So we had our worst fear happen today.
We picked up the caravan today and just 200 yards from the storage site, the van came off the tow ball. Luckily we were on a quiet part of road leading to the main road. If it had happened there I absolutely can’t bear to think of what might have ensued.
I’m still not sure how it happened. We had done all our checks including making sure the tow hitch was lifting the car after latching on.
Our electric cable has been ripped out under the van and the wheel appears to be bent, also a crack in the fairing. Other than that I’m not sure if there is any other damage.
We managed to get the van back to the storage yard.
Our nearest caravan repairer when contacted closes at 4 30 pm so we have decided to leave calling RAC Arrivals until the morning as we don’t know if they could get us there before that. Also because we are sitting in a state of shock and can’t face dealing with it today. We obviously can’t tow it there with no electrics.
We have an insurance policy with club care thro the caravan and camping club which I am hoping will cover the damage. I think there may be £150 excess with this. I’m not sure if we will have to pay for the damage and then try to claim it back. Can anyone shed any light on this ?
I’m trying to tell myself it could have been a whole lot worse and no one was hurt but it’s really dented our confidence. We thought we had done everything carefully and yet this happened.
At this point I don’t even know if I want to carry on towing. How on earth can this have happened.?
The hitch handle clicked down and we wound up the jockey handle again to double check they were connected. If it had happened a few minuted later we would have been on a busy stretch of road.
I’m hoping all the damage is what I can see and the chassis is all right.
Oh dear , hope the damage is repairable and not too expensive!
I hope your confidence in towing will be restored soon enough!
Not going to lie, however, I opted for a PVC motorhome as I did not fancy towing.
I was planning to tow and bought a car on PCP that was capable of towing a decent caravan. That plan went out of the window after reading one horror story relating to caravan too many. I decided a MH was easier to drive and manoeuvre than a car towing a caravan for a lone female camper.
Just a quick question to ask, did you have a towing chain or rope in place?
Reason for asking is that when I was a tenter, I bought a new small leisure trailer for my gears, and it came with a towing chain fitted as part of a standard package; and was shown how to use it during the handover when I went to collect it.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
The caravan will have a breakaway cable which puts the brakes on when the van detaches. That will need replacing, cheap enough.
A jockey wheel is easy enough to replace. If its just the wheel,remove the split pin and tap,out the axle slot new one in and fit new pin.
If the whole thing is bent, put the steadies down unscrew the jockey wheel clamp bolt completely, take out the whole jockey wheel and replace.
A fairing could possibly be repaired if cracked.
A repairer could do it all and replace the cable too.
If you have the Al Ko stabiliser hitch, there is a pop up indicator which shows green when locked on.
Your insurance 3xcess might be more than or close to the repair cost,check your policy.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
I know I am going to get slated for this and I know that towing courses recommend it but I can see no logic in winding the jockey wheel down thus lifting the car. Surely it must put enormous and unnecessary stress on the hitch. I have absolutely nothing to backup my thoughts, just a feeling.
Hopefully your insurers will recommend what you should do now.
Good luck, DaveS1
Quote: Originally posted by DaveS1 on 07/8/2024
I know I am going to get slated for this and I know that towing courses recommend it but I can see no logic in winding the jockey wheel down thus lifting the car. Surely it must put enormous and unnecessary stress on the hitch. I have absolutely nothing to backup my thoughts, just a feeling.
Hopefully your insurers will recommend what you should do now.
Good luck, DaveS1
When I took delivery of my leisure trailer, a Brenderup 1105, I was shown to move the hitch over the tow ball with the aid of a jockey wheel, then wind up the jockey wheel slowly so that the hitch drops over the tow ball until it clicked. Then put the towing chain over the tow ball/hitch assembly. Then hooked up the electrics and tested them before driving off.
That's what I was taught, rightly or wrongly.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Whenever hitching up I have always bounced the caravan up and down with the hitch. When pulling upwards if it also lifts the rear of the car you know the hitch is locked on securely
I’m so sorry to hear of your experience. In our first year of Caravanning, many years ago, we had an overturned caravan on the motorway and it was an extremely traumatic experience so I know how you are feeling. It really knocked our confidence but we learned from it and we are still towing 15 years later. You just have to chalk it up to experience and get back on the road as soon as you can to regain your confidence.
I hope you manage to get everything sorted out quickly and easily.
Not sure if it is worth claiming through your insurance as damage is probably less than £1000. You will need to pay an excess and then the following year with increased premiums you will be paying for the repair.
Hi sorry for the delay in updating.
It cost us nearly £400 to supply and rewire a new
electric cable and replace jockey wheel and outer bracket.
We decided to live with the.crack in the plastic fairing as it is an older van.
I had expected it to be more expensive so we just paid the bill rather than bothering with the insurance.
The repair man said he always likes to lift and shake the frame up and down rather than lift the car with the jockey wheel.
An expensive mistake but hopefully not one we will ever repeat.
Quote: Originally posted by lor6126 on 19/8/2024
Hi sorry for the delay in updating.
It cost us nearly £400 to supply and rewire a new
electric cable and replace jockey wheel and outer bracket.
