Caravan Side Panels

[bertieboy1]

Looking through sales leaflets one caravan manufacturer talks about "new balanced side panels".Does anyone know what this is - do the panels stand on their own without assistance - is this a new wonder phenomena.
I'd be interested to find out.

 

[Raywood]

Sounds a load of gobbledegook to me. Not sure who it is but it makes no sense to me but it sounds like they both weigh the same. That is not critical as long as they are not too far apart on weight.

 

[chrisn7]

I suspect this refers to the traditional dissimilar materials of aluminium and plywood used on opposite sides of the wall probably generates a warping effect. I guess if say grp is used on both sides, this effect is lessened

 

[DaveA1]

I suspect this refers to the traditional dissimilar materials of aluminium and plywood used on opposite sides of the wall probably generates a warping effect. I guess if say grp is used on both sides, this effect is lessened

You may be right. I worked a good few years for a door manufacture. We veneered chipboard for the cheaper doors we sold to, what we called The Sheds ( DIY stores). We would veneer only one side and they would bow, it made it a bit more difficult to lay up when pressing the door but they were cheap. When we used a more exotic veneer, ie Rosewood, we would use an external grade ply, and would use a balancer of any reject veneer we had to hand, ( split) the board then stayed as flat as a pancake.

 

[Raywood]

I cannot see the advantage of balancing the internal and external sides of the caravan is. To do this you would be adding extra weight which is pointless and it would make no difference to the towing performance. For good towing performance, balancing the two sides panels might have some minor effect but in the overall scheme of things I doubt it would be significant.

 

[Dustydog]

The statement comes from Swift in respect or their Sprite range which is "SMART" Construction. They say :-
New balanced panel side walls with GRP outer and inner skin 44mm 'sandwich' floor construction with GRP outer skin, ply upper and high rigidity Styrofoam core Hail resistant exterior GRP roof, fully bonded for extra strength and flatness
All my previous and current caravans are conventional old fashioned construction. Can't say I have ever noticed a problem with distortion etc hmy: :huh:

 

[Abinitio1989]

I think it's more about structural stability (and thus prevention of future ingress at joints) than anything else