Corner steady problem

[M.worsley1969]

Hi guys, first time on the forum so apologies in advance. I have just purchased my first van, a year 2000 compass rallye gte 500-4 special edition. The only two faults are the rear corner steady and the Carver motor mover. when I try to lower the rear corner steady the big worm threaded bolt thingy drops out when the steady is only half way down. I cant work out how to sort it so it operates like the others. The motormover when I attach the 19mm socket moves the rollers slightly (an inch at most) but no matter how hard I turn it, the rollers wont go far enough to lock onto the wheels. All help gratefully received, thanks guys

 

[Lappy]

Hi Julieforever1969,

Welcome to the wonderful world of caravanning.

I am unable to offer advice on the corner steadies, as I've never experienced this myself. Hopefully others will offer advice with regards to this issue.

However with regards to the motor mover, when disengaged there should be a 20mm gap between tyre and roller. If at present the gap is too wide, this could be the source of your problem. The motor assembly will need to be adjusted, so that it sits closer to the tyre and when engaged applies the necessary pressure to enable to roller to rotate the road wheel.

Regards,

 

[chrisn7]

The threaded rod to the steady is steel. The block though which it passes is alloy. If the steadies are operated by a drill on high speed setting (as I hear many do), the sudden stop at the end of the travel when raising will crack the block (as I discovered). You can buy the blocks on eBay, or replace the leg.
However, leg replacement can be difficult as there is no access inside the caravan to the ends of the leg mounting bolts, as they can be seized. If the hidden captive bolts/nuts spin in the floor, you are in trouble. Go very gently removing the bolts or nuts, removing any rust and adding some WD40. Your van may well have good old washer, spring washer and plain nut, later nyloc nuts can be more difficult.

For the mover, the clearance between the roller and tyre in ready to tow mode, should be 15 - 20mm maximum. A bit of 15mm copper heating pipe is a useful gauge. Any more than this requires the mover to be adjusted, unless there is a physical problem with the wind on mechanism

 

[Mel]

Hi guys, first time on the forum so apologies in advance. I have just purchased my first van, a year 2000 compass rallye gte 500-4 special edition. The only two faults are the rear corner steady and the Carver motor mover. when I try to lower the rear corner steady the big worm threaded bolt thingy drops out when the steady is only half way down. I cant work out how to sort it so it operates like the others. The motormover when I attach the 19mm socket moves the rollers slightly (an inch at most) but no matter how hard I turn it, the rollers wont go far enough to lock onto the wheels. All help gratefully received, thanks guys

There may be a simple fix to your steady problem. We had the same problem and it turned out that there is a pin that goes through the end of the big threaded worm bolt thingy, and the pin stops it exiting the channel thence allowing the steady to wind down. On ours, This pin had snapped and disappeared. If you can get under the van safely and the assembly is not too covered with muck and grease you will be able to compare the non functioning steady with a functioning one and see the difference. Once the problem was identified ( not by us, we are rubbish at this sort of thing), it is a very quick fix.
Hope it is that simple for you
Mel
P.s. welcome to the forum.