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The motor car as a trailer
| Quite common in the USA for almost one hundred years. |
At first glance, almost everyone considers this combination to be practical. One doesn't have to maneuver the big camper through the small country roads when on holiday and one does not need to stow everthing
away before each tour. Everthing in the camper can be left just as it is, one simply uses the normal compact car. This has an enormous advantage over the monsters which carry a motor car underneath the bedroom.
Either the camper is too big or the car is too small.
| Because of possible problems with the lubrication, the towed vehicle should have a manual
gearbox. |
It's when you take a closer look, that the doubts start to set in. In Germany, the combination of a towing vehicle with an independently motorized trailer is not permitted. If it were, one would have to have a truck-drivers-
licence because of the distance between the 'trailer' axles. The comparison with towing a vehicle using a towing-rod is not valid, in this case e.g., the next motorway exit must be taken. In addition, genuine 'towing' also
requires a truck-drivers-licence.
| The return to the big caravan is, as far as driving is concerned, a deterioration. |
The registration of this kind of combination abroad, generally requires a proof of residence and is mostly accompanied by considerable duty- and tax formalities. Then at least, one may also drive the combination
through Germany. Thus, in our country, things that are quite common in the USA, albeit in a somewhat more primitive form, are not at all possible. In this case, at least the towed vehicle has a brake connection,
however, probably only to the rear wheels through the hand-brake. By the way, the coordination of the drawbar is very important because of it's caster and the towed vehicle must be able to perfectly follow the towing
vehicle, also during turning maneuvers.
| Reversing would probably be difficult. |
Even in the USA, the towed vehicle may no longer be unbraked. A widely used systrem is a mechanical device activated from the towing vehicle, which presses directly on to the brake pedal. Thereby, in the course of
developments, the speed of the pedal pressure has been greatly improved and with the so-called Boost-System the lacking force of the power-brakes can also be managed. Apparently the system is also compatible
for hybrid vehicles. 10/12
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