A caravan glossary A – M
Some of our customers at Albion Caravans (http://www.albioncaravans.co.uk/) are hardened caravan fans who rightly boast that there’s nothing worth knowing about second hand caravans or new that they don’t know. However, we also help a lot of first-time used caravan buyers realise their dream of buying a caravan, some of whom know nothing about them, apart from the fact that they dearly want one! For these less-informed customers, we’ve put together a brief caravan glossary with some of the most common terms you’ll come across in the world of caravanning. Here’s the first part of the glossary, A to M:
A-class – The name of a caravan which has the cab and living areas converted into one space (not necessarily by the manufacturer).
A-frame – This is the triangular frame which is found at the front of the caravan chassis and in between the main body of the vehicle and the hitch.
Base vehicle – The name of the vehicle which forms the base or platform of the caravan.
Brake horse power – The horsepower of the caravan engine determined by the amount of force exerted on a friction brake.
Berth – A place to sleep for one person, so a three berth caravan will sleep up to three people.
Chassis – The frame around which the caravan is actually built.
Chemical toilet – A toilet where waste material is held in a tank with chemicals added to help encourage the break down of the waste so that it cuts down on odours in between emptying.
Dinette – An area with two or more seats which face one another. Sometimes there will be a removable table in the middle so that the area can be converted into sleeping accommodation at night.
Drop plate – This allows the height of the tow ball to be lowered to accommodate caravan hitch height.
Essential Habitation Equipment – As the name suggests, these are things which the manufacturer deems essential for the caravan to be safely used as habitation, including gas cylinders, water heaters, etc.
Elevating roof – These are pop-up roofs which give greater space to smaller caravans.
Folding caravan – Caravans which have walls which can be folded flat and the roof lowered to make it easier to tow or store.
Full service pitch – A caravan pitch which provides all the services you need, from water to waste disposal and electricity.
Gas Bottle Locker – This is where gas cylinders are stored, safely away from the living area of the caravan.
Generator – A portable electricity generator allows caravans to be hooked-up to electricity mains in full service pitches via a hook-up.
Hitch – This allows the caravan to be connected to a tow ball and be towed by another vehicle.
Hook-up – As discussed, this allows a caravan to access the mains electric supply of a pitch.
Instability – As the name suggests, this is a caravan which experiences instability (swaying, for instance) when being towed.
Jack – As for a car, this allows the caravan to be hoisted to a height which allows maintenance to be carried out, such as changing a tyre.
Kerbweight – This is how much the caravan weighs when it is completely empty and is something set out by the caravan manufacturer.
Levelling – Something you do when you have pitched your caravan to ensure it is completely level and therefore safe and secure.
Load index – A number which relates to the caravan’s maximum load carrying capability, found on the side of tyres.
Low-profile – Caravans which do not have a bed located over the driver’s cab, hence giving them a lower profile than those that do.
Manufacturer’s Braked Towing Limit – The maximum weight of braked trailer the caravan will tow when restarting on a gradient of between 8% and 12%.
Manufacturer’s Unbraked Towing Limit – The maximum weight of unbraked trailer the caravan will tow.
There’s a lot to the world of caravanning, so as you can imagine this is just a smattering of the words that you’re likely to come across (beginning with the letters between A and M) when looking for used caravans for sale, but it’s certainly a good place to start. For any further queries, take a look at the Albion Caravans site at http://www.albioncaravans.co.uk/ or call us on 01274 611 867. And check in to the News section for the final part of the glossary.
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