Hi and
Regards Chris and Keith

from a sunny Charente

A Caravan Club one day course helps. You get hands on training on reversing straight and reversing round corners e.g into a pitch as well as lots of other useful advice.

to Eribafolk

From memory it was a stripped out 2 berth Bailey, so about the same length as an Eriba and a few inches wider, plus a bit lighter, though as it's all low speed manoeuvres the weight makes little difference.

The one thing that always comes to my mind first from that course is 'fit the breakaway cable first and remove it last'.

we can't reverse either.

I agree with Randa, the smaller (shorter) the trailer, the more difficult to reverse, they react more quickly. Just take your time and ignore the voyeurs :)

Hi Hannahdog and welcome.

My wife and I did a really good Caravan Club manoeuvring course when we first got our Troll - Kath was far better than me at it, but we both passed.

This confidence lasted until I tried to reverse in the real world on our first pitch, with someone waiting impatiently behind us. I offered Kath the wheel but she politely declined. I'm afraid my solution was to unhitch and use the motor mover.

I have become attached to this solution and have not tried to reverse the Eriba into a tight pitch since!

I think Randa is right the smaller the van or trailer the harder it is to reverse. In my younger days I used to be able to reverse a Land Rovers with a trailer full of canoes into a tight space - not sure I would fancy that now though. MikeT

and enjoy.

My brother still carries two traffic cones and sets them out before reversing between them. He thinks they're brilliant.

we can't reverse the Eriba either. Know the theory, have reversed tractors and trailers in my youth. Best thing to do with an Eriba is unhitch and move it yourself (mover comes in very handy).

Caravan Club course was very good - definitely recommend it. Yes the vans they use are tiddlers. Trouble was I did the course in October 2016, but didn't get the van till April 2017... memory not as good as it was. Still managed to leave the jockey wheel down at first outing - checklist updated!

With Eriba reversing, less is more.

Reversing - whichever way you want the caravan to go, you want to see more of it in the mirror on that side.
Grasp the steering wheel at the BOTTOM and move your hand towards the mirror in which you want the van to appear. No mess, no "steer the opposite way to the one you first thought of".

If reversing in a straight line you're simply trying to keep the view of the van equal in both mirrors - tiny movements are all that is needed.

Reversing round corners - once the van has started to 'go', centre the wheel - the van will keep turning, so then turn the steering wheel t'other way to follow it.

If you have a local industrial estate scout it out on a quiet Sunday morning. Somewhere you should be able to find some corners or big parking bays in which to practice. It will take time to 'click' but once you've got it, you've got it.

Tom & Margaret