Caravan Chassis Maintainence and Durability

[Wilbury]

Hi All.
With the very obvious improvement in the quality, refinement and specification of modern Caravans compared to those around when I was last tugging in the late 70's I find myself wondering if the unseen bits i.e. the Chassis has kept improving too or wether they are skimped on to save cost.
What comes to mind is corrosian resistance, strength and rigidity, ease of applying the steadies, and with regard to the revolving bits, the life of the wheel bearings and brake linings together with the braking effectivness. Has any one ever inspected and repacked the hub bearings with grease, and at the same time inspected the seals and shoes for wear and deteriation?
Has any one actually done a practice or actual emergency stop from speed to a standstill and noticed if the caravan wheels locked up or gave the feeling that they were not "pulling their weight"?
I suspect that the Caravan braking effectivness is not perfectly in tune with those of the towing car though the over riding feature would tend to help in this regard.
I would very much like to recieve your feedback on all of this.
Rgds

 

[SteveW77]

Hi All.
With the very obvious improvement in the quality, refinement and specification of modern Caravans compared to those around when I was last tugging in the late 70's I find myself wondering if the unseen bits i.e. the Chassis has kept improving too or wether they are skimped on to save cost.
What comes to mind is corrosian resistance, strength and rigidity, ease of applying the steadies, and with regard to the revolving bits, the life of the wheel bearings and brake linings together with the braking effectivness. Has any one ever inspected and repacked the hub bearings with grease, and at the same time inspected the seals and shoes for wear and deteriation?
Has any one actually done a practice or actual emergency stop from speed to a standstill and noticed if the caravan wheels locked up or gave the feeling that they were not "pulling their weight"?
I suspect that the Caravan braking effectivness is not perfectly in tune with those of the towing car though the over riding feature would tend to help in this regard.
I would very much like to recieve your feedback on all of this.
Rgds

I 'm afraid you are living in the past, modern wheel bearings like most components are now maintenance free, all you can do is replace the whole unit.

 

[Damian]

Modern chassis are all galvanised so there is no need for any maintenance apart from the occasional wash if used on salted roads during the winter, or if you go on very muddy roads and the chassis becomes very dirty.
The steadies should be greased at least annually but not over greased, they are better kept as clean as possible and just a light spray of chain lubricant.
They do NOT need to be plastered with heavy sticky grease.
As for hub bearings, most bearings since around 1990 are sealed for life and need no re packing, in fact it is impossible to repack them, also the hub nut used to secure the hubs are "One shot" nuts which means they MUST be replaced if removed and tightened to 290Nm on refitting.
Brake shoes normally will last a very long time, probably longer than you own the van and only need occasional adjusting to the correct setting, all of which is covered in an Annual Service.

 

[Wilbury]

Hi,
I was wondering on the type of bearings used having read about the one shot retaing nuts which imply sealed bearings with no adjustment.
I am sure that there must be many caravans still around that have the pre sealed bearing assemblies.
Rgds

 

[Damian]

Yes there are still quite a lot of the older caravans around with split pin and castellated nut securing the hub bearings which are separate bearing races which need cleaning and re packing with fresh grease.
In lots of ways I prefer the old style to the newer sealed for life type as there is no waste as such, the retaining nut is re used and the only part replaced is the split pin.