Bailey Unicorn Seville 2016 - Bed Box Tale

[Montrose]

Hi All,
A cautionary tale for those with this van. We are in the middle of our hols in Norfolk and usually sleep with the two single beds. We have had to keep on top of many loose screws in the van, principally the seat backs, I know there has been much previous on this item, the washroom door framing and I have had to add additional fixing points to the bed box sections where the flexing of the van floor causes them to work loose. But we have just had a far more serious event when making up the beds as normal, upon laying down, one end of the bed sank completely. The spring hinge had pulled out its three screws altogether and the unit collapsed. After a temporary repar that night I found the following the next morning. The hinge has four securing holes, only three screws were in each of the four hinges in total. The screws are about 3/8 '' long, which is far too short and with use the wood where the hinge screws into has become worn with the screws holes elongated so that the oroginal screws will no longer tighten. being away from home the only solution was to obtain longer screws and to fit thrm into all four hinge bracket holes. I just hope that owners check their own screws to avoid the situation I found myself in.

 

[traficman]

Hi
We had the same caravan and had lots of problems with things falling off and the same problem with the bed box, we only kept the caravan for 12 months and sold it before anything else fell off.

 

[Mel]

Thank you Montrose. We have a Unicorn Valencia and while the overall construction seems good, we also find little bits falling off, screws needing tightening etc.
Mel

 

[Hutch]

Similar problem in our Coachman, I think I will try Gorrilla glue clear, The normal is great but any overspill taints yellow.

 

[Woodentop]

Hi All,
A cautionary tale for those with this van. We are in the middle of our hols in Norfolk and usually sleep with the two single beds. We have had to keep on top of many loose screws in the van, principally the seat backs, I know there has been much previous on this item, the washroom door framing and I have had to add additional fixing points to the bed box sections where the flexing of the van floor causes them to work loose. But we have just had a far more serious event when making up the beds as normal, upon laying down, one end of the bed sank completely. The spring hinge had pulled out its three screws altogether and the unit collapsed. After a temporary repar that night I found the following the next morning. The hinge has four securing holes, only three screws were in each of the four hinges in total. The screws are about 3/8 '' long, which is far too short and with use the wood where the hinge screws into has become worn with the screws holes elongated so that the oroginal screws will no longer tighten. being away from home the only solution was to obtain longer screws and to fit thrm into all four hinge bracket holes. I just hope that owners check their own screws to avoid the situation I found myself in.

I have a thread running about this.
We have a Seville S4 new in January this year, and on the third time we used it the head end of my bed (nearside) collapsed (we use beds as two singles) due to lack of support, support that is present on the offside bed. The lack of support primarily appears associated with the wet tray in the N/S locker. The dealer made a temporary repair which I had to strengthen, but the ultimate reply from Bailey was to ask the dealer to find a solution and advise them!!

Interesting to note that Bailey haven't resolved the many problems of too short screws for example causing doors to fall off (also applies to window blind frames on mine) or warped bathroom doors, of electrical failures (lights), and especially with the S4 the incredibly light noseweight because everything heavy (spare wheel, battery, cooker, gas bottle) is behind the axle or right at the back!

 

[Thingy]

but the ultimate reply from Bailey was to ask the dealer to find a solution and advise them!!

Thats a shocking response. If they had any morals at all they would find their own solution and have your vans back in to do the repairs properly. I will warrrant too that although they will be aware of the problems, the new caravans arriving of the production line are exactly the same.

As for the hinges pulling free, rather than screws, what about a 3/16 set screw right through the wood with nuts and washers?

 

[otherclive]

Hi All,
A cautionary tale for those with this van. We are in the middle of our hols in Norfolk and usually sleep with the two single beds. We have had to keep on top of many loose screws in the van, principally the seat backs, I know there has been much previous on this item, the washroom door framing and I have had to add additional fixing points to the bed box sections where the flexing of the van floor causes them to work loose. But we have just had a far more serious event when making up the beds as normal, upon laying down, one end of the bed sank completely. The spring hinge had pulled out its three screws altogether and the unit collapsed. After a temporary repar that night I found the following the next morning. The hinge has four securing holes, only three screws were in each of the four hinges in total. The screws are about 3/8 '' long, which is far too short and with use the wood where the hinge screws into has become worn with the screws holes elongated so that the oroginal screws will no longer tighten. being away from home the only solution was to obtain longer screws and to fit thrm into all four hinge bracket holes. I just hope that owners check their own screws to avoid the situation I found myself in.

I have a thread running about this.
We have a Seville S4 new in January this year, and on the third time we used it the head end of my bed (nearside) collapsed (we use beds as two singles) due to lack of support, support that is present on the offside bed. The lack of support primarily appears associated with the wet tray in the N/S locker. The dealer made a temporary repair which I had to strengthen, but the ultimate reply from Bailey was to ask the dealer to find a solution and advise them!!

Interesting to note that Bailey haven't resolved the many problems of too short screws for example causing doors to fall off (also applies to window blind frames on mine) or warped bathroom doors, of electrical failures (lights), and especially with the S4 the incredibly light noseweight because everything heavy (spare wheel, battery, cooker, gas bottle) is behind the axle or right at the back!

Gosh what I’d give for a light noseweight. Took everything out of front locker the other day to take it to the dealers and still had to put 10 kg at back to get it down to 75kg.

It’s an old issue with Baileys in that screws don’t hold and I guess some other makes too. My old Pageant Bordeaux S5 (2005) had a sliding door that seperated the bedroom from the lounge/kitchen. After a couple of trips out it’s top track which was screwed to the ceiling had pulled off en route. It’s normal travelling position was stowed back into its storage channel. The screws were short and small width. Problem was that in built furniture would have had to be removed to gain access to the top track so I could screw and bond it into place. So I removed the doors and we used a curtain and I made a lightweight dog guard to keep wandering pooches out at night.

It’s really disappointing that makers can’t improve what is fundamentally basic quality. I’d forgo all the apps and non essentials if only they could make vans where hinges, trim et all all stay in place and things work consistently.

 

[Woodentop]

but the ultimate reply from Bailey was to ask the dealer to find a solution and advise them!!

Thats a shocking response. If they had any morals at all they would find their own solution and have your vans back in to do the repairs properly. I will warrrant too that although they will be aware of the problems, the new caravans arriving of the production line are exactly the same.

As for the hinges pulling free, rather than screws, what about a 3/16 set screw right through the wood with nuts and washers?

Nope, can't do that. The hinges are like these hinges with the large part attached to the door and the smaller middle part attached to the edge of the material of which the cupboard is made. The dealer tells me that said material that looks like wood is actually hollow except for about 1 inch all the way around which is proper timber.
The doors that dropped off in my van are about 15" wide by 24" tall and have two hinges each held - get this - with 15x3mm countersink screws. I replaced them with the same diameter but 22mm or 28mm long and they have held since.

 

[Thingy]

Then another solution we be stick the hinges with "no more nails" and replace the screws using Loctite.