Discovery Our 2012 Discovery 17.55-5 SH

[Herbertclan]

Hi everyone,

Just starting out in the caravan fraternity and enjoying the tinkering at the moment, we have already got some great tips from the site. Thought I would start a small thread on what I plan to do as we prepare it for some short and long trips with our first trip in a couple of weeks.

As always with a second hand caravan there a some useful and not so useful additions (based on what our needs are anyway).

The to do list:

Remove the ally tool box and generator box. Done.
Install carpet. Done.
Wire the AGM batteries to draw across both batteries and relocate.
Replace the roof sealant around the edge. Done.
Make a ladder for the bunk. Canned this idea, young fella doesn't need it.
Build a dual spare tyre carrier for the rear. Done
Build a custom bike carrier. Starting soon.
Fit a clothes line to the awning. Done, fitted 2
Try and work out what size solar I have, this one is annoying me!!
Stop the front boot from leaking water. Done.
Have a crack at a wheel alignment.
Get the aircon looked at. Done.

Pictures to come.


Cheers Max,

 

[Delano]

Welcome @Herbertclan .
Sounds like you've got your nights and weekends working in the shed
For athe next few weeks.

What suspension do you have?
I'd take it to a truck wheel aligned to get that sorted.

 

[G Daddy]

Welcome @Herbertclan to the forum where the guy's and gals will help you spend your hard erned cash on some great mods.
Looking forward to some photos

 

[Drover]

Lovely list of mods, will look forward to your updates and of course Welcome to the mob, depending on axle set up it is doable at home but if you have a truck align place near it is easier and less of a headache..............most of the list you will find threads covering them.

 

[Herbertclan]

Welcome @Herbertclan .
Sounds like you've got your nights and weekends working in the shed
For athe next few weeks.

What suspension do you have?
I'd take it to a truck wheel aligned to get that sorted.

Cheers Delano,

Our axles are under slung with leaf springs, just didn't have the cash to go for a 2014 model with The ind suspension. Got a quote for an alignment and it appears only a couple of places do it, approx $300.00 was what I was quoted.

Cheers Max,

 

[bigcol]

thats a pretty good price I think, especially here in Wait Awhile

 

[Herbertclan]

thats a pretty good price I think, especially here in Wait Awhile

You are prolly right bigcol!! It could be that the $300 is eating into my goodies list that I can't come to terms with.

 

[bigcol]

It could be that the $300 is eating into my goodies list that I can't come to terms with.

mate, I question even spending $5.00
but

if its going to save your tyres and you dont have to spend more on said tyres, its worth it

 

[Drover]

Just what is the wear on your tyres ??? The places that are capable of doing the job are truck alighn shops, tyre places woulldn't be able to do it, they can hardly do cars properly.
Certain type of wear you can do it yourself if you have the gear and nouse but if the axle needs a bend the workshop is the place.

 

[Herbertclan]

Just what is the wear on your tyres ??? The places that are capable of doing the job are truck alighn shops, tyre places woulldn't be able to do it, they can hardly do cars properly.
Certain type of wear you can do it yourself if you have the gear and nouse but if the axle needs a bend the workshop is the place.

Totally agree Drover, The tyres look to be feathered and scuffing on the inside of both left tyres and the right side tyres look to be scuffing on the outside, it has had one tyre replaced and the spare has been fitted as well because what is now the spare on the rack is also scuffed on the outside, I'm presuming that this wear along with a near new tyre one the right side had the old owner worried and he swapped it off before she blew.

being stepped axles there looks to be a few variables the people welding them could get a little lazy on and that's the part that will stop me from trying to correct anything.

Cheers Max,

 

[Drover]

Actually sounds if the axle is out of line on the spring. I would hazard a guess that the axle has moved a mm or 2 on one side. Square off from spring centre bolt to hitch centre, loosen U bolts and tap axle till the measure stick shows the same on each side and all should be good, but it does require lifting the rig up so everything is hanging, trying to do it with wheels on the ground doesn't work. This could have been from new.
I have noticed that a lot of U bolts on vans have mild steel washers which distort and would cause loss of tension on the bolts, I have replaced mine on both vans with HT washers.................
If they were all wearing on the inside or outside that would show that the axles have bent but what you describe shows alighnment.

Going to a truck joint would mean they would make sure hangers and pins would be good and besides saves crawling around under the thing and trying to measure stuff is big time headache I can tell you........................If Big Mal shows any wear it's off to the shop especially with the Coromal suspension, no adjustment whats so ever except with a big hammer I think.

Don't forget to let us know how you go it's always interesting to find if our diagnosis is on the money or not..................

