Bought a Caravan - Check your Tyres.

[Notmyvan]

I have just bought a 2013 Caravan. Before I bought it the Caravan dealer said "We will service ir"
Of course after you buy something things change.
Anyway I did see it on the ramp with the wheels and brake hubs off and when I asked what they "Serviced" I was told "They make it safe"
The salesman said they would put new tyres on it, but they must have changed their mind and only changed the spare which was the original being a 2013.
The two that were on the caravan they totally ignored.
So after delivery I looked at one of the tyres and thought it looked a bit underinflated.
But when I tried to remover the Metal Valve Cap I found it was seized onto the metal valve stem.
As a retired MOT Tester of over 20 years and fitted hundreds of tyres on wheels I am familiar with Tyre Valves.
Anyway even grabbing the valve with a pair of grips and using a 8mm socket on the Hexagon Shaped Valve Cap I cannot get the Valve Cap off without squeezing the valve so hard that it would collapse and deflate the tyre.
So it is obvious that they never checked the Pressure of the Tyres before they delivered it to me.
And the recommended pressure in the New spare was 42 instead of the 65 as recommended in the Owners Handbook.
So it goes to show, check your tyres and dont assume that the Caravan Dealer will do it for you.

 

[Buckman]

I have just bought a 2013 Caravan. Before I bought it the Caravan dealer said "We will service ir"
Of course after you buy something things change.
Anyway I did see it on the ramp with the wheels and brake hubs off and when I asked what they "Serviced" I was told "They make it safe"
The salesman said they would put new tyres on it, but they must have changed their mind and only changed the spare which was the original being a 2013.
The two that were on the caravan they totally ignored.
So after delivery I looked at one of the tyres and thought it looked a bit underinflated.
But when I tried to remover the Metal Valve Cap I found it was seized onto the metal valve stem.
As a retired MOT Tester of over 20 years and fitted hundreds of tyres on wheels I am familiar with Tyre Valves.
Anyway even grabbing the valve with a pair of grips and using a 8mm socket on the Hexagon Shaped Valve Cap I cannot get the Valve Cap off without squeezing the valve so hard that it would collapse and deflate the tyre.
So it is obvious that they never checked the Pressure of the Tyres before they delivered it to me.
And the recommended pressure in the New spare was 42 instead of the 65 as recommended in the Owners Handbook.
So it goes to show, check your tyres and dont assume that the Caravan Dealer will do it for you.

Hopefully you are aware that you can take it back to the dealership as it may be unsafe as what else did they not check?

 

[Notmyvan]

Hopefully you are aware that you can take it back to the dealership as it may be unsafe as what else did they not check?

When I jacked the Caravan up I could hear a grating sound from the Shock Absorber which means that the steel rod which runs through the seal is corroded, obviously when an axle is jacked up the length of travel a Shock Absorber travels is longer than the travel which occurs when the caravan is travelling is just being towed and bouncing up and down on the road.
Also I need to get a small Trolly Jack, With ALKO Chassis you are only supposed to jack underneath the axle, and it a long way in, and an ordinary bottle jack means that you nearly have to crawl underneath.

 

[Jaydug]

Also I need to get a small Trolly Jack, With ALKO Chassis you are only supposed to jack underneath the axle,

That's true! Unless you fit a pair of Alko jacking brackets - which bolt to the chassis rails further back in a more convenient position.

 

[Buckman]

When I jacked the Caravan up I could hear a grating sound from the Shock Absorber which means that the steel rod which runs through the seal is corroded, obviously when an axle is jacked up the length of travel a Shock Absorber travels is longer than the travel which occurs when the caravan is travelling is just being towed and bouncing up and down on the road.
Also I need to get a small Trolly Jack, With ALKO Chassis you are only supposed to jack underneath the axle, and it a long way in, and an ordinary bottle jack means that you nearly have to crawl underneath.

I strongly suggest you take it back to the dealer from whom you bought and get them to rectify the issues as it is their responsibility.

 

[Baron Von Greenback]

I have just bought a 2013 Caravan. Before I bought it the Caravan dealer said "We will service ir"
Of course after you buy something things change.
Anyway I did see it on the ramp with the wheels and brake hubs off and when I asked what they "Serviced" I was told "They make it safe"
The salesman said they would put new tyres on it, but they must have changed their mind and only changed the spare which was the original being a 2013.
The two that were on the caravan they totally ignored.
So after delivery I looked at one of the tyres and thought it looked a bit underinflated.
But when I tried to remover the Metal Valve Cap I found it was seized onto the metal valve stem.
As a retired MOT Tester of over 20 years and fitted hundreds of tyres on wheels I am familiar with Tyre Valves.
Anyway even grabbing the valve with a pair of grips and using a 8mm socket on the Hexagon Shaped Valve Cap I cannot get the Valve Cap off without squeezing the valve so hard that it would collapse and deflate the tyre.
So it is obvious that they never checked the Pressure of the Tyres before they delivered it to me.
And the recommended pressure in the New spare was 42 instead of the 65 as recommended in the Owners Handbook.
So it goes to show, check your tyres and dont assume that the Caravan Dealer will do it for you.

Anyone who trusts a dealer mechanic is living in cloud cuckoo land - if they were any good they would start there own mobile business - I do all and I mean all jobs now myself including electro mechanical repairs - brake adjustment- brake shoe change - Alde fluid change and system diag - it’s easy - wheels well my goddess - I would be worried if I were you