Bringing home 'van from W/Wales soon, stored on farm (for 6 years) & only ever moved to put on site.
bearings sound dead rough, is it much of a job to replace them?
They are sealed bearing,you will need a proper bearing press to remove them and replace.If you look at Alko web site the drums can be easily damaged.They do sell drums complete with bearings installed.
If the caravan is modern enough to have sealed bearings, they should be ok. The roughness you hear is probably rusty brake drums. The wheels do need to come off to clean drums & brakes so unless you have a large torque wrench for the the one shot nuts(you will need new ones)& knowledge of caravan brake adjustment etc you will have to get a mobile service person in.
If they are the old type non sealed bearings they will probably need repacking with grease & new seals as well as cleaning brakes/drums. If you google Al-ko brakes or similar you will find instructions on how to strip/rebuild.
If it has been standing for 6 yrs the drums could be badly rusted & possibly the brakes seized. If the 'van has been towed a few miles every yr then probably they would be ok if the op really wanted to just tow it to a destination.
Another consideration would be the tyres. If they are over 6yrs old with little use they could well be perished & might fail on a fast motorway trip. One could just hitch up & go & probably be ok but to be certain, the 'van would need a chassis service & new tyres before it was towed any distance at motorway speeds.
Another consideration would be the tyres. If they are over 6yrs old with little use they could well be perished & might fail on a fast motorway trip. One could just hitch up & go & probably be ok but to be certain, the 'van would need a chassis service & new tyres before it was towed any distance at motorway speeds.
second that
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
Thanks to all for advice.
I've already been told by a service person that bearings should be ok.
Brakes do come on/off with handbrake, so I'm sorta going with Magsrubys' theory!
Tyres definitely shot, have already fitted the unused spare tyre, & arranging replacement for the other.
Looking forward to towing it back, finally put the V70 to good use, other than mobile armchair... :-)
I'm a bit naughty though. I bought my 'van after being told it had stood for 2 years (I thought it could've been more). Funnily enough the brakes weren't locked on (if that had been a car, left on handbrake, there's no way it would have moved).
I towed it about 25 miles for my first trip, & everything seemed to be OK, so then I took it 160 miles to Cheltenham (& back, including motorway) for new years.
I had no problems whatsoever, & this is a 21-22yr old 'van!
I would like to add, please don't try this at home. I do have a bit of a background in mechanics & tend to "get away" with stuff like this. I also had breakdown cover & a good tool kit with me (& I had pumped the tyres up to the correct pressure, so not completely reckless).
But my thoughts are, these caravan chassis are designed to be left for long periods. The brakes work differently to a car handbrake, this is obvious, as I've known them to stick on after a couple of weeks, never mind 2 years!
Fact is most folk take a chance. I bought my old Monza off ebay & Towed it from Leicester back to Essex. The seller who had owned 'van for a couple of yrs looked slightly puzzled when I asked if it had been serviced. The 'almost new' tyres were in fact yrs old, they just hadn't done many miles.
I just checked wheelnuts, pumped up the tyres(with the pump I had brought with me) & towed it home, as you say, if you have mechanical knowledge & understanding you can make a judgement.
Although to add, just because one's self has enough mechanical knowledge to take a calculated risk this does not mean one should advise others to do the same unless one explains the possible risks & describes the correct procedure to eliminate those risks altogether.
Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 24/1/2012
Although to add, just because one's self has enough mechanical knowledge to take a calculated risk this does not mean one should advise others to do the same unless one explains the possible risks & describes the correct procedure to eliminate those risks altogether.
Which was kind of my point. Just because I can do it doesn't mean anyone can. My 'van didn't come with a spare either, so I borrowed one from my dad's & made sure it would fit before setting off. (I also always carry a can of tyre-weld with me, as it's got me out of trouble before).
I looked up the 'van in his "outfit", it'f a Series 5 (s5), which are pretty late 'vans. I don't think it's very old, but you're right, we haven't actually been told it's age.
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Topic: Bailey S5 wheel bearings
