caravaning - Two axles V One axle

TERRY

2 axles will suit you better if you haven't had a lot of experience towing.

they will back easier for you too.

hope this helps,cheers.

Hi Terry

My husband insisted on this one.

Our previous van was a small single axled wind-up.

Advantage - could spin it round by hand if stuck.

Disadvantages; stuff was tossed from one side of the cupboards to the other (we travel off the bitumen frequently), damage to fittings, milk bottles and cartons leaking from the bottom from the bouncing. I wouldn't even try and take eggs! Husband's reasoning had more to do with safety in case of a blowout or losing a wheel, and general stability of the unit. There is also less thrust up and down on your tow hitch with the van stable on dual axles.

We now have a tandem axled caravan, and everything rides smooth. I am well and truly convinced.


Motherhen

I started off with a single axle and now have a dual.

The single was a little easier to manoeuvre. The dual is more stable and has less for and aft pitching when on rough roads. It also has a lower ball weight than the single axle, make sure you still use load levellers, Weight Dist Hitch, Anti Sway etc.

Make sure you don't have your tyre pressures too high, generally follow the tyre placard recommendations.

Hi Terry, Tandem axles are nice to tow on most road surfaces. The only prob that can occur is uneven tyre wear with some supension set ups. we have a windsor tandem with independent supension and its been alright.( What happened to the landy?..lol.)


Cheers Axle.

How about on the sand *( soft) is there a huge difference / advantage ?

Boc

Hi All

Single and Tandem Axles both have their advantages, as said
previously they are a lot easier and safer to tow,and larger vans
require Tandem Axles, we tow our van on the beach with out
any problems, in sand we just drop the tyre pressure as we do the
vehicle tyres, just remember that caravans don't track the same
as the towing vehicle, just take your time, think about what you are
doing and you wont have any problems.

Cheers
Daza

Not sure what size van you are thinking of.

Noticed in our travels that most vans under 15/16' (5.5m) seem to be single axles, while the ones over that length are dual axle.

Assume it is to do with load as mentioned above.

I've had both, single and double axle vans. I prefer the double as it tracks better and there is less tendency to sway.

Of course it is usually the case that a double axle van is larger than a single.

This means that you can cart more crap around the place than you can with a single, though, sometimes, I wonder.

Think ahead on the basis of , "You never know, it may come in handy". Give your possessions a trip around Australia, I know we have!

Another contributor to this thread mentioned containers leaking etc. We have over the years created a substantial collection of quality plastic containers, eg. Tupperware, Nalgene are two brands that come to mind. Aside from weighing less than glass these don't leak or have the lids come off.

Our old 2001 dual axle " Avan" tows very well behind our older 96 ef Falcon wagon and we have done a similar trip( although not from Sydney) and had no trouble whatsoever , and all of the black top of that road is in good condition...maybe a bit in far west QLD. that may not be overly great but you just have to adjust a little for that bit (west of Mt Isa I believe ) or it was in 2005...no stone guard fitted...and we had no trouble with rear window stones...it is a great drive with so ,so, much to see...lots of free camping areas if you are into that , and if you ask about as you travel you will be told the best caravan parks to use...cheers

Hi all
I wish to thank all that replied to my question