Please everyone check your wheel bolts and nuts are tightened to the correct torque before each trip.
I saw a caravan today South bound on the M3 that had lost the nearside wheel ( the usual one to come off).
This is obviously dangerous but also upsetting as whether you are holiday or homeward bound its an awful situation to be in.
This is only one of the many checks to be carried out but so often overlooked .
Unfortunately in the present circumstances many people are buying caravans with little knowledge of the pitfalls or legalities. I am certainly no expert but some years ago I searched around for, and eventually found, a decent little caravan.
The first thing I did (having towed it home with my heart in my mouth) was to have new tyres put on it.
I am ashamed now, to say that I didn't have any other checks done but felt that I would know if anything wasn't right.
It may well be that the person towing the caravan as described above had little knowledge of the basic safeguards or, like me, had little choice really but to tow it home and sort out any problems that arose after that.
I endorse the OP's comments... a caravan needs to be roadworthy in the same way as a car. Although there is no legal requirement to have a caravan checked over, a deflated tyre or some other defect can cause not only the owner, but other road users, a sack full of problems.
Look after your caravan and it will look after you and don't drive a second hand caravan home until you are sure it is safe to do so!
If it does not occur to a caravanner to check their wheel nuts then it probably won’t occur to check tyre pressures or anything else probably. So yes. Worth posting about. It might prevent an accident if it gives somebody a lightbulb moment.
Thanks for your comments.
Yes it's only 1 of many checks. Tyre pressures, tyre age and condition, lights , nose weight....and the list goes on.
It's just sad to see someone's holiday and possessions wrecked in the side of the road.
It's very scary when a wheel comes off! I know as it happened to me shortly after the caravan had been serviced.... which I'm told is not unusual.
Any caravan can loose a wheel if they aren't tightened correctly. Particularly from the nearside as the direction of travel assists the undoing of the stud.
Bailey did have a run of detachments a few years back but have overcome this with a different type of wheel stud.
Its not necessarily human error. Our stub axle broke causing our wheel to become detached, fortunately we were informed before it actually detached on M6. It had only been serviced 2 months previously and no sign of the fault.
------------- Jean
Sometimes a little rain must fall before you reach a rainbow.
The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you finish the work.
Quote: Originally posted by iank01 on 20/7/2021
Was it a Bailey caravan as they were known for doing this?
Bailey don't make the chassis and wheel hubs, they are bought in.
Just that they had the bad batch and got called for it, which is what happens. There where other affected at the time, but not as bad.
You normally have to change the WSL studs every 5 years or so anyway, esp if near the coast as they do rust. The ones on my Discovery 4 need changing now, as they did on the Discovery 3 i had when they got to a certain age.
They all have wear with road use. It's a case of keeping an eye on them.
As for checking them, i have the WSL Kit that came when i last did the nuts on the MK2 Barcelona. Tyre gauge, pressure gauge, torque wrench, good buy direct from WSL.