Road Test – the proof is in the pulling

I took the rig out for it’s first real road test today. I have driven many vehicles in my life, including some rather awkward troop carriers during my military service. But I have never pulled a vehicle on a A frame before. I nervously hitched up the Zook with Tina’s help. Checked that the safety chain was engaged and so headed off up the road.It’s a weird feeling when you check your rear view mirror while cornering to see this Suzuki right up my rear bumper. I have a serious issue with drivers that tail gate, but this is ridiculous ha ha.

OK. So the purpose of the test drive was to firstly check that the A frame worked – imagine if the whole thing failed – OK, lets not go there. I also wanted to get a feel for the camper van’s ability to tow the extra 1.3 tonnes. With this in mind, I planned a route that would take me over ou kaapse weg, through Noordhoek, over Slang Kop in Kommetjie then back via Cape Point, Simons Town and over Black Hill. This would give me plenty of opportunity to test the pulling power up hills.But no sooner had I set off, I started getting weird error messages on the display. The motor-home was also pulling to the left.  After pulling over and doing a quick inspection of the Zook, I realised that the steering lock was on and the front wheels were turned slightly. So what is the general rule when towing on an A frame? I decided to unlock the wheels, which also meant that I had to turn on the ignition. When I set off again, the display seemed to be back to normal. All OK now.

I hit the long steep drag up Ou Kaapse Weg and was pleasantly surprised at the grunt of the 2.3 diesel engine. I must confess here that Fiat have supplied a “chip upgrade” that substantially increases the power output to 120KW and also the torque. I made it to the top, mostly in third gear and without casing any traffic jam in my wake. Heading down was a bit tricky at first until I stuck it into third gear and just let the gear box do the breaking.

I was really surprised at how effortlessly the whole rig rolled, often being blissfully unaware of the extra baggage bringing up the rear. I had the rear facing camera turned on most of the way and kept glancing at the monitor to ensure that I was being followed closely.  Imagine my surprise if the zook suddenly disappeared? But it didn’t, much to my relief. The only thing that was on the negative side was watching the real time fuel consumption reading. I guess it’s just not the thing to do. When I pulled up at the gates of Stonehurst, the security guard asked if the vehicle following me must be signed in LOL.

I arrived home well pleased with the whole rig. That’s one more item checked on my seemingly endless to do list.