It’s that time of year again, a few days before the opening of the North’s biggest caravan and motorhome show and the first of the New Year at Manchester’s Event City and again we are sat thinking about changing the van this year. Mind you we were convinced last year… and the year before we were going to change the caravan.
In 2017 we went to the shows, round dealers and almost did the deal. However a few things just kept us from signing on the dotted line. We also came close last year, but again there were design elements that just didn’t sit right with me.. or t least would make me compromise more than I wanted to.
So here is my guide to any caravan designers out there working on the 2020 design that they hope is going to be the next winner.
Looks and sounds good…
A locker containing a TV swing out arm…. OK stop watching American RV shows right now. What were you thinking guys… We don’t sit round campfires watching TV in the middle of the Mohave… honestly we don’t. If people want to watch TV in their awning I’m pretty sure they will have come up with a way by now that suits them. It’s not even like you designed the thing so that you could leave a 24 inch TV permanently mounted and closed away securely in the locker.
While we are on the subject of TV’s…. stop putting the radio in a cupboard in the front of the caravan… put it near where you provide a TV mount. A lot of thin screen TV’s have poor speakers and a great solution that many caravaners opt for is connecting the TV sound to the radio AUX input… but a lot don’t because it becomes a major challenge routing a pair of screened wires round and through all the cabinets. Make it easy, put the radio near the TV, install a AUX jack and sell it as a feature!
Own Up….
Right, which designer is going to own up to designing a storage space in the wardrobe in the rear bathroom of a van to store the table. Did you design the van and at some point while you were stood at the coffee machine someone say to you “Dude I didn’t see where you stored the table in your design” and you immediately rush back to your workstation and in a panic put in the wardrobe in the rear washroom.
Have you ever had to get a table out, and set it up with a caravan full of people balancing drinks when some one is shooting “PLEASE SET THE TABLE UP NOW… DINNERS READY”
It’s on the other side…. or end!
Right I want all designers to go and stand on empty pitches at five caravan sites and look round. What do you see? Bollards…. you read that right Bollards… at the rear of the pitch. Why there you may ask? Well designing a site or upgrading a site if you can avoid digging across a pitch to install services it tends to be cheaper and easier to reinstate the ground afterwards, so most are laid out that way for cost and convenience. Is been like that for quite a few years. So why do you insist in keep designing the power, water connections at the front of the caravan… and some of you just for good measure put one on each side. If you take the common size pitch and park your caravan in the middle throw up a mahoosive flappy tent thing on one side and connect up your Aquarol (other water containers are available) then try to squeeze your tow car down the other side – that is if you have the room with an 8 foot wide van – avoiding parking so that vehicle door can actually open without bashing the water container or the passenger can actually squeeze past.
Here’s an idea….
Here’s an idea…. put the water inlet and power inlet on the rear off side corner and while you are at it check out how American RV’s have a locker with all the connections inside and a convenient opening in the floor to pass the connections through. That would save cutting holes and installing expensive fittings. While you are at it moving the water about, here’s an idea, install a simple Hozelock fitting with a check valve and pressure regulator so when on a device pitch, rather than expecting customers to buy expensive adaptor fittings, they can just buy a cheap food grade hose to hook up. Could this be the next USP I wonder?
To off grid or not to off grid?.. that is the question.
I applaud the designer that moved the leisure battery from a side locker to under floor mounting and moved the gas bottle from the front to the side. Heavy items, get them low and in the centre I say.
However, next year go one step further… make the battery locker bigger to accommodate two batteries and ready for Lithium… which may mean insulating them. Nearly all caravans are sold now with solar panels, but it would be nice to be able to choose to install an additional battery to take advantage of the solar without having to start installing aftermarket sealed and externally vented battery boxes.
It’s behind you…
…. well it might be but I can’t see it. It’s time to offer a rear view camera option on all caravans now I think for safety’s sake. A lot of motorhomes are offering it as an option or a standard fit. While it is fairly easy on a motorhome as the display choice is dictated by the designer. For a caravan it’s slightly more complicated as some vehicles have rear view systems built-in, some have nothing so how do you decide what to install? Simple really.. most systems use composite 1 volt peat to peak video and there are dozens of components out there on the internet that allow this to be digitised, scrambled, flipped and sent vis radio, bluetooth, over power feeds and via IR so it can’t be that difficult or expensive to install a system with a remote screen at a sensible price point. The biggest hurdle for anyone contemplating installing a rear view camera system is actually mounting the camera on the caravan body and running all the cables.
