As soon as a mechanical failure occurs in your tow vehicle, a caravan axle snaps or a major blowout leaves you in the middle of a remote highway shoulder, you suddenly have a highly stressful logistical crisis on your hands. Any basic tow truck will be able to easily maneuver standard consumer vehicles off the roadway. Caravans, luxury camper trailers and fifth wheels require a whole new area of expertise, heavy duty equipment and safety measures. We only deal in full-service, damage-free 24/7 caravan tow services and roadside recovery at Southern Towing, which can easily be called on for such help.
Our highly trained dispatch team and certified heavy-duty operators are always on duty, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; including major holiday periods and travel seasons. From someone nearby heading out on a weekend vacation to a long-distance traveler touring the area, we can offer the immediate, reliable and highly professional services necessary to preserve and protect your investment and keep your family safe.
Why Caravan Recovery Needs Special Expertise
- Caravan Recovery Needs Special Intervention: Caravans have tall, flat side panels which, in high winds, act like sails. If the caravan is not properly weighted and backed by a heavy-duty tow vehicle, it can become extremely unstable and vibrate or even jackknife in the rear during vehicle passing or near strong crosswinds.
- Delicate Fiberglass and Aluminum Shells: Caravans have delicate fiberglass or composite material or thin aluminium shells over a frame. These walls will crack, crush or warp the exterior structure with the touch of standard towing chains or abrasive straps wrapped tightly against these walls.
- Extended Rear Overhangs: The rear end of cars and vans have a lot of body hanging over the back axle. Improperly loading a caravan at a high angle onto a typical flatbed ramp will result in the caravan's rear bumper, stabilizing jacks and wastewater valves all scraping the asphalt causing thousands of dollars in damage to the structure.
- Electronic Braking and Electrical Systems: Modern caravans have more complex electronic braking systems and electrical wiring systems which need to communicate with the towing unit. These connections can be easily severed or the internal electronics can be shorted out by an inexperienced operator in case of an emergency hookup.
These operational hazards are eliminated by Southern Towing. Our qualified technicians are very well trained in the precise mechanics, structural load points and balancing needs of contemporary recreational vehicles, and deal with your caravan with absolute perfection.
Our Elite Fleet of Caravan Recovery Vehicles
Flatbeds are the safer option for transporting smaller caravans, pop-up campers and teardrop trailers. Precision engineered ultra low loading angles are available on our flatbed trucks. The bed is lowered almost flat on the ground, to gently slide your caravan onto the deck, avoiding a tail scrape. When loaded, they are secured in place with specially designed soft-loop tire strapping, which will not put stress on the sensitive suspension system of the trailer. Advanced under-lift and wheel-lift systems are used on larger dual-axle caravans, luxury fifth-wheels and full-sized motorhomes. The big trucks lift the caravan either safely by lifting the tires or by attaching to the reinforced heavy steel chassis frame of the caravan. This ensures that the rest of the wheels remain on the ground and the tow is extremely stable, smooth and efficient over long distances. There are several different types of caravan couplings, including a standard 50mm ball, a heavy duty weight distribution ball, an off road poly-block ball and a commercial fifth-wheel pin. We have all of our recovery trucks equipped with a wide range of interchangeable hitches and receivers. This means that even if your main tow truck is completely broken down, our truck can connect to the exact shape of your caravan's hitch profile in a factory level secure hitch.
24/7 Roadside Assistance for Caravan Travelers
Caravan Travelers' 24-hour Roadside Assistance is available to make sure that an emergency on the road doesn't have to be a full tow to the repair shop. In many cases, a particular roadside remedy can solve the problem, and you can safely proceed with your journey. A blow-out is an extremely hazardous event on a heavy caravan, and can cause a wheel well to fly off or tear up nearby brake lines. Replacing a large touring trailer tire on a soft dirt shoulder of the road or a thin lane of highway is a hazardous job. Our roadside techs have commercial grade high capacity jacks, pneumatic impact wrenches and high visibility safety barriers to get in and out of your vehicle with your damaged tire replaced by the inflated spare and ensure that all lug nuts have been properly torqued before you leave.
As the wheel bearings are subjected to heavy loads, and can overheat or seize completely without lubrication, it is important for caravan wheel bearings to be inspected. Never try to continue driving if you see smoke, smell burning or hear a grinding sound from the wheels. Our technicians will be able to do a roadside inspection as well as cool down the hub, investigate bearing fault, and decide whether the vehicle can be lubricated or if it needs to be hauled on a flatbed to keep the wheel from coming off the vehicle.
One of the special problems with a caravan breakdown is that you may have two vehicles to think about; the car/truck that has broken down and the caravan itself. Southern Towing can overcome this logistical problem by providing dual-recovery solutions. There are times when we could send out several trucks to tow your broken down vehicle and your caravan, so neither vehicle is left alone and unsecured on the roadside.
Our Recovery Process
- Comprehensive Phone Assessment: Our professional dispatchers will ask for all of the information that is needed relating to your caravan; such as length, weight, number of axles, hitch type and if your caravan is loaded. This guarantees we are using the truck of the correct weight rating and equipment for the job.
- Our driver will park our heavy recovery vehicle in the proper position to block oncoming traffic and use our powerful LED strobe arrays to create a high-visibility and safe perimeter to work on for you and your occupants.
- Meticulous Alignment and Hookup: The operator will be extremely careful with alignment and get the recovery truck locked at secure frame points using soft-strap loops, and hook all required safety chains and auxiliary breakaway braking wires.
- Final Structural Safety Check: Our driver conducts a thorough final walk around check for all tires, stabilising jacks on load are fully retracted, auxiliary towing lights are tested and the load is perfectly balanced to prevent sway during transit.
Irrespective of what is occurring in the night, the nature of the weather or how far away you are, Southern Towing is dedicated to providing you with the very best, damage-free caravan towing service.
More Southern Towing Services in Melbourne
If it's the tow vehicle itself that needs help, our 24/7 car towing service covers breakdowns and flat tyres, and our motorcycle towing service looks after two-wheeled trips too. Southern Towing also runs shipping container towing for heavier loads and a wider emergency towing and roadside care service for any breakdown. Before you hitch up, it is worth reading our guide on what is tow rating, or you can browse all Melbourne towing services here.