Because flying drawers, broken bottles or torn-off roof hatches are annoying and not necessary at all!
Inside
The interior of the caravan should be checked with particular care, because significant damage can quickly occur here if you are careless. We recommend adding the following points to a checklist and going through them in order:
- Lock drawers and storage compartments
To prevent anything from being knocked, rattling or falling out during the journey, first close the roof hatches and windows, then the drawers and storage compartments. - Close the toilet door
In the bathroom, please make sure that, in addition to the cabinet doors, the toilet door is closed and the lid is folded down. Otherwise, you may be in for unpleasant surprises! - Secure room dividers and heavy objects
Stow or tie down heavy and loose objects, as well as containers with liquids, and secure any room dividers and doors. - Switch the refrigerator
The refrigerator should be switched from gas or shore power to the car battery so that food does not spoil during longer trips.
Outside
Here, too, there are a few points to go through in order:
- Turn off the gas
Close the tap on the gas bottle, let the gas escape from the pipes and then, as a precaution, also close the stopcocks in the caravan itself. - Retract the awning
Even if it may sound a little bizarre: there are always cases in which campers have started their return journey a little absent-mindedly and have dragged their awning with them. An expensive mistake! - Remove or retract satellite dishes and antennas
To avoid causing a UFO scare on the motorway, satellite systems, antennas and other moving parts should be removed and fixed ones retracted. - Switch off the lights in the camper.
This is not a safety-related point, but even though the interior lighting of caravans usually consumes very little power, it does not necessarily have to ‘suck’ on the car battery when it is stationary.
- Disconnect the power supply
Before moving the caravan to couple it to the towing vehicle, the power cable should be removed and stored – this way it cannot be forgotten at the parking space. - Wind up the corner steadies
Now you need a little muscle power: the corner steadies have to be wound up. If that seems like too much effort, you can make a DIY automatic cranking device out of a cordless screwdriver or drill and the appropriate attachment. -
Pack up levelling boards/wheel chocks
They are useful when you are parked up, but often forgotten about when you leave: wheel chocks or levelling boards that prevent your caravan from sinking into the ground and prevent it from tipping over. Please do not leave them on the pitch!
- Attaching the caravan
Special care is required here! As a beginner, please take your time and check that your stabiliser coupling is correctly seated. In addition, the friction linings should be checked and replaced regularly. - Turn down the manoeuvring system and disconnect
Before the caravan is towed by external forces, the manoeuvring system must be removed from the tyre and returned to its original position. Otherwise, the system can be seriously damaged. Please also remember to disconnect the fuse in the interior and switch off the remote control. - Raise the jockey wheel and secure it
As soon as the caravan is hitched up, the jockey wheel has fulfilled its purpose and can be secured. Please make sure that it is fully raised and the locking screw is tightened well, but not over-tightened!
- Attaching the breakaway cable
The breakaway cable must be attached to a fixed component of the towing vehicle (eyelet, elongated holes, etc.), otherwise heavy fines may be imposed. Tip: Regardless of legal requirements, it is always advisable to follow this procedure for safety reasons, because who wants to ‘lose’ their caravan on the road? - Connecting the car cable
To make sure that the caravan lights work and the fridge is supplied with power when you're on the move, the 13-pin cable must be connected to the ‘socket’ on the motorhome. - Check the lights
Once the caravan is connected to the base vehicle, the rear lights, indicators, hazard warning lights and brake lights must be tested. This is best done in pairs – one person sits in the driver's cab of the base vehicle, the other stands at the back of the caravan and gives hand signals when everything is ok. - Empty the waste water tank and store it safely
Fill up with fresh water: If you need water on the road, you should top up your supply now. However, please make sure that you do not exceed the maximum possible payload and the permissible gross weight, otherwise you may run into problems when you come to be weighed or when you have to produce your driving licence! - Doors, loading flaps and drawbar box to be locked
The entrance door of the caravan as well as various flaps should not only be closed, but also locked with the key. This helps to prevent anything from opening and breaking during the journey or the contents of the storage spaces from being scattered on the road. - Collect the step
Every now and then you see them – lonely and abandoned on empty lots: the famous grey steps that come with the caravan and usually accompany us for half our camping life. Since getting in and out without them can be quite uncomfortable, you should definitely pack them up before you leave! - Release the handbrake on the caravan
It's happened to all of us: you've carefully locked and packed everything, you're sitting in the car ready to go, and let go of the clutch – then a jolt, a slight squeak and a wobbling caravan. The handbrake is still on! It's not too bad, but it's annoying. That's why it's best to put it on the checklist. - Finally check the pitch
So, now it's almost done! Just a quick walk around the pitch to make sure you haven't left an adapter, a dog bowl, your flip-flops from the shower or any other forgotten items lying around somewhere, and then you're finally ready to go!
