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On my old caravan the Alko stabiliser handle got so close to the brake lever that i bent it over to one side a bit as i thought it had the chance of being knocked on .
It also had what i would call a hair trigger , lift it slightly and it came shooting up , the cause seemed to be that the handbrake lever was getting caught on the fairing ( not because i'd bent the lever over as i'd only bent it slightly ) , instead of being fully off it was touching the front of the fairing slot , i ended up cutting a small amount of the fairing away to sort it .

atb

Wizard

Greetings Wizard and Vectratrot.

The breakaway cable wasn't the culprit because I ensured that the loop was tight around the towball with plenty of slack(It's something I do)

More than enough people have commented on the shock through the commercial chassis plus the 'ordinary'towball which I think combined to put the brake on.

As stated in my original comment, this is one for everyone to remember.

Quote: Originally posted by emmitdb on 29/5/2010

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Greetings Again,

 

David, to half answer your question I am Breakdown Insured by 'More Than' and they use an army of private breakdown firms ranging from the first one which had the latest trucks etc.

The second firm was a one man band in deepest darkest Somerset (no offence intended to those on 'the level') but I don't wish to name them as the claim as far as the Breakdown supplier may not be over and I haven't got my excess back nor the cost of transporting the 'van to the repairers.

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I just wondered if the more caravan orientated service as provide by either of the Clubs would be better prepared in such circumstances as AlKo hitches have been fairly common on caravans now for some years. I suppose it could be worth checking.

David 

Another thing to upset you all:

Condition 13 of the Bailey Warranty says "That private cars or 4x4 vehicles substituting as private cars shall have only towed the tourer". So, strictly speaking, if you come home on a tow truck, you have invalidated your caravan's warranty. I suspect most manufacturers are the same.

This is probably to do with the fact that a tow trucks suspension is so hard it causes damage to the caravan body, causing cracked panels and leaks.

I would never allow my caravan to be towed by a truck for this reason.

My wife, who will not tow the caravan, despite my best efforts, has clear instructions that, if ever anything happens to me on holiday, she needs to get a friend to use our Jeep to get the caravan home.  If the Jeep is broken, I will arrange for a friend with a 4 x 4 to tow the caravan.

Only in the most desperate of circumstances will it be attached to a truck.  Certainly not for a routine breakdown.

Jim

Greetings Greendemon,

I know what you're saying but I don't "rountinely' breakdown!!!

Perhaps a poor choice of words.  I just meant a normal breakdown without any of the "left field" problems that frequently attend these occasions.

Jim