We have a very small but quite steep little slope going up our driveway and managed to get our previous van up there with a bit of huffing and puffing but have bought a new van ( 2007 Fleetwood Sonata Prelude) which is heavier and can't manage it!
We came home after picking it up and really struggled - luckily a kind man stopped and helped us
We have to unhitch to get it up the slope as we live on a main road and i would have to go across both lanes to reverse it on with the car. Have to be super quick getting it out of the way as it is.
Thinking of getting a motor mover but am a bit reluctant to spend £800 for a 2 minute job
Any ideas? (other than getting a stronger husband!!)
------------- Save the earth...it's the only planet with chocolate
How about installing a pully kinda thingy. Much cheaper than a mover .Sorry about my technical description
I need to say the £588 we spent on our mover was the best thing we ever bought.(My OH fitted it himself took 2.5 hrs) Now there is no pushing and pulling onto or off a pitch or our drive or back at the storage yard. It's great. I now go solo just me and the dog because of the mover I can hitch and unhitch no problem.I'm no longer stuck at home while my OH is off shore.
------------- Beauty is in the eyes of the beer holder
fit a towball to the front of your toyota hilux. unhitch & push caravan on drive. then drive in & hitch to front towball & push it up the slope. saves you from impatient drivers.
A winch is the cheap option. Could have electric or cheaper still a hand wound winch. I used to use one before I had mover fitted, it was mounted on a steel plate which also accomodated a standard towball so it fitted into the hitch on the van. All you need then is a secure point at the top of the driveway to secure the other end of the cable and wind away as you walk along side the A frame. The van is then the wrong way round on the drive (good for security) but all you do is let it down to the road with the winch the same way in reverse...............Mick
There is a "no cost" way of exploiting the peculiarities of the van's reverse brake that "helps" to get it up a slope backwards.
With the van uncoupled and in position for the climb just put the hand brake "half on". Sounds stupid but its not.
Then move the coupling side to side in a cyclic fashion. What you will find is that the van progresses steadily backwards up the hill!
What is happening is that the hand brake allows the reversing wheel to move but not the one that would go forward, so bit by bit the whole goes backwards.
As only one wheel is moving at each sideways movement, the van only moves half as far as the wheel moves, also as the lever arms between the half axle span and axle to coupling are 3 or 4:1 the sideways effort is only about a third or less than the pushing effort required.
Also as a bonus its much easier to generate this rocking sideways force than either pulling or pushing. And the grab handle will not be ripped out.
With the brake on its not going to roll forward.
Try it,with care of course, but it works and is ideal for those situations that otherwise are just a bit too hard.
i have a mover best thing in world got a pwrtoch on fitted my self from leisure supplies.co.uk took 2-3 hrs he was cheapest person fitted or diy and a very nice chap. like this week end muddy fied no way car would get off so took my van to my car on the nice hard road so will solve more than your problem a saves arguments on tight pitches. watch a video on you tube there is a chap with a steep drive putting his van away/
Thanks ever so much to all of you for your answers
I had thought about a front tow bar but the slope is right next to the road so i would have to position the car across both lanes to get it up the drive
JTQU - your idea is great but our handbrake does not have a 'half on' it is one of the ones you 'tap' to take off - there is no ratchet it just springs up so possibly no good?
I would like a mover but it's just the cost that puts me off as we don't have any other problems with maneuvering the van. Even if we are on a muddy field my trusty rear wheel drive 4x4 will drag it!
Think maybe a hand winch may be a better idea as once it is on the drive we can spin it around to being it off again
------------- Save the earth...it's the only planet with chocolate
Quote: Originally posted by MrsWoody on 18/8/2008
JTQU - your idea is great but our handbrake does not have a 'half on' it is one of the ones you 'tap' to take off - there is no ratchet it just springs up so possibly no good?
Unfortunately that might stop you doing it as these newer type tend to put the brakes on too hard. However it could still work but with more parasitic drag from the trailing shoe of the reversing wheel. So it will not go in reverse quite as easily as it would otherwise.
It's worth a try out first on the level, nothing is lost by seeing how it goes.
We've had our Bailey Bretagne for 3 years and this year had a mover fitted. The main reason was to get the van on the drive as we live on a bit of a blind bend in the road and had to swing out right across it to get the van on. Also it wasn't doing the clutch much good either. Now I wonder how we ever managed without it as we seem to use it all the time. Perhaps I'm getting lazy in my old age and pitches are getting tighter but now we have the mover I use it when previously we perhaps would have been undertaking various manoeuvres in the car or unhitching and pushing the van into position (usually with a few helping hands). I even use it now to hitch up on the drive rather than try to reverse right under the tow hitch or push the van onto it!! We delayed buying our mover for 3 years and I certainly don't regret buying one, just wish I'd done it 3 years ago.
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Topic: Steep drive - get motor mover?
