we've just bought a folding caravan - a rapido confort matic. I've found a video on youtube showing someone putting it up, but read on one of the forum's here you need to be careful also about making sure you take them down correctly to avoid damage also.
I don't suppose anyone might have some instructions on how to put up and take these down?
I did try to buy some from a website - but had problems with it all, and gave up!
anyway - any tips and advice on putting up and taking down one of these things would be very much appreciated.
Hi I've been mailed this link with instructions try giving it a go it should help you. I've got an export & the first time we put it up it was very daunting, didn't help with a nosey neighbour trying to tell us what to do when even though he never had a clue, it took us ages but now it can be put up in around 10 minutes, Just make sure when you pitch it you find somewhere reasonably level or you could be in for a whole heap of trouble.
thanks very much for that. we did in the end get some instructions like the one's in your helpful link - though it still took us 3 hours to put the thing up first time - not the most pleasant 3 hours in my life and if there had been a divorce lawyer on hand giving out quickie divorces i think we would have taken one!!!! :)
we went away again this weekend, and it took us 2 hours... on the bright side a bit better - but on the downside - a bit long and it didn't really go together particularly well...
we have a confortmatic - but we don't seem to have a lever to help lift it up... if we had a lever - would it be easy to spot - (maybe it's been removed - not sure)...
also, do you have any clues as to how to get it up so as when you pop one side in the others don't all pop out, and that the roof will line up properly so as you can clip it on...
we did try to follow the intructions - but as no doubt is blatantly obvious - this is all a bit new to us - that said we aren't giving up yet :)
anyway, thanks again for your reply - and if you have any tips that would be great :)
I have to admit putting mine up for the first time was er interesting to say the least. As for it not having a lever for you to stand on to open it up does seem a bit strange although I'm not as familiar with the matic range. Apart from yours being smaller than mine & it should have spring assisted hinges to assist unfolding it, it should open up & go together pretty much simular to mine. The only tip I can give is make sure you get it level before opening it up & putting it together. When you've unfolded the roof & pop the outer walls up I tend to lift the roof & put it back down again as it seems to sit a little better in the groove, which should make the top panels clip together better. The top panels have to be fitted coming from the outside in I also put my back to the door frame & push against it so I can fit it together so it clips together flush. I am a bit new to these folding caravans myself & haven't had years of experience with them although I have practised a couple of times at my place to put it up so I can get a technique. I'm sure I've read somewhere on here that someone else has had problems opening their rapido up & someone said about using a rope on the corners to help assist opening it. I hope some of my tips help you. When we went away in mine myself & my 13 year old daughter got ours out up in around 10 minutes not including the internal walls cupboards etc but struggled with the awning as it's not a rapido one.
Regards Tich
Rule number one is that the door sides always fold down first......otherwise you cause damage.
When erecting you realy need the leaver which is mounted on the side of the trailer nearest the curb (standing at the tow hitch looking towards the back of the trailer it is on the right...it hinges at bottom....is an inverted U shape ...about 2 foot across and 2 foot six high....made of alloy tube.....the lower tubes are fixed to the hinge and telescope into the upper tube....so you grasp the top horizontal bit and pull upwards to extend the leaver till little ball latches click into place (you have to push these in to telescope the leaver down again).......the top corners of the leaver are connected to the top rail of the trailer by nylon line just long enough for you to be able to hinge out the leaver and get a foot on it to stand on while pulling on the frame on the top of the trailer and with the "matic" torsion bars assisting you unfold the top section out onto the 2 outrigers that you have previously set up.
