I am in the middle of doing up a Lunar Meteorite, the handbrake assembly is old and worn and will not hold on the ratchet, so i have removed it. The coupling is a Knott 13c and looking on their website it will cost 107 Euros plus shipping, but it looks like a BPW handbrake Part No.05.203.03.43.0. Has anybody had experience with this hitch and can confirm if Knott use BPW.
I've got an old Lunar, which also has a Knott chassis. I've got the original handbook for the chassis (as well as for the caravan) & I think you're right, they do use BPW parts.
I would have to get the book & have a look to confirm this. Let me know if you need me to, it's only down the road.
I also had trouble locating a spare wheel for mine. I borrowed one from an Alko Chassis caravan & the rim was absolutely identical, even painted the same colour, so I'm guessing many parts were swapped around on these caravans.
Just out of interest, what year is yours? & Does it have an aluminium chassis? My little Clubman 390-2 is a 1990 (I think) & does have an aluminium chassis.
Yes its got the ali chassis and its a 1991, in good condition just needs a bit of love and it will be a good first time buyers dream,i have had it for 3 years looking to get a bigger van, i have most of the paperwork, gas etc but not the chassis so would be useful if you could take a look but dont go out of your way.
Looking at the design and how its been pressed it looks to be a BPW but its the part no i cant find, strange that its not stamped on it. Going down to local caravan service centre as BPW don't sell direct.
List of jobs to do: new handbrake, refit interior doors, new carpet, change tyre valves as they are going hard and finally refit the fridge with new element.
If you get chance take a look at a pre 1991 Sprite as they used Knott components on their own chassis. I cant recall Knott actually making chassis, only components. I am fairly sure the ali Lunar chassis was not made by BPW but my brain is struggling the remember who did make it.
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Will go to the van & grab the book tomorrow, if I get a chance. I know there's several different company names (mostly just consisting of 3 letter initials) on the leaflet thingy which came with all the paperwork which deals with the chassis.
Right, I have the papereork in front of me, but I don't have much time until i have to leave for work.
The Lunar manual has adverts from the supplying companies. it would seem they did use Knott axles & brakes, which were supplied by D.J. Russell Ltd, Burton-On-Trent (I do have a full address if needed).
There is also an advert by T.W. Chassis Ltd (manufacturers & suppliers of quality lightweight, rigid aluminium chassis to the caravan industry) based in Preston, Lancs.
The brakes & axles (suspension) are indeed Knott, the leaflet of operating instructions has 3 different sets of initials on the front though.
It has; M.K.E. (in circles, I believe the K stands for Knott, on the back it says; Maschinenbau Knott Eggstatt)
F.M.R. (in diamonds, which stands for; Fahrzeug- Und Maschinebau Regensburg)
& K.B.T (Knott- Bremesntechnic).
this leaflet/booklet tells you how to assemble the brakes & running gear & also contains a parts list.
the complete handbrake lever is part number 98501401 (this is for chassis up to 1300kg. Anything heavier is part number 98501409)
Sorry I can't be of more help. I will take some pics of the booklets, but at the moment I can't get my phone to email them to my photobucket account.
If you need anything else from the handbooks, just let me know. The Lunar book is very old fashioned & not exactly the most comprehensive. But there are full instructions on how to adjust the brakes properly & all the tolerances on the various linkages, with diagrams.
The part no. 98501401 is a Knott code, been down to the local caravan service centre and as soon as i put it on the desk he said its a Knott and not a BPW there are small differences that stop the BPW fitting so its on order for £66 not bad i suppose.
Thanks for taking a look i might try and get a booklet for mine, it should be here for the weekend.
I suppose you could've searched for ages, looking for a half decent 2nd hand one. But in my experience, these days, all 2nd hand vehicle parts are very over priced & there's no saying you'd actually find one, & there's no saying it would be any good if you did.
Good luck with the rest of it, I'm only just beginning with mine & am more interested in using it for now, but will have to do some work on it later this year if I want it to last me any great length of time.
I will keep my eyes open for any other threads where my handbook could come in handy. I might even be able to scan it at some point.
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Topic: Lunar Handbrake
