Hands up who’s ever had a hair-raising moment off-road? Most of us have at some stage. Now, just image you had to do it all over again with a camper trailer in tow. Hair-pin cornering, soaring rock steps or sill-deep bog holes, throw a trailer into the equation and it’s a different ball game all together.

The biggest problem you’ll find is that because you’re towing a camper trailer, you’ll usually only have one chance to get through any obstacle, because reversing or choosing a different line is rarely an option. You need to be good at reading the track, choosing the right line and have a better feel for how much traction is available. Then of course you’ll need to work out how much momentum you’ll need. Not so much as to launch the camper trailer 3ft into the air, but just enough to get you through without bogging down.

Here at 4wd Supacentre and Adventure Kings, we have an enormous wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to towing camper trailers. Most of us have travelled tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of kays with either a camper trailer or a caravan in tow. So in this article, we’ve put our heads together and came up with a 2 part series for advanced towing tricks for camper trailer owners. We’ll also take you through the obstacles you’re likely to face off-road, and give you the best ways to handle them with a trailer on the back.

BUSH-PROOF TRAILERS- A MUST!

Unless you don’t mind soaking wet camping gear, it’s a good idea to ensure your camper trailer is equipped with quality rubber gaskets around each door. The Kings MT1 Camper Trailer has a combination of high quality rubber seals as well as heavy duty lockable latches to keep water and dust out.

The underside of the offroad camper trailer will need to be well protected. Chances are that it will be dragged over rocks or dirt mounds at some point and you don’t want to damage anything underneath. The Kings Camper Trailer has a heavy duty bash-plate to protect the underbody water tank and everything else is tucked away and out of harms way.

Just like your 4WD, a good set of tyres on your camper trailer is equally as important. More often than not, the only thing stopping your camper trailer sliding down a steep embankment is a quality set of tyres. The Adventure Kings MT1 Camper Trailer comes with a set of 265/75r16 Muddies.

Jockey wheels can be another problem, especially the swing-away type. They typically hang down below the drawbar and bear the brunt of the impact when the drawbar contacts with the track. The jockey wheel on the Kings Camper Trailer is completely removable, so you wont risk damaging it on tough tracks!

Finally, make sure that any electrical wiring between the camper trailer and the 4WD are kept up high to prevent snagging. Ripping out electrical cables might not only mean a warm fridge, it could also mean that you lose all trailer brakes.

ROCK WORK

The secret to successful rock driving is to pick the line that keeps wheel articulation to a minimum without getting the 4WD or camper trailer hung up. The best lines have the wheels riding on the high points of the rocks, which maximises underbody clearance and reduces the chances of tyre sidewall damage.

It’s also essential to keep the speed down to reduce unnecessary suspension bounce. Use low-range first gear in the nasty stuff and steady your right foot by resting it against the kick panel. If your 4WD is an auto then you’ll have a slight advantage here as you can go as slow as needed without stalling or riding the clutch.

A point to remember when you’re navigating between rocks, the offroad camper trailer wheels follow a tighter turning circle than the 4WD, so even if you get through okay, the camper might still get hung up. In some situations, there may be no choice but to disconnect the trailer and winch it the rest of the way.

SAND DRIVING

The main point to remember when driving on sand is to lower tyre pressures all round and drive in existing wheel tracks where the sand is already compacted. Ideally, depending on how soft the sand is, the vehicle tyre pressures should be between 12 – 18psi. The other trap people fall into is not reducing tyre pressures on the camper trailer. These should be at least 2psi less than the 4WD. You don’t want the offroad trailer trying to cut a new set of tracks.

Towing on sand also requires a lot more momentum than normal. The hardest job you’ll have is climbing up steep sand dunes, or tacking particularly soft sections. Remember that you’ll only really get one crack at it because it can be quite difficult to reverse back down. It’s not impossible, but it’s all too easy to jack-knife the camper trailer.

Finally, something as simple as planning your next stop so the nose of your 4WD is facing down a slope will drastically reduce the chance of coming unstuck when you go to take off.

MUDDY BOGHOLES

Apart from checking the depth of any given boghole, you’ll need to know whether you have enough underbody clearance to drive in the ruts without bottoming out. Check the depth using a long stick like you normally would, taking note of whether or not you’re likely to strike the drawbar as you drop into the boghole. If this check can’t be done, attaching a snatch strap to the front the 4WD before you enter the mud will save valuable time if the worst happens.

If there’s a long stretch of shallow mud and no way around, momentum is your only hope. Also, try to avoid sudden direction changes. If you’re steering is erratic the camper trailer will slide in the original direction you were heading and want to drag the back of the 4WD around with it.

If you notice your speed slow to a crawl, work the steering wheel side to side and get your tyres side-biters working. It’s your best bet of clearing to the top greasy layer and getting down to the firmer terrain beneath.

Stay tuned for Part 2!