Dollywobbler's Caravan Capers

[dollywobbler]

Gave it a wash. Came up lovely! Though judging by my bucket, quite a lot of the paint simply washed off...

[dollywobbler]

Discovered some leaks...

 

Shame I didn't get a shot of me sticking my head and one arm out through the roof vent. Must have looked amusing. May try a re-enactment later when Mrs DW is around. I think another dose of crack cure may be needed yet!

[mat_the_cat]

Gave it a wash. Came up lovely! Though judging by my bucket, quite a lot of the paint simply washed off...

 

Road train?

[Alexg]

Looking almost respectable. Nice one.

[UltraWomble]

+1 for CatPain Tolleys - Ive just used some on the Almeras rear lamp clusters to stop a leak into the boot without the faff of having to pull them off and masticing them.

Used it on my vans in the past and its very good at "creeping" into small cracks and bunging leaks up - keep an eye on the leaks though as the van flexes when you tow they can re-appear. Repeat treatment is recommended.

[oldcars]

Oh shit. "You are the winning bidder!" £222 on a caravan that has an interior like this.

 

Even comes with the original brochure. It's a 1981 Abbey GT. SPORTY.

 

Even comes with a brochure so you can pretend it looks like this.

 

Reality

 

Me and Mrs DW in the near future.

 

Brilliant. I guess I need to get me some towing mirrors. 

Those trims are class, well bought.

[oldcars]

All I've done is drag it home. And we don't have any scales. If anything, adding more nose weight did stabilise things and improve the ride. Moving the awning and spare wheel forward did the trick. I've had it before with hydro-Cits though. They just can't float as well as they'd like to when towing. I did notice that the caravan seemed a little nose-up at times. That doesn't strike me as ideal. No adjustment on car or caravan though.

At a guess you will need a lot at the front of the as you have a end kitchen, but best to get the nose weight spot on. The 75 was grim when it was not spot on towing the 87 Adria.

[Ratdat]

 

 

 

Regarding nose weight, don't forget that the aerodynamic drag on this, especially with an old caravan behind something like an XM will effect it. The drag will in effect try to tip the caravan rearwards which reduces the nose weight considerably when on the move.

 

In theory the XM should be a very good tow car as it has a long wheelbase, low rear overhang and a decent kerb weight.

[vulgalour]

Noticeable improvement in ride on the video too after you move the awning forward.  I'd offer you my WINDSLAMMER but it doesn't fit your gutters.  You can make them by clamping a frame to a roof rack bar and bolting some ply onto it, I've seen that done back in the day.

[dollywobbler]

Yes, I was interested to note that too. Weight distribution is obviously very important, and the bounce had departed when I moved stuff.

 

Too nice to work in the house. Need some way of getting wi-fi outside.

[dollywobbler]

I'm working in my caravan! Only one bar of Wi Fi signal, but it seems to be enough. Stops me slacking and watching videos...

[oldcars]

Noticeable improvement in ride on the video too after you move the awning forward.  I'd offer you my WINDSLAMMER but it doesn't fit your gutters.  You can make them by clamping a frame to a roof rack bar and bolting some ply onto it, I've seen that done back in the day.

The windslammer would make that outfit, right back to the 90s.

[Noel Tidybeard]

I'm working in my caravan! Only one bar of Wi Fi signal, but it seems to be enough. Stops me slacking and watching videos...

 

try repositioning the wifi router as some can be a bit directional i'm led to believe

[dollywobbler]

Courtesy of the brochure, here are some photos showing just how fantastic caravanning is.

 

Firstly, Photoshop is older than you think.

 

You can live like a King, thanks to Baked Beans!

 

Your family will be astonished by the crazy world of the jockey wheel!

 

And of course, everyone knows that a caravan means SEXY TIMES.

 

Ours doesn't have a shower. If it did, we'd use a shower curtain PROPERLY.

[Six-cylinder]

So what year is your Caravan and in some weird flashback mode what brand new car would you choose to tow it with from that year?

[dollywobbler]

So what year is your Caravan and in some weird flashback mode what brand new car would you choose to tow it with from that year?

 

1981. So, a Granny Mk2 estate (Ghia obvs) would be fitting. A Series 1 CX would be ideal for the job, but there'd be a horrible clash between super-future car styling and 'box with a stripe on it' caravan. A Volvo 245 in some hideous shade of green or yellow then.

[Six-cylinder]

1981. So, a Granny Mk2 estate (Ghia obvs) would be fitting. A Series 1 CX would be ideal for the job, but there'd be a horrible clash between super-future car styling and 'box with a stripe on it' caravan. A Volvo 245 in some hideous shade of green or yellow then.

In 1981 I owned a MK2 Granada (Mine was a 1979 2.3GL manual saloon) so I guess a Granada would have been my choice, in spite of my farther having a GS from about 1975 a CX did scared me.

 

Update - turns out I was not that posh it was a Aug 1978 car and has not been taxed since 1991.

[Stroller133]

Nose weight of the van should be 10% of the laden weight. So around 85 kilo for yours. Check your cars tow hitch weight is sufficient. Borrow a set of bathroom scales and put a bit of wood on them , to even out weight. Then get caravan tow hitch level over scales and measure and cut a bit of wood to fit into tow hitch and onto scales et voilà a scale. The nose weight on the van is important so do that and then trial and error moving stuff round. Don't forget to check again if you pit a full gas bottle and other crap, sorry essential equipment in the front locker.

