Worried about swaying while you’re towing? Or needing an Electric Brake Controller for your new Caravan? It’s important to research and think about what you need for your towing setup.
Caravan sway, or snaking, is one of the most unsettling experiences you can ever have on the road, and it can, and does, lead to disaster. Sway is when the caravan is snaking or swerving behind the car. Because the caravan is following a swerving path, while the vehicle is mostly still going straight, it’s actually going faster than the car towing it.
Once we get our heads around that, understanding and dealing with sway is relatively easy. There are many reasons a trailer could be ‘going faster’ than the car towing it. As a car brakes down a hill, the trailer’s inertia will want it to keep moving forwards at the speed it was going. A gust of wind, hitting the trailer like the sail of a yacht, could add energy to the trailer, knocking it off course. Bumps or undulations in the road or even a sudden and sharp steering action to avoid a pothole or some wildlife, could force the suspension to work harder on one side, disrupting the trailer’s balance. Sway is also more likely to develop when the caravan carries most of its mass at its ends. Sometimes this is poor design, like when trailer manufacturers fit heavy accessories right back (like wheel carriers, toolboxes or water tanks) to lighten the hitch load. Other times it’s because the most convenient storage spaces are at the ends of the caravan – under the bed and on the drawbar, and we Aussies love packing as much as we can.
Check out this video on “How to prevent caravan sway” [ https://youtu.be/f8QR_PPLeNo ]
There is a range of great aftermarket products to deal with caravan sway, but most people probably have the means of slowing down their caravan at their fingertips already – the override function on your electronic brake control. Pressing it will apply the caravan’s brakes only, very effectively slowing it down and bringing it into line with the car. It’s a great skill to know exactly where that button is and to practice pressing it without looking at it, so you know you can do it in an emergency.
If you’re looking for an Electric Brake Controller, at Midland Towbars we offer different solutions to suit your needs!
The RedArc TowPro Elite is an Electric Brake Controller that is installed into your vehicle with an in-dash controller, and works through the trailer plug attached with your towbar. Simply plug your trailer in as normal, and the RedArc TowPro will automatically assess what you’re braking. The in-dash controller lights up to show you it’s status at a quick glance, and the main unit is installed discreetly within the car itself – so no more clunky boxes in the driver or passenger’s leg space!
The ElecBrakes EB2 Trailer Mounted Electric Brake Controller is an Australian off-the-shelf Plug & Play system that uses Bluetooth to control the braking system. A-Frame mounted for convenience, it can be swapped between as many trailers as you like, and isn’t tied down to one vehicle or trailer/caravan like other models. The ElecBrake EB2 is waterproof, shock proof and dust proof, with in-built intelligence that regulates itself with thermal protection and short circuit protection. The mobile app is easy to use and is compatible with Apple and Android CarPlay through the Infotainment system in your vehicle!
Give us a call or drop in today to discuss which Electric Brake Controller is best for you!
[NB: Part of this article was originally written by Brendan Batty (published by the RAC).]