 

[Herbertclan]

Actually sounds if the axle is out of line on the spring. I would hazard a guess that the axle has moved a mm or 2 on one side. Square off from spring centre bolt to hitch centre, loosen U bolts and tap axle till the measure stick shows the same on each side and all should be good, but it does require lifting the rig up so everything is hanging, trying to do it with wheels on the ground doesn't work. This could have been from new.
I have noticed that a lot of U bolts on vans have mild steel washers which distort and would cause loss of tension on the bolts, I have replaced mine on both vans with HT washers.................
If they were all wearing on the inside or outside that would show that the axles have bent but what you describe shows alighnment.

Going to a truck joint would mean they would make sure hangers and pins would be good and besides saves crawling around under the thing and trying to measure stuff is big time headache I can tell you........................If Big Mal shows any wear it's off to the shop especially with the Coromal suspension, no adjustment whats so ever except with a big hammer I think.

Don't forget to let us know how you go it's always interesting to find if our diagnosis is on the money or not..................

Thanks Drover,

Yes it does seem that way and why I'm contemplating it, I'm a mechanic by trade and still contemplating at doing this in at work. You are correct with the ubolts and their associated hardware, l'm just not sure it has been out the whole time, I know it has been around Australia travelling for 18 months but the tyres are getting chopped out and will replace these in the next 12 months ( wear permitting) It still perplexes me why this sort of thing happens with low quality hardware?? The cost impact to put quality on there is minimal in my opinion.

Cheers Max,

 

[Drover]

I'm amazed sometimes by the quality of some gear and can only agree with you............if all the tyres have equal wear then I would think it would have to be from the original build, a slight off set would just slowly chew away but as the tyre wears more the rate seems to increase also, thats what I noticed on the trucks, where if it happened by a loss of tension or a big pothole it wouldn't occur on both axles but then you could be lucky/unlucky........................good reason to drop the whole suspension and give it a tidy up but then you can find things your wallet doesn't want to know about....................


When I did mine I measured from hitch centre to a position on both sides of the chassis and that was my datum for lining up the axle, made life easier for a one man job, then marked the middle of axle and measured an equal distance from that to the spot next to spring for alighn set up, once it was all lined up did a check measure to make sure the hub was the same distance from chassis, just in case.

 

[Herbertclan]

Hey Drover

 

[Drover]

Yes Max ??????????..................................

 

[Herbertclan]

Just didn't want you hovering at 3999 posts:drum:

 

[Drover]

Oh WOW, I think I better tape up my keyboard........................soon as this damn house is done I can get stuck into doing things and get away from this keyboard.........at the moment it sits in the shed right next to the beer fridge, Prime position of an arvo.

 

[Herbertclan]

Just a little update on some jobs I have been chipping away at.

Resealed the front boot, that's a couple hrs of my life I wouldn't mind back!! Removing the door and cleaning off the old sealant was a crap job. Used Sikaflex 291. The second picture isn't that good but I had to seal the top side of the seal strip where it attached to the boot, I thought the water was getting past the top hinge but it was actually running into the boot past the seal where it pushes onto the rib.

Got the dual spare wheel carrier sorted.

Got the idea of Sullage hose up the chassis rail from a forum member on here ( sorry no idea where I saw it or who it was) when looking for ideas. Used 32mm electrical conduit clips, they weren't perfect will stop then jiggling out of there.

The only drawback we could see with the bunks was the need to pack up for meals so I did this to make it quick and easy with out stripping the bed to fold the mattress.

Made the safety rail hinged to allow the mattress to slid over the edge when tilted. I just welded the hinge to the bottom side of the original mounting and then screwed the hinge down.

Made some plates the other day to go under the poptop latches, at some point on had broken away from the wall. Used 3mm zinc anneal then primed and painted. I noticed one of the latches was loose when doing this (the holes in the wall were stripped!!) I drilled the holes a little to allow me to arildite some plastic masonry wall plugs which was how the other had been repaired before, seemed to work a treat. I simply arildited the plates to the side of the van and reattached the latches.
Can also see a bit of the clothes line, I found a kit in Bunnings that does away with the need of a swage tool to crimp the cable eyelets and is essentially the same concept that holds you garden hose connector on. Kit was about $30 and came with a turn buckle (in pic), loops to screw to the awning and a clevis for the other end, all in Stainless steel. Other cost was the 3mm stainless cable that was about $10.

Cheers Max,

 

[Drover]

Top marks for those mods, except the wheel carrier !! the straps won't do the job, they tend to stretch and move, slipping off and your wheel will bounce away.
If you can make a set up that are like braces on trousers which tie down across the tyre going across the tread they will stay in place....................had similar on truck once, strap was a failure, always had to adjust it and it wore out, ended up with a S/S band in same position as strap, it was very flexible and was bolted on one side and had a clamp on the other, worked well.


PS: Don't forget to tighten that loose screw on your awning barrell, right hand side of barrell....

 

[dagree]

PS: Don't forget to tighten that loose screw on your awning barrell, right hand side of barrell....

Good pick up @Drover