Electronic Brakes…
Unless you have towed a trailer with electronic brakes you will never know how horse and cart our current over-run hitch brake system is. In the land of the… that lot over the pond, have been using electrical braking systems for a while and in the land down under (Straylia… YESSSS….. for John Cadogan fans) ALKO have been offering a system for a number of years that is really just an extension of their caravan chassis ‘kit of components’ and could easily be adopted for European component chassis.
Now a lot of you know from my past volumes of scribblings I kind of enjoy delving into caravan dynamics and I really want a caravan with electronic brakes. OK before the comments come stating that under current regulations you are required to have over-run braking system etc etc…. yep I know. However from my poking around this subject for over 18 months now, it seems that you can fit electronic brakes as long as the existing over-run setup is retained.
If you are still reading this go and check this out from seven years ago about a system that was going to be produced….. if I was setting this cones out I think I’d be going changing my undergarments…. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIB7Rmhll9s\
Right, I wanted to keep this down to a short 1000 words, and I failed as it’s over 1300 now. I hope you have all had a great Christmas and may 2019 bring you new touring adventures and memories. We’ll see you on Thursday 17th at:
Caravan Chronicles 
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Well, from this side of the pond (‘Merica), I wish we had your trailer electronic stability control systems and REAL tow ratings for our sedans. Instead, we get propagandized to buy big, honkin’ trucks to pull our little dinky trailers.
Hi Nick
I watch a few YouTube RV channels… and it seems the only thing you are safe towing with is a a 1 ton Dually…. with after market air bag suspension of course and a big adjustable drop hitch!
In all seriousness though, you guys do have electric brakes and brake controllers… in Europe we are still ‘enjoying’ over-run brakes on trailers.
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Agree 100% on all the above.
And, of course, what about jacking points (or the lack of).
Agree with you 100% – and, if I may, I will add jacking points (or lack of) to the list of gripes. I know that changing a wheel at the side of the road can be challenging and dangerous but it’s made a thousand times worse without a decent jack and somewhere to actually attach it safely.
One thing I really wish for is central locking for all the hatches – I have 11 individual locks and its a pain operating and checking so many, when such systems have been tried and tested in the automotive world. On a similar theme, why cant we have windows that can be closed with a single catch instead of between 2 and 5 each? Abroad when its hot, having secure all these before going out is a real hassle on a big van.
I agree with Mike, I have done a ton of things to our van, which as far as possible has utilised factory fittings and finishes to maintain the correct ‘look’, but corrects design errors and improve usability. If an amateur can spot these things….
Hi Simon, I totally agree with you and others who have commented on the incompetence of caravan designers. Why a cream carpet?do they think we all use hardstandings and tarmac paths, mind you the clubs would like that too. I prefer small 5 van sites personally. My van is now six years old but I would not change it as I put a lot of work into modifications I’ve done. The designer would not recognise his original product, either inside or out. If we can see the faulty design why cannot the manufacturers.
A very enjoyable read Simon and whilst I don’t wish to over patronise, I would happily propose you to the National Caravan Council (Technical & Design Dept.) – if such a dept existed. Anyway, not sure where to post this request for advise… it loosely relates to your comments about tv/radio connection points.
Our 2017 Unicorn Cadiz has the tv aerial sited in a front overhead locker adjacent to the JVC radio which is directy below one of the two speakers. We use a ‘stand alone’ Samsung Smart TV at the front of the van and as you have observed, the speakers in the very slim TV provide questionable sound reproduction. Is there a simple method of linking my TV to the radio speakers at the various connection points in the overhead locker?
Hi Lew
We have an Avtex TV at the moment and all I did was use the headphone socket in the TV to connect to the AUX input of the radio.
Simple to do although it did take a couple of hours to run the cable through. The sound output is far superior in my opinion and the added advantage being we don’t need the volume turned up quite as high as we think the sound – especially spoken word – is a lot clearer. Too many years with aircraft engines methinks!
I have seen small units that can plug into the audio output/Scart output that converts the audio into a bluetooth signal if your radio is one equipped with bluetooth.
