"one wheel on my wagon"
This story happened on: 29/11/2012
We took our van to Holland and Belgium during the summer had a wonderful time, I would recommend it to anyone who likes magical places and friendly people.
Not wanting to breakdown I had the car and van serviced, the car at the VOLVO dealer and the van was done by a registered caravan service engine. so far so good!
we sailed Dover - Dunkirk, staying at the club site near Dover the night before was great and i would recommend it to anyone. we toured Belgium and Holland and found some great sites and fantastic cycling. all was well until we set off for home when a wheel fell off the van, all 5 bolts came loose and the wheel came adrift. thankfully we were only doing 20mph, had we been doing 60, god help us!.
thankfully we had taken out the clubs 5c's insurance which proved invaluable. we called the uk and were very impressed with the service we received. the recovery truck was summoned and arrived very quickly, the clubs technical guy rang within 20 minutes to give us guidance on what to do. a new brake drum was shipped to France and fitted on the site in Dunkirk . all in all a fantastic service which deserves praise and recognition. that said why did the wheel come off?? I personally watched the guy who serviced the van torque up the bolts, Belgian roads are little bumpy but surely the wheel should not have come loose.
we were escorted to a dutch caravan engineer who could not believe his eyes. European caravans, HYMER,DETHLEFFS, KNAUS etc, do i believe all use ALKO chassis the same as UK vans, My van is a 2010 Coachman 560/4 single axle with alloys. i know Bailey have had a problem with alloy and i believe recalled their vans (well done Bailey) but why did this happen? more to the point why would other manufacturers not follow suit as a safety precaution, comments please!
PS the car broke down as well. engine is D5 diesel and a 2 inche rod fell off the swirl chamber and the went into limp home mode. got it bodged in belguim.
my local volvo dealer wanted £621 to fix it, (needed a complete swirl chamber mechanism they said) got a new rod from STURGESS leicester £ 3.90, fitted it my self, happy days
Spannerdo
Motorhomer