Definitely not current advice to be 10% of the weight,I think the advice (maybe even law) is a minimum of 4% or 25kg, but in any case should not exceed the maximum of either the rating of van chasis, tow bar or car. Most clubs etc advise between 5-7% of caravan weight.

 

For example our van has a max weight of 1300kg so it should be at least 54kg. The alko chasis has a max of 100kg, but the towbar and car are only 75kg (in practice tow bars are rated the same as car as they are most model specific. Therefore I need to get my nose weight to between 54 and 75.

 

Saying that the XM appears to have a max nose weight of 110kg which is quite generous, so as long the van is rated high enough you could go to 10% in your case.

[Stroller133]

Nope, you lost me at "Definitely".

 

Ben

Why? My concern was someone with a heavier caravan could really read the 10% advice and break the law. On that basis my caravan would need a nose weight of 130kg - way in excess of both the caravan chassis (100kg) and the car and towbar (75kg). Therefore in my opinion "definitely" not advisable.

I did also point out it could work on Dollywobbler's set up.

[taxi paul]

Ok fine sir i stand corrected. The recommended ratio is around 7% of your caravans loaded weight. In theory has long has you don't exceed the cars towing weight or caravan max hitch weight . Then the nose weight is better heavier than lighter. I have read a bit lately about vans that are very nose heavy before you even start to load them with anything. But these are new and around £15,000 so it wont bother me.

[dollywobbler]

Well, we have been caravanning at long last. In a field and everything.

 

Nice to be in something that doesn't flap around in a gentle breeze, and while it's not what you'd call watertight, it kept us dry and cosy - the gas heater proved very, very useful indeed! It was hovering about freezing as we came out of the pub last night.

 

Bed is delightfully firm and comfortable.

 

And that's about it for good points. Otherwise, it just makes driving the XM rather frustrating - especially as you can no longer just amble around in top gear all of the time. Some hills needed third, and the cooling fans were actually necessary. You can't really hoon as much either, though we rarely seemed to have cars behind us, and even caught some up, so I clearly wasn't living up to the stereotype too much.

 

In conclusion, I think the problem is that we'd really just rather not go away in the first place. It's still a right faff, especially at this time of year (because the house takes so long to warm up if we've been away for a few days). The caravan destroys the enjoyment of driving the XM, but also adds danger - I'm very worried about stability in crosswinds at motorway speeds having only recently seen a wobble box that had wobbled too much.

 

It has been an interesting experiment, but we'll always want to actually attend events in the 2CV, so it's not like the caravan was ever going to be a long term solution.

 

Still quite a few events to go to this year, but I think the overall conclusion is that we just can't be arsed. Shitefest will be attended, of course. Just not sure how. Maybe I should start getting Shiply quotes.

[mouseflakes]

DW, thanks for confirming everything I always imagined about caravanning. Caravan ownership seems a massive (year-round) palaver in order to enjoy the odd holiday where every aspect seems compromised. Still, those old caravans look ace.

[Captain Furious]

I'm also a caravanist, well, kind of, I use it for festivals and car shows but don't go on holiday in it

 

Generally, the bigger and heavier they are the better they tow. Mine is 18ft and 1400KG all up (though possibly slightly more with a full 3 day beer load on board) and it tows like a dream. I have a stabiliser but I don't know how much difference it makes, more of a peace of mind thing. Load the awning between the front seats and everything else over the axle, never checked the noseweight, it just seems happy like that.

 

Was previously tugging it with a 2.5 V6 Mondeo, which coped reasonably well, not tried it with the Granada yet, theoretically it should be better because it has more power, but that's if the auto box doesn't explode

 

[Dave_Q]

 

?

[mat_the_cat]

The caravan destroys the enjoyment of driving the XM, but also adds danger - I'm very worried about stability in crosswinds at motorway speeds having only recently seen a wobble box that had wobbled too much.

 

I actually quite like towing things, at least if I don't have to be somewhere quickly. It somehow makes the trip more of an adventure, trundling along with my 'rig'.

 

If I don't get the trailer sorted in time for Shitefest, maybe I could tow your caravan down with the Stellar...? Right era of car for it!

[dollywobbler]

I actually quite like towing things, at least if I don't have to be somewhere quickly. It somehow makes the trip more of an adventure, trundling along with my 'rig'.

 

If I don't get the trailer sorted in time for Shitefest, maybe I could tow your caravan down with the Stellar...? Right era of car for it!

 

Hold on, would I have to pay for the fuel bill?!

 

 

Landscape note_20160501_193645_01.jpg ?

 

Just brilliant.

[Noel Tidybeard]

simp

 

 

Still quite a few events to go to this year, but I think the overall conclusion is that we just can't be arsed. Shitefest will be attended, of course. Just not sure how. Maybe I should start getting Shiply quotes.

 

simples- the expert tows the wobbly with the xm....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....and you drive down in elly

[dollywobbler]

Elly stands no chance of being ready for Shitefest I'm afraid. Work hasn't started yet! (should do on the 16th)

[johngarty]

Total Winna car and van combo sir !