A bit of a predicament that is driving me nuts. Hope you’re sitting comfortably...
We take delivery next week of our new(ish) twin axle Compass Rallye 634, MTPLM 1900kg. We keep the van at home and to get it on the drive I need to get it through 90 degrees and move it over the dropped kerb (about 3cm kerb height), up an incline (footpath) that is about a 1 in 4 (25%) and onto the level drive. The incline is only about 2 metres long from level road to level drive. At the moment we have on our existing van a great set of Reich movers which spins the van with ease and gets it onto the drive with no effort.
I know that the TA van is a different kettle of fish, but here is my dilemma. I really do not want to pay £1600 - £2000 for a set of AWD movers just to get the van on and off my drive. I also thought don't want to pay £1000 for TA movers that move 2 wheels only, only to find that they are not man enough for the job and I have wasted a grand! Currently I am looking at the Truma TE and the Royal Atlas. They seem to be the only 2-motor sets that will lug 1900Kg. The Powrtouch twin is only up to 1700kg. Then do I front or rear fit the movers?
I take the van on to the drive rear first, and to do so have to drop the jockey wheel right down so that the rear of the van just clears the apex where the path meets the drive, which is why I can't reverse on as the nose of the van would be higher and the rear would bottom out. Does any of this make sense? :) So my question, would either of these do the job of just getting the van on and off the drive, or am I stuck with the AWD option? How have you folks solved similar probs?
spend the extra and go the awd route , you then know its right and will handle whatever gets thrown in your direction.
we had a powrtouch ta that drove the front wheels on a senator wyoming and it was a pain in the ass.had to get the front so low to avoid the rear wheels scrubbing and it was painfully slow to turn the van in a confined area.it was one of the reasons we got rid pretty quick as it was a nightmare holding traffic up outside our house as we struggled to turn it
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If you want to climb the kerb and turn on a tight radious with your MTPLN you will have to bite the bullet and go for the Reich 4WD setup. It is far cheaper in the long run I tried a single axle system of another make on our Buccaneer and they were a complete waste of time when it came to spinning the van and getting up kerbs.
------------- Regards
Terry Birch
Our tourer days are over and we have moved on to a Hobby Motorhome
Just a question but can't you get your dealer to take the set off the old caravan and put them on the new? When we bought our new caravan the dealer told us that when it came to selling this one he would transfer our motor mover onto the new caravan
Thanks everyone... all bad news though, the 2-motor jobs will not be up for it if I read things correctly. Why then do they advertise and sell these things as TA movers when they are simply not up to the job? OH sees these things advertised and rightly so thinks that they are capable of doing what is needed, and thinks those selling the AWD ones are 'at it' to make more cash out of the desperate caravanner!
Ashwellgirl, I see where you are coming from, but existing van (sold privately with movers) is a single axle and the replacement is a double and apparently the way the movers work is different. The new van is beautiful and what we have always wanted. All our boxes are ticked but these movers are driving me mad!! Is it all worth it?
We have the Truma TE on our van (1900kg) and it does what we need it to do. we have to get the van nose first off the road onto the drive, but the drive is wide (about 8 metres) so plenty of room to manoeuvre. Our slope is only 1 in 10.
if you have a 1 in 4 slope, I think you would be safer with the 4 wheel one. Have seen a Reich in action, it was very good.
Only reason we didn't go for it was the weight, about 66kg compared to the 33kg of the 2 wheel models.
Quote: Originally posted by jennifernn on 23/4/2010
We have the Truma TE on our van (1900kg) and it does what we need it to do. we have to get the van nose first off the road onto the drive, but the drive is wide (about 8 metres) so plenty of room to manoeuvre. Our slope is only 1 in 10.
if you have a 1 in 4 slope, I think you would be safer with the 4 wheel one. Have seen a Reich in action, it was very good.
Only reason we didn't go for it was the weight, about 66kg compared to the 33kg of the 2 wheel models.
Get your dealer to apply for an updated plate for your caravan, it costs about £20-00 and they will take it up to 2000kg
------------- Regards
Terry Birch
Our tourer days are over and we have moved on to a Hobby Motorhome
We were also looking at motor movers for our TA. I liked the idea of a single mover but when we spoke to the manufacturers it was a case of it will move it - back and forward up to 1800kg but isn't really suitable for slewing the van - to do that you are really going to need a 4 mover set up. I feel that we could possibly work with the 2 motor set up but it isn't going to be for those who need to manouvre the van.
Quote: Originally posted by jennifernn on 23/4/2010We have the Truma TE on our van (1900kg) and it does what we need it to do. we have to get the van nose first off the road onto the drive, but the drive is wide (about 8 metres) so plenty of room to manoeuvre. Our slope is only 1 in 10.
if you have a 1 in 4 slope, I think you would be safer with the 4 wheel one. Have seen a Reich in action, it was very good.
Only reason we didn't go for it was the weight, about 66kg compared to the 33kg of the 2 wheel models.
Get your dealer to apply for an updated plate for your caravan, it costs about £20-00 and they will take it up to 2000kg
We have already had the plate uprated from 1815 to 1900 kg, which is as high as Swift will go on this van. This covers our Mover, Air Con, and various other fitted extras, leaving our payload intact.
We were also looking at motor movers for our TA. I liked the idea of a single mover but when we spoke to the manufacturers it was a case of it will move it - back and forward up to 1800kg but isn't really suitable for slewing the van - to do that you are really going to need a 4 mover set up. I feel that we could possibly work with the 2 motor set up but it isn't going to be for those who need to manouvre the van.
There is a knack to using the 2 wheel ones on a twin, the more you practise the tighter you can get it to turn.
Each time he puts it back on the drive OH does it a little bit faster.