Can I service my caravan myself? (2017 Lunar Venus 550/4)

[Thomas Dixon]

Hi all, just wondering if it is common practice to service your own caravan? looking at a long road trip and wondering what you all suggest checking as a must-do,

The tyres are in very good and pumped to the manufactures PSI, would you have any other tips I should check, ?

thanks

 

[JRT]

Hi all, just wondering if it is common practice to service your own caravan? looking at a long road trip and wondering what you all suggest checking as a must-do,

The tyres are in very good and pumped to the manufactures PSI, would you have any other tips I should check, ?

thanks

This is similar to what our dealer uses.

I guess it depends on how thorough you want to be.

https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/15371e94/files/uploaded/Caravan%20Service%20Checklist.pdf

 

[Dustydog]

Yes you can but be aware there are three specific areas,
General habitation equipment and bodyshell
12v / 230v / gas, connections appliances etc
chassis running gear
If you remove the brake drums you MUST use brand new hub nuts
If you remove the gas fire / heater be aware some are fitted with a use once only flue gasket. A new one MUST be used

 

[otherclive]

Caravans rarely wear their tyre treads, but they do age nevertheless. Your caravan is 2017, if the tyres are original you should change them as advice is replace at 5-7 year intervals.

 

[Steve1962]

Caravans rarely wear their tyre treads, but they do age nevertheless. Your caravan is 2017, if the tyres are original you should change them as advice is replace at 5-7 year intervals.

All of mine are getting changed this year on my 2017 Unicorn Valencia

 

[Hutch]

Hi all, just wondering if it is common practice to service your own caravan? looking at a long road trip and wondering what you all suggest checking as a must-do,

The tyres are in very good and pumped to the manufactures PSI, would you have any other tips I should check, ?

thanks

Welcome to the forum, when you say a long road trip, do you mean, ie, a month of touring around France maybe 3000 miles or just a 300 miles to a site and 300 back. You normally need to be fairly good at DIY, to be able to fix things as the fall apart.

 

[ProfJohnL]

JRT has given you a link to a typical servicec hecklist, and as you can see its a lot more than just checking the tyres.

Please forgive me if I'm wrong but I can only go on what you have written. If you genuinely thought that was all that was necessary was atyre check , then respectfully I m wondering if your are capable of doing a service to the required standard.

Dusty also has pointed out some items are not as simple as might be thought, and especially regards any gas appliances, unless you fully trained in Liquified Petroleum Gas work you should not even attempt any repairs or deep maintenance on any of them.

 

[Thomas Dixon]

This is similar to what our dealer uses.

I guess it depends on how thorough you want to be.

https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/15371e94/files/uploaded/Caravan%20Service%20Checklist.pdf

thanks for the link, gives me plenty to check out

 

[Thomas Dixon]

Welcome to the forum, when you say a long road trip, do you mean, ie, a month of touring around France maybe 3000 miles or just a 300 miles to a site and 300 back. You normally need to be fairly good at DIY, to be able to fix things as the fall apart.

650 kilometres each way across Spain, from Bilbao to Catalonia Salou area

 

[Thomas Dixon]

JRT has given you a link to a typical servicec hecklist, and as you can see its a lot more than just checking the tyres.

Please forgive me if I'm wrong but I can only go on what you have written. If you genuinely thought that was all that was necessary was atyre check , then respectfully I m wondering if your are capable of doing a service to the required standard.

Dusty also has pointed out some items are not as simple as might be thought, and especially regards any gas appliances, unless you fully trained in Liquified Petroleum Gas work you should not even attempt any repairs or deep maintenance on any of them.

Thanks for your comments ProfJohnL, I am not considering any of the big work like (Liquified Petroleum Gas repair or maintenance). I was thinking more of the everyday checks. And no I hadn't taught that checking the tyres was all I needed to check before a long road trip, thus the reason behind the question raised. I thought that the checklist was a great reference point to start reviewing the caravan for possible sources of issues that either I myself or a professional might have to work on. If you have any information to share or suggestions or tips to suggest areas to review, please let me know. Thanks again

 

[Thomas Dixon]

Yes you can but be aware there are three specific areas,
General habitation equipment and bodyshell
12v / 230v / gas, connections appliances etc
chassis running gear
If you remove the brake drums you MUST use brand new hub nuts
If you remove the gas fire / heater be aware some are fitted with a use once only flue gasket. A new one MUST be used

Thanks Dusty Dog,

 

[Deleted member 23278]

Thomas,
Have a look for The Caravan Handbook by John Wickersham (published by Heynes) - it hasn't been updated for quite a few years (mainly due to the death of the author). The last revision will be near enough to the age of your caravan to you give a good start and it should be available second-hand.
Mick

 

[Thomas Dixon]

Thomas,
Have a look for The Caravan Handbook by John Wickersham (published by Heynes) - it hasn't been updated for quite a few years (mainly due to the death of the author). The last revision will be near enough to the age of your caravan to you give a good start and it should be available second-hand.
Mick

Thanks, Mickyjb, I look that up and try get a copy