We decided to live with the.crack in the plastic fairing as it is an older van.
I had expected it to be more expensive so we just paid the bill rather than bothering with the insurance.
The repair man said he always likes to lift and shake the frame up and down rather than lift the car with the jockey wheel.
An expensive mistake but hopefully not one we will ever repeat.
how on earth did it cost that much?
jockey wheel would have been around £30
electric cable comes in a kit and costs £20
and not sure what bracket your taking about unless your meaning the one for the jockey wheel which costs £8.50 all from towsure
Quote: Originally posted by lor6126 on 19/8/2024
Hi sorry for the delay in updating.
It cost us nearly £400 to supply and rewire a new
electric cable and replace jockey wheel and outer bracket.
We decided to live with the.crack in the plastic fairing as it is an older van.
I had expected it to be more expensive so we just paid the bill rather than bothering with the insurance.
The repair man said he always likes to lift and shake the frame up and down rather than lift the car with the jockey wheel.
An expensive mistake but hopefully not one we will ever repeat.
how on earth did it cost that much?
jockey wheel would have been around £30
electric cable comes in a kit and costs £20
and not sure what bracket your taking about unless your meaning the one for the jockey wheel which costs £8.50 all from towsure
Most of any bill is labour charges, and I doubt this one is any different. I would have done the job myself if it happened to me, but not everybody can.
Me too.I can do wiring being ex Avionics tech.
We broke a jockey wheel on a speed hump near CMC site near York. We had to buy a new one from caravan dealer. Al Ko one £75. Only type they had but it was the pneumatic tyre one. Better than the plastic wheel type. The wheel cracked and bent the metal yoke. We were going very slowly too.
The cracked fairing could be repaired with adhesive as it's probably ABS plastic. Bostik do one for hard plastics. If it's fibreglass you can get repa8r kits from motor stores.
Post last edited on 20/08/2024 10:08:01
Post last edited on 20/08/2024 10:09:48
Post last edited on 20/08/2024 10:10:56
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
Quote: Originally posted by 664DaveS on 20/8/2024
Me too.I can do wiring being ex Avionics tech.
I'm not a qualified electrician, just self-taught, but I did once work as an electrical sub-contractor in the early 1980s before formal paper qualifications were necessary. I re-wired something like 100 houses in Norfolk without any problems. I have also done complete re-wires on two river cruisers I have owned. I have always been a very practical sort of person and until fairly recently I did all necessary repairs on my own cars, trucks, and boats.
I remember doing my a couple and servicing.,we could only afford older vehicles as youngsters. Started with pushbikes then motorscooters then cars. My dad taught me a lot.
My RAF training was obviously useful. Most of us young airmen couldn't afford new cars but we had a wealth of training and experience to hand!
We helped each other.
I serviced our first caravan myself, they were simple enough fitted a extras and improved them.
Same with first house we bought you learn DIY and do what you can yourself.
Vehicles were far less complex then and you could actually get at the engines etc!
I have owned a couple of classics which I did a fair bit of work on, including welding but don't now. Too old to lie under cars !
These days the van goes in for its annual service, same with the car as they all have warranties.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
Quote: Originally posted by lor6126 on 19/8/2024
Hi sorry for the delay in updating.
It cost us nearly £400 to supply and rewire a new
electric cable and replace jockey wheel and outer bracket.
We decided to live with the.crack in the plastic fairing as it is an older van.
I had expected it to be more expensive so we just paid the bill rather than bothering with the insurance.
The repair man said he always likes to lift and shake the frame up and down rather than lift the car with the jockey wheel.
An expensive mistake but hopefully not one we will ever repeat.
how on earth did it cost that much?
jockey wheel would have been around £30
electric cable comes in a kit and costs £20
and not sure what bracket your taking about unless your meaning the one for the jockey wheel which costs £8.50 all from towsure
Most of the bill was labour. We both have disabilities which mean we couldn't get down under van even if we could have rewired it once we got there. It might be an idea for the future to look fir an alternative to the one caravan repair yard in our area. With no electrics we had to go where the RAC suggested to take us.
Quote: Originally posted by lor6126 on 19/8/2024
Hi sorry for the delay in updating.
It cost us nearly £400 to supply and rewire a new
electric cable and replace jockey wheel and outer bracket.
We decided to live with the.crack in the plastic fairing as it is an older van.
I had expected it to be more expensive so we just paid the bill rather than bothering with the insurance.
The repair man said he always likes to lift and shake the frame up and down rather than lift the car with the jockey wheel.
An expensive mistake but hopefully not one we will ever repeat.
how on earth did it cost that much?
jockey wheel would have been around £30
electric cable comes in a kit and costs £20
and not sure what bracket your taking about unless your meaning the one for the jockey wheel which costs £8.50 all from
Just had another glance at the bill, four hours labour to wire up the cable. My husband tells me they didn't have to replace the cable in the end, they used ours and the bracket wasn't bent it seems so wasn't replaced.
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Topic: Our disaster !
, hope the damage is repairable and not too expensive!
via mobile 07/8/2024 at 4:12pm
