Message Forums

Hi Tony B, All caravans will flex to some degree, as the van body is bolted to the chassis in at least 6 places, 4 of them usually at corner steadies, and near the wheels, if the chassis flexes because of the over hang each side of the axel, you will get flexing in the van body at the extreme ends of the body, as well as the roof above the wheels, ( it maybe the cause of vans needing to be re sealed, pulling and compression of all the van joints), I would have thought that older were as susceptible to flexing just the same as the new ones, new ones probably more so if there is a longer distance from the wheel to the ends of van, the bigger the distance the more it will flex, a contributing factor could be, the weight of end kitchens, bath rooms, bed rooms, that maybe another points to consider in your theory.

it is a known fact 2004 2005 2006 and before these dates the panels were suspect on  many caravans.most of the cracks appeared where the front panel joined the roof,front and back.avondale imho went bust because of it.the makers of the panels also fell to the wall.i think the poorly fitting panels and the stress factor caused the cracks.the panels are now made by below                                                                            .unballanced wheels can add to the shaking of the body.pulling and pushing on the handles does not help (i try to avoid this) because all the panel is flexed each time this is done and if its stressed something has to give.i shut my eyes when our large friendly warden says can we take it off and push it back onto the pitch.just my opinion mind.type in (cracks) in search and lots come up.

    www.big-bear.co.uk

Another problem is that of pulling on the caravan handles.  I think the advice is always to push on them to move the van.  Even so, this is still bound to cause some stress.  Perhaps those who use their mover for all movements of the van may assist a reduction in the risk of such cracks.  However, the greatest amount of stresses that force the van to flex must be those produced by the varying conditions of road surfaces. 

Because caravan designs change almost yearly, including the basic shells, I doubt whether any long-term investigation has been carried out to establish the true cause of cracking.  Also, if cracking occurs after expiration of the warranty, and beyond a "respectable" length of time, are the manufacturers likely to be particularly concerned about such faults? 

Bertie.

Unbalanced wheels and no shock absorbers,that,s my theory and also it only seems to happen on the larger single axle vans

Quote: Originally posted by michael on 27/1/2012

---

it is a known fact 2004 2005 2006 and before these dates the panels were suspect on  many caravans.most of the cracks appeared where the front panel joined the roof,front and back.avondale imho went bust because of it.the makers of the panels also fell to the wall.i think the poorly fitting panels and the stress factor caused the cracks.the panels are now made by below                                                                            .unballanced wheels can add to the shaking of the body.pulling and pushing on the handles does not help (i try to avoid this) because all the panel is flexed each time this is done and if its stressed something has to give.i shut my eyes when our large friendly warden says can we take it off and push it back onto the pitch.just my opinion mind.type in (cracks) in search and lots come up.

    www.big-bear.co.uk

 

 

Post last edited on 27/01/2012 00:17:02

---

Hi, that’s a good reason for using a mover

Our 2006 Ranger 470/4 needed a new front panel because from memory of a problem with the bonding joining the front panel to the roof.