swift's new woodless construction

[Dustydog]

Anyone any more news on Swift's new structure? I've seen the brief article. Looks promising.

 

[Sproket]

Dusty ...
Was this the article that you have seen ?

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Sir Sproket
No. I saw something on PCv and also CT.

I was just wondering how , from and engineeering point of view it compares with Elddis and Bailey

 

[Surfer]

Hi Sir Sproket
No. I saw something on PCv and also CT.

I was just wondering how , from and engineeering point of view it compares with Elddis and Bailey

Why can't the body be constructed as a one piece fibreglass shell which would then make it leak proof generally or would it be too heavy. After all many boats still have a nice shiny exterior after many years in the water. Any internal frames can be bonded to the inner skin and covered with fibreglass.

 

[RayS]

Surfer - they used to be. In my early caravanning days you could buy a completely grp shell on a rolling chassis and fit it out yourself - but this of course was before the days when otherwise intelligent people are not supposed to handle gas and mains electricity and use sharp objects.

 

[forestgump]

the new adria has pannles that can be removed front and back if damaged so no more total replacement for front and back pannles

 

[otherclive]

If PURe is such a well established construction method as stated in Swifts press release its darned hard to find anything about it on Google or Bing!

 

[ProfJohnL]

I am certain the removal of wood or any other material that rots from the construction has to be a good thing, and if it presents a weight saving or improved structural strength also that's even better, But the problem with caravans is not so much the materials used, but the way they are put together. There are examples of older caravans where water ingress has not been a problem, so the traditional materials are still structurally sound. The problems invariably arise because the jointing systems used are not correctly assembled and they allow water in.

With the new systems on offer from all three major manufacturers, there is little doubt about the water resistance of the panels, but its the joints that are still the big unknown. How will they stand up to the rigours of the UK roads and weather.

So until the new systems have seen 5 or more years of real caravanning, their reliability in terms of resistance to water ingress and body movement when towing remains to be seen.

Bailey and Elddis have a few years lead over Swift, so we will begin to see if their systems are better than the traditional methods in a couple of years or so.

I sincerely hope they are vastly superior, as they have had 20 to 30 years using customers as guinea pigs, to understand the problems and design reliability into their construction methods.

I'm still very sceptical as until they manage to de skill the construction process completely so literally the village idiot cannot assemble it incorrectly, then we are still left in the hands of a work force whose motivation is units through the door rather than taking a pride in what they do with bonuses paid on maintenance of quality (e.g. right first time) rather than quantity.

 

[Raywood]

From what I have read they have simply replaced the wooden frame with a composite material. The construction seems otherwise the same so all it may mean is that it may still leak but it wil not rot the frame. There is other wood there though so I am still wondering if it is all it should be.