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 Topic: Burning rubber smell
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28/9/2023 at 12:26pm
Location: London
Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524
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That's quite a vague complaint to diagnose remotely! And no specific details of either van or car (petrol/diesel, manual/auto etc.) - multiple potential sources, and we could be here a while ticking off all the options one by one!
All of the above suggestions are pretty valid.
But let's have a go at narrowing down potential sources
1) Have you ever previously towed with set up without the smell problem and this is a new recent problem, or is this a new to you set up always with this problem?
2) Is this smell noticeable in the car when driving, or only when you step out of the car after travelling?
3) *Do you inflate BOTH car and caravan tyres to recommended (PUBLISHED in user manuals as opposed to other 'advice'!) pressures, it's usual to inflate car tyres to the higher 'fully loaded' pressure when towing.
4) *Have you weighed the noseweight of the caravan to ensure you are not overloading the car tow bar/rear axle? When hitched up, does the caravan have a SLIGHT nose down attitude, and the car remain relatively level with only SLIGHT tail down stance?
5) *Have you weighed the caravan (or weighed and totalled content weights) to ensure you haven't overloaded it beyond it's MTPLM. Potential for caravan wheels to be rubbing if suspension too overloaded.
6) *Are you sure the tyres fitted to caravan are the correct size/load rating (caravan tyres are normally HD commercial vehicle rated ones, NOT ordinary car tyres although the dia and width can be the same).
* Underinflated/overloaded tyres will run quite hot and the 'rubber' smell can then be quite noticeable. They would likely be uncomfortably hot to the touch and have a brownish surface colouration if getting too hot.
7) Is the car using (burning) engine oil, or giving very poor fuel consumption figures? Indicative of smell coming from exhaust pipe.
8) Is any oil leaking from engine/gearbox and getting on exhaust, or blowing from crankcase ventilation system (normally not vented to atmosphere, but sucked back into engine air inlet)?
9) Bit of an outsider, but is all the tow bar/caravan wiring OK, or is any of it overheating?
10) Does the breakaway cable have sufficient slack so that it is NOT applying caravan brakes during normal towing (tightish turns especially).
11) Do you have a ATC stability system fitted to your van, and does the system do it's auto check routine OK and finish with a solid green light on the indicator? I have seen them fail and lock brakes on!
12) Caravan handbrakes are not unknown to fail to release fully/correctly and bind during travel, are the caravan wheels excessively hot after towing? Is the caravan free moving when manoeuvring by hand?
13) Are the motor mover (if fitted) rollers completely clear of tyres at all times?
14) Is the caravan chassis/suspension all in good order, not unheard of for chassis/axle to be damaged and misalignment causing rubbing/scrubbing of tyres.
Common practice unless tyres have remote temperature sensing via any TPMS, to wander round outfit and check all tyre/wheel temps are comfortable to the touch whenever you stop on a journey, easy check for underinflated tyres/binding brakes, and can prevent problems on the road at inconvenient time/places.
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via mobile 27/9/2023 at 5:04pm