You need to start with the trailer level from side to side and towhitch to rear. When the site is not very flat make sure the lower areas are on the side where the outrigers pull out or you will not be able to unfold their legs. (and have the jockey wheel either up hill or down hill) Once the trailer is level then wind down the two legs that will end up in the middle..(one at front of trailer and one at back...on same side as leaver ....nearside )..one under one edge of the door and the other under the removable hinged pannel (like a door)......when each one touches the ground give it a further 2 full turns to releave the weight on the suspension.(not the two wind down legs on the other side of the trailer stay up for now).....now pull out the two outriggers and fold down legs on end and unscrew adjusting bits till ends touch wooden pads on ground (three quarter inch thick squares of plywood are good)....now using the leaver to stand on unfold the top of the trailer onto the outriggers..and release the 4 clips that hold down the roof/back pannel.....lift roof to vertical position then lift hinge at bottom of roof/ top of back and swing it up and away from you while holding onto the roof edge. With back vertical push it away from you slightly so that it is further back than its correct erect position.......on the edges of the back are unequal leg U shaped channels.....the outer leg is the long one and that is what the side goes against while the short leg will sit in the groove on the end edge of the side.....this is why you have to push the back out further than its final position...ie so that the outside of the side pannel will clear the inner short leg of the U channel and sit against the outer leg..(this is more at the bottom corners as the top back will be well clear of the edge. If the side does not clear the inner short U channel leg there is a chance that that leg will push between the outer alloy skin and the ply side causing damage......PAY GREAT ATTENTION TO GETTING THESE BOTTOM CORNERS RIGHT ON EACH SIDE. Once the side is definatly resting against the outer long leg of the U channel (at the bottom corner) then pull on the roof and bring the end in so that it is touching the side edge all the way up and have some one push on the end at the top so that the spring loaded ball half way up the side panel pops out and into the hole in the U channel outer leg....leave the roof just loose at this stage. Now do same with other side that has the door fixed to it.....careful of bottom corner at first....once plunger has clicked into place you can now erect the other half of the van. You will now have the two roof halves overlaping slightly as they are ment to.......you need to look at their outer edges to see if they line up.....standing by the door with the tow hitch to your left, looking up at the edges....if the left roof edge is nearer to you then you need to wind the tow hitch up slightly and you will see the roof edges come into line (you will have to readjust the wind down leg slightly as well. With the roof edges aligned put the small connecting pannels in place with you standing inside and the panel starting on the outside.....put longest vertical edge in position first and slide bolt into hole then pull short edge into position.....you may have to stand with your back against the side wall and push against the other side wall to make the gap big enough for the panel edge to come into position. With both small pannels in position and their bolts slid into their holes, you can now pull down on the lower roof pannel and see that the bit sticking up from the small pannel goes into the hole in the roof edge channel......to get this to happen may need some pressure applied at the top outside of the end pannel....but it should go in and you can clip up the 2 clips each side......now same again with the upper roof panel.......and so on to fitting the rest of the bits. from onlookers.
Tip do not forget to take off the 4 clips that hold the trailer top section together (2 at rear just swing down and 2 inside that clip onto roof/end panel hinge and do not forget to put them back in position before folding that side back on top.
If you are anywhere near N Devon I would be happy to meat and demonstrate the finer points.
I could email you the instruction manual which has pictures that clearly show the leaver and the man standing on it.
I use a spirit level to do mine with although I have got one of those small circular spirit levels that I'm going to fit to the A frame so I can use that instead. Thanks for that Dennis I'm not good at explaining things better off just showing folk. The link I sent you Sarah should show a picture of the handle you stand on to open it up so I'm a bit concerned that yours don't seem to have one on it. Myself & my daughter put mine up this afternoon took us a bit longer as I were trying to rush to do it as we'd been having showers all afternoon. Still only took us around 20 minutes though & where mine is the ground slopes off in 2 different directions. If I'd took my time a little & checked the level better I'm sure it would've been up sooner so I blame myself for trying to rush. I hope you get it sorted though as I love these caravans need to see more on sites. Although there was another one where I went last week so that was good to see.
Tich
hi.i have just bought a 1979 confort and although we put it together in about 30mins i can't get the door to meet the frame close enough for the lock bar to engage with the slot.any ideas?do the trailer wheels have to be completely clear of the ground ?it seems that once erected it,s impossible to correct any misalignment.apart from these few problems we are bothvery impressed by this thing.an awful lot of thought went into designing these caravans.
i am impressed with your 30 minute assembly first time!!
we had problems getting it all to meet up too and kept gettings sides popping out etc - in the end we put down the middle legs and adjusted these, (along with the other legs), until it all did meet up and then clicked on the roof. I am thinking that it's getting it level which is the trick to it here from what others have said above!
that said, i'm a complete novice - and i am sure you'll get far better advice from others who have been really helpful - as i am still struggling with this myself :)
Hi iowbiker when you clip the small panel to the roof you have to bring it from the outside to the inside so it fits snug & tight. As Dennis said in the instructions you may have to push against the door frame to open the gap slightly so the panel fits in place. I made that mistake by pushing it outwards when I first put it together & it didn't quite line up at the top & consequently the door didn't quite operate correctly. The trailer wheels have to stay on the ground as the corner jacks are there just to keep it solid so don't try to lift it of the ground with them or they will break or break off the chassis. I'm still quite a novice with them myself but I am getting there. I have practised in the garden so when we first put it up we did so with little fuss. Although mine is a 2 man job as it's the export. I'll see how I get on on a more uneven site sometime as I'm not looking forward to that so I'll stock up on blocks of wood etc.
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Topic: rapido confort matic
from onlookers.