I’m grateful for your prompt reply Simon. I’ll pop in to my local tv supply shop armed with a photo of my caravan tv connection unit.
I too suffer from a slight muffling of sound undoubtedly attributable to 25 years of Royal Navy service and the many hours duty as Flight Deck Officer on helicopter carrying warships & towards the end of my career, living in a cabin directly below the Sea Harriers landing spot on HMS INVINCIBLE!
Just like to say, Thank you for your service sir. Sadly not appreciated by enough people.
I absolutely agree with your comments but, as your post is read by manufacturers and has a wide audience, could I add a few extra points. Why oh why can’t the manufacturers give us some choice? I’m thinking in terms of the type of fridge, toilet, heating, upholstery, curtain and carpets. We had to wait almost 6 months for our caravan so it wasn’t off the peg so to speak, so if I wanted a ceramic toilet with a digital control, why couldn’t I? If I wanted digital controls on my fridge why couldn’t I? If I don’t want blown heating and want Alde fitting why not? If I liked the upholstery of a different van why couldn’t they put it in our van? And biggest of all why do they seem to think that it is practical to supply a cream carpet? I have yet to lay a supplied carpet in any of my vans. Car manufacturers can offer alternatives for their cars so why not caravan manufacturers for their vans? Yes it would incur a cost, but doesn’t everything? They must have these alternative options in their factory for the ‘higher spec’ vans but why couldn’t they upgrade items in the ‘lower spec’ vans? I’ve walked away from caravans that have, to my eye, awful or impractical upholstery combinations, what more do I need to back up my argument?
I would love to have a day in a factory with the designers – I’d even bring my own sandwiches!
Hi Terry
Most automotive manufacturers now offer some form of ‘pick list’ of factory accessories when buying a new vehicle. I think this is in response to not having the offerings required and seeing lost revenue to after market accessory manufacturers.
I would have thought that with caravan and motor home production runs being smaller, that some flexibility could be introduced in manufacturing however, the sales model is not suited for this to happen. Caravan and Motor Home manufacturers launch a model and the pressure is then on to get the retailers to commit to buying a number of units for the coming year. With these figures known, the manufacturer commences production of that many units.
You can always tell at the end of a season which units didn’t sell as well as these are often offered with big discounts by the dealers to clear them for the next season’s line up and in some cases are still on offer with huge discounts through the following sales season(year) Popular models will often be sold out by the end of the season and hard to locate the last few if you want one.
The challenge that the manufacturers face is releasing a new line up each year. With vehicles, the base vehicle is expected to last for several years with MLU’s (Mid Life Updates) scheduled within this. Maybe this is how caravans should be manufactured and sold.
I would really like our next caravan to have an instant water heater… but that may only be offered in a particular model which doesn’t suit our needs. Having the option to say we want a rear twin bed, mid bath with internal water tank, instant hot water, 200 watts of solar would cause me to get my check book out immediately and place an order.
No they will not, the caravan industry is still working in the stone age.
Many years ago I went on a tour of the Swift factory and asked the guy showing us round if he ever used a caravan? Reply “No but my Mum and Dad have one”. I rest my case.
Not only do the Manufacturers design departments need sorting out, more urgent is the question of quality control which most manufacturers do not seem to have heard of.
I belong to a small caravan club of only 200 members and of the 10 or so members who purchased a new caravan last year only one has had no faults.
One member has had to have a new FLOOR fitted and lost most of the year’s events as it has taken 3 months + and it is still not sorted.
I’d be happy if they cou;d just have good quality control in the manufacturing process.
Agree with everything plus why fit grab handles that you cannot move the van with(Manufacturers say) instead fit movers to all vans.
Never tried to move our van with the grab handles… always worried the screws would just pull out of the caravan’s frame.
And give us a decent payload. The current offerings are useless for a holiday of more than a weekend when motormovers, which are becoming more and more a “go to” option, weigh in at 30kg, single axle, or 60kg for a twin.
Indeed…. I looked at the payload ratios on some American and Australian manufactured trailers and on average that have at least double our capacity.
Wow, quite a read! Thanks!
I agree with all your points- but will they ever listen and learn?
Hi Robert
Probably not…. but I for one would be willing to spend a couple of days talking to a manufacturer if I thought they would listen.