slight play pull handles

tonyd1 · Jun 25, 2005

Hi all,

Spent this afternoon going over our first caravan (Elddis) Shamal. The only item to give me concern was discovering that both rear pull handles are slightly loose. One a little more than the other. Oddly enough there is another Elddis XL model parked in the next bay to ours and(I'm sure the owner won't have minded me checking) it also had slightly loose handles both located in the same place.One far worse than the other.

Do I have anything to worry about? I hope not as we bought it privately. I have gone right through the van with a damp tester and the only damp reading was in the area of the floor vent near to the sink. I kept the cupboard cover open for a while, allowing air to circulate and a later check showed a clear reading. I presume it was condensation.

Is there some sort of sealant I can put around the handles to make them less likely to create a water ingress point?

Any advice would be most welcome.

Lutz · Jun 26, 2005

The reason for the play need not necessarily be damp. Maybe it's just a setting process in the bolt attachment. Depending on the design of the handle attachment area on the caravan, perhaps the wood has given way slightly under the torque applied to the bolts. I'd tighten up the bolts and check again after a few months.

tonyd1 · Jun 26, 2005

Hi Lutz,

Thanks for your reply.I was hoping someone might suggest that, puts my mind at ease a little. Trouble is how do I get at the bolts? There is nothing on the outside, so i suppose it would mean stripping out the rear interior panelling. As I've only just bought her I certainly at this stage don't have the confidence to tackle that job, in any event I think the missus would go off her trolley.

As soon as the towbar is fitted to my car(been waiting a week) I will take it to my local service agent, who has serviced it in the past and ask him to take a look. I reckon it's better to pay out a few quid now than wait until a real problem occurs. Some of the damp I have seen on some of the postings by people who show photographs of their step by step repairs, gives a beginner and new buyer like me nightmares.

Regards and thanks once again for your reply.

Chris4 · Jun 26, 2005

Don't know how much your caravan weighs. I had Crusader Typhoon that weighed in a around 1.5 tonnes. My front grab handles became very loose. I had them tightened on it's first service. When you think about it there's an awful lot of caravan attached to a skinny bit of glass fibre, a bit of wood and possibly a thin strip of metal connecting the two in between. An old caravanner said to me that you only ever push a caravan, never pull it. Pull handles they ain't. I now have an even heavier caravan and can safely safe I've never touched the grab handles. Once you've tightened up the offending nuts, put a bit of silicon sealant or something similar on them. They will not then come undone.

tonyd1 · Jun 26, 2005

Hi Chris,

Fully laden 1150 kgs. Unless my eyes are deceiving me, taking the handles off from the outside is not possible. I don't want to disturb the inner panels myself so I will ask the service agent to do it for me. Better to play safe.

Thanks for your reply, and I certainly won't use the handles to pull.

Regards, Tonyd.

chenzhen · May 19, 2016

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