After a hot weekend I guess every single caravan in use has had all the vents opened.. and I guess that a few have forgot to close them before setting off home..
I spotted 5 roof vents on the side of the hard shoulder on trip from Leicester to high wycome 4 on m40 1 on m1.
at a cost of around £30 (guessedimate) to replace then its certainly worth a quick check to make sure the other half has remebered to shut them...
I normally check all the vents and windows, however leaving belgium last year must have forgot to check the heki roof light, it was only on the antwerp ringroad in the morning rush hour when a kind dutch man towing a little caravan pulled up alongside us and made flapping gestures with his hands we twigged what he was meaning,
After that I always triple check now!
------------- Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
I break out into a sweat every time I'm about to drive off, wondering what I've missed and what grinding/crashing/snapping noise I'm going to hear
So far, the only real disaster was loosening the jocket wheel BEFORE I was hitched up, dropping the hitch to the floor and breaking a hole in the A-frame cover .
However, other near misses so far:
1. Left caravan handbrake on. 2. Left wheel clamp on. 3. Almost left breakaway cable on after unhitching.
I'm thinking of laminating a checklist and using that each time
------------- 'In later life, you will be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than with the things you did.' - Mark Twain
I always check my roof vents and windows twice and double check i have locked the door,but i bought a stablizer and when using it for the first time i thought this thing make's a noise when they are on so after a few miles when i could pull in safely i checked to see why it was making such a noise'its then that i noticed i had not put the jocky wheel fully up .
So now i have a jocky wheel with a nice flat edge, now i have to buy a new wheel.
I think i will have to get one of those laminated check list done lol.
I forgot to shut one of the roof vents but, fortunately, I got flashed by a couple of motorists and stopped before any damage was done. I have also driven off with the jockey wheel down - cost me a new wheel
------------- hawk
"Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone"
I have the body of a greek god - its in my freezer
Just a note, I always check mine, but on a couple of occasions recently when its been windy, one has come open on its own (MPK type). I need to find a way of preventing this. Have thought about one of the wind deflectors in front of it to see if that helps, failing that, I need to work out a way of fixing it from inside so that it cannot open in transit.
Apart from the cost of replacing the roof vent, if it flies off on the road it can shatter the windscreen of a following car as I witnessed once. In this case it didn't cause an accident but could well have done.
That was my first ever mistake with our first van.
forgot to shut the vent in the loo, first we knew of it was when we got home so absolutely no idea where it came off.
made up a quick fix out of some poly sheet and gaffer tape to keep the rain out until i could get a replacement.
Quote: Originally posted by Aceselect on 02/8/2011
Just a note, I always check mine, but on a couple of occasions recently when its been windy, one has come open on its own (MPK type). I need to find a way of preventing this. Have thought about one of the wind deflectors in front of it to see if that helps, failing that, I need to work out a way of fixing it from inside so that it cannot open in transit.
Not much use to you but if you have the mishap of loosing a roof light in this manner you can buy replacements that clip into place and have to be released inside the van in order to open them. No wind blowing these open! They are available in 300mm and 400mm sizes.
That could of been us today, I'm so anal at checking things on departure but today I forgot the small roof vent over the extractor!!!! Must of been because i wasnt towing today ,Luckily as we were driving out we drove passed the main office big window , and I was admiring how nice our outfit looked in it and then shock horror me vent was open!!!
Good thing I'm so vain
------------- "I'm a fool for my dogs"
Adopt a rescue, rescue dogs make great pets, don't support puppy farms.
The road can be tough and rough,but what you put in you get back 10 x more.
Whilst away in France recently, we were on the ferry between Royan and the other side of the Gironde and was all ready, went to pull away and then went to take the hand brake off....
last year coming back from france after a stop off stay at Boulonge we got to the port and were asked to show the customs peopel the inside of the caravan, i obliged but was surpised when the door was unlocked :O now it's a triple check.
All the broken rooflights may not necesarily have been left open.
Ours was damaged last year in France. We had been driving for about 150 miles, nearly all autoroute, when we were flashed/waved at by 3 separate drivers in the space of a couple of minutes (we were on the autoroute so didnt want to stop on hard shoulder when we knew an aire was about 5 mins away). Surely if we had left it open when we set off, other drivers would have pointed it out much sooner? This was the small bathroom vent that lifts straight up rather than tilts.
------------- All I want to be,
is a million miles from here.
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Topic: shut your roof vents
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, now i have to buy a new wheel.
