By William Coleman
The met office has issued a yellow weather warnings and warned of harsh winds with some areas experiencing extreme flooding. Make sure you do not let this incoming weather damage your home away from home both onsite and in storage.
With the winter months approaching the weather will turn wet, windy and cold, thus keeping a lot of caravans off of sites and on driveways. As the winter weather increasingly worsens, and becomes unpredictable, our caravan and motorhomes face a lot more potential damage.
Some people pack things up around the end of August and do not open the van back up until March or April, it is here where the van can face some real trouble. On the other side of the coin you have some people who make the most of their van during winter who also face some winter related damage.
If you are going to use your van and you do face adverse conditions we should be able to give you some tips that will stop you from running into situations that lead to you calling your insurance provider.
Get A Good Cover
Some people have a good amount of storage on their front garden or down the side of the house to store the van, it is here where the van is open to the elements for prolonged amounts of time.
My uncle keeps his van down the side of his house, in a sort of alleyway, and that alleyway created a tunnel where the wind gathers and hurls rubbel down it like a funnel.
After some horrid weather a year or two ago his van was covered in leaves and debris. Once he cleaned off all the muck he realised his front window had been cracked quite badly in several places.
If you are towing or storing your caravan a cover can be worth its weight in gold, who wants to get on site and clear off a thousand bugs..?
So as this wind builds up and the rains become extremely heavy you can really protect your van by covering up. So simple and maybe the most effecting.
Remove Extras
If you have some added extras fitted to the van like satellite dishes or other antenna it is a good idea to remove them when you store the van or if ugly weather is on the way.
Now depending on the fitting you may want to have a look at your paperwork and make sure that you removing the item will not void any warranty or damage it. If you are not sure how to go about removing things always call who fitted it or your local dealer for any assistance and advice.
Find A Storage Provider.
Despite having space at home it can sometimes cost a lot more in the long run by keeping the van there during the off season. You may be saving by not paying for storage but if some nasty weather appears your van can face some seriously expensive damage.
There are a lot of places that specialise in vehicle storage and others that are solely for caravans and motorhomes. If you choose a location that is for caravans, or motorhomes always pick a covered one
The more you caravan is hidden from the elements the less likely you are to face any unwanted weather related damage.
It is also worth doing some research and ask the site you’re thinking of what they do to prevent or minimize weather damage. If they come up short with good answers then move on to the next.
Keep The Van Weighted
The wind is one of the caravan’s arch enemies, especially when towing at speed. One thing that I can suggest is to overload the van when stored out in the open.
Once the wind picks up the van become a large canopy that can tip over and cause a shed load of damage.
When doing your winter prep and unloading the van you may want to consider leaving some larger objects, or even create some ballast weights.
When driving you want to take extra special care as you need to ensure the van is weighted correctly to ensure the towing behaviour stays safe, but at the same time avoiding any cross winds.
Check your MTPLM and have a play with the weight to see what feels good. Also add some weight over the axle to make sure you don’t overload the front or back end.
Towing In High Winds
The number one thing to do is just slow down and stay safe. Even when loaded the caravan is relatively light and very susceptible to high winds.
No, your speed will not actually affect the wind speed but you can certainly affect how that wind impacts your set up.
The slower you are towing the more time you will have to react to high winds, less panic means a lot more control. If the wind does hit you while towing at speed you will find it quite hard to stop the caravan from snaking and leading to a serious road incidents.
So as the old tea coster says. “Keep Calm And Carry On”.
Check The Weather
If you are planning a trip with the knowledge that the weather may be a tad poor it would be a good idea to match the campsite to the weather conditions.
If there will be high winds then a bare open space may not be the best choice as your wind will act as a windbreaker that can be blown on its side without much warning.
Remove Awning ASAP
When the wind picks up an awning can cause quite a few issues, none of which have a nice outcome.
The wind can go through an awning and cause a lot of damage no matter how well made it is or how well you put it together, to the wind it is just another big canopy to be blown away.
If the wind rips off of the van you will be down an awning and up on external damages to the caravan. A very costly bit of damage that you really do not want.
