Avondale Dart 556

[Ryan`6981]

Good afternoon,

We are new to caravaning and are going to pick up an Avondale dart 556 at the weekend, It has been sat for 6 years in the same place, it has been moved back and forth in that time. Should i be looking at replacing wheels and tyre before moving and is there any Maintence i should be doing before bring it home on the road ?

Many thanks for your time.

Ryan

 

[Hutch]

Welcome to the forum Ryan, yes you should definatly replace the tyres, advice from tyre manufacturers, is replace caravan tyres at 7 years.
Depending on how far you will be towing it, the brakes may need a look at but if you tow it slowly, you "might be ok". It another case of how long is a bit of string.

 

[Jcloughie]

Welcome to the forum, as above. Wheels should be fine. Make sure new tyres can handle the load, and get them balanced.

John

 

[Beachball]

Hi Ryan welcome to the forum i also think you should get some new tyres your wheels should be ok

 

[Raywood]

If it has been stood for six years the tyres will be suspect particularly as they ere probably fitted even further back so I would change them. The only way to be sure of the brakes would be to take the wheels off and check them though, and I do not know if the current location would allow that. A short tow and a few test braking stops would probably tell you to some extent, but not an infallible method.

 

[audiorob]

A full service sounds like a good idea..
Approved Touring Caravan & Motorhome Servicing in the UK (approvedworkshops.co.uk)

 

[Jaydug]

Examine the hitch. You don't want the van detaching from the car 200 yards down the road. Make sure it has a reasonable grip on the tow ball that will stay in place. Push the hitch backwards by hand. It should be very hard to push backwards and also resist pulling out quickly. There are three grease nipples around the hitch which require a few strokes with a grease gun at service times.

 

[Raywood]

The best way to check the hitch is securely attached is to hitch up and then raise the jockey wheel until the hitch raises the cars rear.

 

[Ryan`6981]

Thank you everyone, don't know if anyone knows the pcb of the wheels so i can get some alloys wheel for it ?

 

[Jaydug]

Thank you everyone, don't know if anyone knows the pcb of the wheels so i can get some alloys wheel for it ?

There's a bit more to it than PCB. The offset needs to be the same and also the load-carrying capacity of the rim needs to be up to it.