A caravan or trailer that has lost a tyre or collapsed a bearing cannot be left at the roadside, and it usually cannot be towed on either. That makes it a different job from a car recovery, and often a two-vehicle one. Tell us both the car and what it is pulling when you call, and we send the right combination first time instead of turning up and having to go back for a second truck.
Why it is often two jobs, not one
If the caravan is still roadworthy, the simplest answer is usually to recover the car and tow the caravan on behind our truck, or leave it coupled and lift the whole outfit depending on the weight and the location. That is one job and one price.
If the trailer itself is the failure, a shredded tyre, a seized or collapsed bearing, a snapped coupling or a bent A-frame, it cannot roll, and the car and the caravan have to move separately. That is two vehicles on two beds, and we will tell you that on the phone rather than discovering it on arrival.
Either way, the thing that decides it is the state of the trailer, not the car. So when you ring, the useful details are what the outfit is, roughly what it weighs, whether the wheels still turn freely, and whether it is coupled or has come loose.
What actually fails on a towed outfit
Tyres, by a wide margin. Caravan tyres often have plenty of tread and no life left in them, because they spend eleven months stationary and perish from age and UV rather than wear. A blowout at seventy on the M74 usually takes some of the wheel arch and the skirt with it.
Then wheel bearings, which give warning as a rumble or a hot hub at a fuel stop and then let go completely. Then couplings and breakaway cables, then jack-knifing, which happens fastest to a light trailer behind a heavy car in crosswinds on the exposed sections.
Overheating on the towing car is its own category, particularly in stationary traffic on the urban M8 in summer. That one is a straightforward car recovery with a caravan attached, which is the easier version of this job.
The Cairnryan ferry run
The M77 and A77 carry a lot of caravan and ferry traffic, and a breakdown on that road comes with a deadline attached. If you have a sailing to make, say so on the first call, because it changes what we do.
Sometimes the right answer is not to recover everything at once. Getting the people and the load to the port in time and dealing with the vehicle afterwards is often the better outcome, and we would rather plan that with you on the phone than work it out at the roadside with twenty minutes left.
A caravan or trailer job starts from the standard £60 call-out + £1.50 per mile, or £120 flat on the motorway. Where the trailer cannot roll and the outfit needs two vehicles, it is quoted as two, and we tell you that on the call before we set off rather than adding it afterwards.
Why choose SRL Recovery
- check_circleTouring caravans, twin-axle and plant trailers, horseboxes
- check_circleCar and outfit recovered together where the trailer still rolls
- check_circleTwo-truck dispatch when the trailer cannot be moved on its wheels
- check_circleM77 and A77 ferry traffic, with sailing times taken into account
- check_circleFully insured, 24/7 across Glasgow and the Central Belt
Common questions
Can you recover a car and a caravan together?
Usually yes. If the caravan is roadworthy we can move the outfit in one go. If the caravan is the thing that has failed, it becomes a two-vehicle job, so tell us about both when you call and we will send the right combination.
My caravan has lost a tyre. Can you not just change it?
Sometimes, if there is a serviceable spare, the ground is safe to work on and it is not a motorway. On a live carriageway or where the wheel or bearing is damaged as well, recovery is the safer answer and we will say so.
What if I have a ferry to catch at Cairnryan?
Tell us on the first call. A sailing time changes the priorities, and getting you and your luggage to the port while we deal with the vehicle separately is often the better plan.
Do you recover horseboxes and plant trailers too?
Yes. Horseboxes, plant and digger trailers and twin-axle flatbeds are all handled. If there is livestock aboard, say so immediately, because that changes the response and we may need to arrange onward transport for the animals first.