Here’s the thing, says I-Venture 4WD lead trainer, Matt Taylor: an experienced towing driver knows when they need to switch on, and when they can relax a little more – and it’s not when you think.
“All of your around-town driving, where you’re concentrating on what’s going on, that’s traditionally not where the accidents are,” says Taylor, who’s upskilled thousands of novice haulers in the ways of the open road. Even helped by Trailer Sway Control (TSC), a key standard safety feature of Isuzu UTE’s Intelligent Driver Assistance System◊ (IDAS), “90 percent of accidents happen while you’re going fast and you’re bored,” Taylor says. “Or you’re reversing.”
“Those are the times when you actually really need to switch on.” While nothing beats experience and expert training, of course, there are things that even a novice can do to tow more like an old hand in quick time. The first is awareness. Pros know that highway towing is, and should be, mentally taxing. Long distance, demands constant focus. Plan your trip to accommodate that fact.
The second point, says Taylor, is preparation. “Look,” he says, “the most likely thing to go wrong is a tyre failure or, more often, a wheel bearing failure. So, make sure wheel nuts are always torqued to the correct settings, and tyre pressures are set to appropriate towing pressures.” Directly inspect the wheel bearings on the van regularly.
Make sure you’re hitched up correctly and safely, that your coupling is latched correctly and locked, that chains are taught and crossed over, mirrors fitted (if needed) all your lights and cameras are working. Have a mounted UHF radio, which will help communicate with big rigs on outback roads. Use it. Then there’s the driving itself. Put simply, while novices are reactive, pros scan and plan.
“Use your vision to anticipate the road ahead, and if your caravan is stable there is no reason why you shouldn’t be maintaining 90-100 percent of the posted speed limit,” says Taylor. If you’re still sweating the odd extra litre-per-100km, that’s understandable. Fuel is pricey. But it shouldn’t be your priority.
Now, what better way to take the next step than to seek further tuition? One reason why Isuzu UTE Australia invests so heavily in its I-Venture Club training events is to provide in-depth, hands-on education. Practical face-to-face lessons from the likes of Taylor and his colleagues doesn’t just expand your horizons, they can save your bacon. And others’.
Turbocharge your transition to towing pro at I-Venture Club.
