Wheel arch draught excluder

[Thingy]

................................or whatever its proper name is.

These have to be one of the biggest bugbears of caravanning, how to get a good finish on that thing.

What I do is this. If it has press studs, drill out the studs, easy done, put in eyelets and simply attach suckers bought from ebay for a quid. Simples. Been doing it for years, works a treat.

Draught excluder. I use bungee cord along its entire length and pegged at either end. I simple make small loops with cable ties, pass the bungee through them, peg one end, stretch it out and peg the other. You wouldnt believe how neat and tidy it looks.

 

[swpostie]

I can follow the first part but not the second!

Are you talking about the skirt?

If so, don't you just slide it into the channel?

 

[Thingy]

Yep, the skirt, I do of course slide it into the chanel, but instead of using the pegging points along the bottom, I use bungee pegged at either end of skirt. The pegging eyelets I feed cable ties through to make loops for the bungee to pass through. The bungee runs the whole length of the skirt.

 

[pensioner]

I tried several ways to fix that thingy,,none worked totally.

However I saw an ad in one of the caravanning mags,,not sure which for a gadget that fits over the whole area and is held on by a strap.

Just waiting,,as I write for it to arrive,,it comes in single or twin axle versions.

Not sure if I'm allowed to give the web address,,but if you go onto Amazon and type in Draught Stoppa you'll see it.

 

[Thingy]

Pensioner, I have one of those somewhere at the back of one of the sheds. One of the reasons I use the method I use now. Sorry to say, I didnt like those at all.

 

[swpostie]

Yep, the skirt, I do of course slide it into the chanel, but instead of using the pegging points along the bottom, I use bungee pegged at either end of skirt. The pegging eyelets I feed cable ties through to make loops for the bungee to pass through. The bungee runs the whole length of the skirt.

Ah! My draught skirt doesn't have pegging points!

 

[pensioner]

Oh dear,,,have I bought a "pig in a poke",,,,hope not.

 

[gravesyt]

Swpostie mine didn't either so got myself a eyelet kit £5 and 10 toggles with elastic cord does the job as for the wheel arch cover I am open to any suggestions as they are a pain. Thingy any pic's should start as topic "how do you do yours" wheel arch cover with pic anything is better than what I am doing :woohoo:

 

[Thingy]

Ask, and ye shall receive.

This is the one I did on the Kampa. On this one I had some cable ties with a butterfly attached and they did the job perfectly. The Isabella one I have just done had three press studs. Some of the suckers on Ebay have a dome on the back that is almost a perfect fit for the eyelets and they didnt need fixing, just pushing in. Ill go take some pics of that one too.

 

[gravesyt]

very nice and tidy spot on I am impressed mine looks like Nora batty stocking more wrinkles than a new born :woohoo: I have seen them suction cup type might try them cheer

 

[Thingy]

This is the one that had press studs. Isabella type. In the last pic, you can clearly see the dome on the back and its a perfect fit for those eyelets. The skirt is currently rolled up in the awning so Im afraid that will have to wait.

 

[Craigyoung]

Bet he's had the tape measure out to measure the same height all the way round after tips off thd show !

 

[Thingy]

Bet he's had the tape measure out to measure the same height all the way round after tips off thd show !

Tape measure. Bit crude that, I used a Vernier height guage for accuracy. :lol:

 

[00buzz]

I use the aforementioned sucker hooks and a couple of bulldog clips to grab the skirt......mrs buzz hates it but at least it works....

 

[Craigyoung]

Bet he's had the tape measure out to measure the same height all the way round after tips off thd show !

Tape measure. Bit crude that, I used a Vernier height guage for accuracy. :lol:

Apologies for the insult , ours has a channel to slide into and holes where I can put ground pegs into to stay it .

Craig .

 

[Thingy]

ours has a channel to slide into and holes where I can put ground pegs into to stay it .

Now Im really confused. I guess youre talking about the skirt, we are all talking about the wheel arch bit. Dont fancy hammering pegs into my wheel arch. :dry: :dry: :dry: :dry:

As for the skirt, of course we have a rail, and pegging points, but the bungee holds it beautifully aligned and only two pegs are needed.

 

[Craigyoung]

Oh the arch !! someone gave me a Baileys arch cover but was tatty so I chucked it !

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi Thingy
I struggled for years and eventually made my own, take a piece of plywood and cut to shape to fit inside wheelarch, attach a pair of hinges to bottom and fix length of 2x1 to the hinges, drill hole each end of the 2x1 so you can peg down to ground. Fix length of figure of eight plastic that you use to connect wheel cover to skirt along the plywood at level of skirt, mine is painted white with Coachman badge. To use insert in wheel arch,fold 2x1 down onto ground which lifts the cover up to give neat fit in wheel arch, peg down through holes. Feed the skirt through as usual and it will hold the cover in place, to remove simply reverse the above proceedure. All that shows when in use is white flat infill in the wheelarch.

 

[Mel]

Oh dear,,,have I bought a "pig in a poke",,,,hope not.

No. I have got one. Does the job, easy to use, looks neat. Overpriced for what it is (piece of corrugated plastic with Velcro and a plastic strip to fix the skirt to), but for me it is preferable to any diy job cos we are cr#p at diy.
Mel

 

[Thingy]

Woodsieboy, that sounds like a right piece of engineering, Ill stick wi mi suckers. B)

 

[colin-yorkshire]

Woodsieboy, that sounds like a right piece of engineering, Ill stick wi mi suckers. B)

yeah I did the same as Woodsieboy piece of ply wood painted white made to the shape of the wheel arch, piece of awning rail across the middle to slide the skirt in, only difference was instead of using a lump of wood to peg it down I drilled two 1/4in holes one either end, and pegged it down with a couple of those "r pegs. draught skirt once threaded through was pegged down with normal wire pegs through the eyelets I put in the skirt. although once we started using one of those breathable mats it just sat over the skirt and did not need pegging down.

 

[Beehpee]

I picked up the new (to us) caravan yesterday and when looking through all the bits and pieces that came with it I found a homemade wooden affair that I had no idea what it could be, having now read through this post I'm glad I never chucked it as I'm fairly sure it's one of the wooded wheel arch covers that a couple of people mention in this post, not sure how it attaches but I'll be checking it properly later, might well be a useful bit of kit.

BP

 

[gravesyt]

reading this tread has give me some insight what can be done with my wheel arch problem I like the wood idea. But instead of using wood I have a sheet of fibre glass board which I will cut to shape and as for fixing it to the arch on the underside of the of the wheel arch itself theirs a lip so going to see if I can get some clips that I can attach to it then on the bottom of the fibre glass glue a figure 8 strip to give it strength and position it so the skirt will run straight a true.Can only But try

 

[Thingy]

Would velcro do the trick?

 

[gravesyt]

as a last resort but just checked the man cave a and found some spring clips off the back a old pic frame which will hook under the arch and hold it firmly in place it's needs to be held firmly in place due to the gust of wind that can come from under the van and with the skirt attach so their could be a fair bit of movement but with 5 of these clips hopefully will do the job . so will pop down to the van with a piece of cardboard to make a template of the arch hopefully it will work out nice and tidy as yours is