De Couplers

[mikestef]

Hi All, we've just bought our first Syncro (Wills) and wondered if it would be a good idea to fit a de coupler for lots of motorway miles (to get to the rough stuff!) during the summer. cheers, Mike PS , Also on the lookout for an LPG kit to fit to it (2.1 dj) Yes, I have spoken to Steve at Gasure and know about Tinleytec. Was hoping to possibly find a kit that someone had taken out ! (even a cyld would be a start)

[syncropaddy]

Ill drive it down to south of Spain for you .........

[toomanytoys]

Bugger... I could have if I had been on here sooner...
When you doing this?
I am driving to central France on Sat morn... Andrew.. if you do it next week I'll pm my number and you can call in....

[syncroandy]

Hi Mike,

I have an OMVL Millenium system for sale that I was running on a 2.1 for a couple of years. Took it off in Jan when I fitted a Subaru motor.

PM if interested.

Andy

[toomanytoys]

LPG, have you researched the situation in Spain if you want to register it there?? I think you will have your work cut out...

Decoupler, if you can afford it, good idea for running miles and miles on the motorway (like me, up and down the autoroutes )
I have got one now... brand new, in a box under the stairs... need to do a load of jobs on the truck now and thats just 1 of them...

Easy enough to drop the prop off for the initial trip in any case...

[mikestef]

Yes ,we do know about the difficulties in registering anything slightly different from the norm down here.Been waiting approx six months for a Spanish reg for one of my bikes.Have spent a fortune so far but still no reg.That's why we have chosen a UK Regd van and have no intention of changing it. Ta for advice on dropping prop shaft for long journeys .I was considering doing that to start with anyway.Any ideas on what difference it makes to the fuel consumption ? Re LPG , have an offer of kit from syncroandy (ta) minus cylinder,filler and pipework.Anybody got a cylinder to spare ?

[Syncro G]

Your front diff (and the speedo) will still be driven from the road with the prop removed so don't expect a dramatic decrease in fuel consumption, it'll never be quite like a 2WD.

[toomanytoys]

UK reg vehicle... can you get UK insurance on it for out of the Uk for more than 90 days?? its against UK law to have a uk reg vehicle on foreign insurance... apparently.......... still needs MOT and road tax to be legal wherever its driven too.....

There are a lot of UK reg vehicles running around in france.. and most dont have road tax on display and prob no MOT.. Police are clamping down on it in France...

MPG.. prop on or off makes little difference, its all about reducing the strain on the transmission... MPG on LPG.. if you get around 25mpg on petrol, prob about 22-23 on lpg if its nicely set up... (so 45mpg+ running cost)

I actually have 2 LPG tanks... not sure what I might do with them at the mo.. One is a special I had made (by a LPG/Pressure tank manufacturer in the UK, to full UK/euro regs) to fit under the rear bench seat on the Caravelle way back in 2000-2001.. It was featured in vw camper and comercial mag when I wrote the LPG artical on it back then... perfect condition, holds 76L, may refit to 'velle if it comes back to UK...
The other, made by Stako, came out of the DOKA, as it was fitted in Holland and the French authorities wouldnt accept it...... it had only been on 1 year... that takes about 90L IIRC...

[mikestef]

We got our insurance with "StuartCollins"/axa .They told us we are covered the whole year in Spain/europe.We will read the policy to double check when it arrives over here.Let us know if you are selling your cylinders in the new future and if so how much.Thanks Mike

[toomanytoys]

Well, I couldnt find anyone in the UK to insure... will look them up..
AXA.. yeah I think my parents are with them via SAGA, they reckon as long as you want in europe too....

OK.. will have a good think about it shortly.. Need to have a measure up as I dont want to put the "big" tank back in the locker area... if I can fit one (if that doesnt) where I want, then it will be available...

[andisnewsyncro]

Re the insurance issue
We swapped to a Safeguard motorhome policy through Swintons, when we wanted 7 months cover in Europe; they give unlimited overseas usage as part of their policy. Had to give up the agreed valuation we had with Hic but figured it was worth it for the time we were away. Also AA cover in Europe for vehicles up to 20 years old (just squeezed in that one).

The legal side of a UK registered vehicle in Spain is another matter, like France they're getting pigged off with Brits keeping untaxed, un MOT'd cars down there and are pulling people over a lot more now.

If it's in Sapin for more than 6 months out of any 12 (or something close, have a Google), I think it's supposed to be re-registered. Obviously yours will be road legal, but they might be awkward about it if they see it in one place for too long, depends where you are really though (if there's lots of Brits you'll have more hassle than where there aren't it seems, we all get tarred with the "bad ex pat" brush). Keep your head down and be nice to the police

Andi

PS if you're in no rush we'll drive it down when we bring ours over again later in the year !!

[mikestef]

Andisnewsyncro :Yeah,know what you mean about keepng your head down and being nice,that is something we are aware of!We live in a very spanish area.Our every day run arounds have Spanish reg.We also live in a very private area where what we have parked is well out of sight.So we really dont think it will be an issue ,its not going to be used locally.The Guardia civil have a great presence here.Mike was stopped the other day and asked for his trailer papers and when he went to pull them out the Guardia commented that its very rare that a foreigner has them or even knows they should carry them!Its a country that loves red tape!!But its a lovely place to live.Regards Stefany p.s Van on way down already but thanks for the offer.

[syncropaddy]

What are trailer papers? Do trailers have to be registered in Spain?

[mikestef]

What are trailer papers? Do trailers have to be registered in Spain?

All Spanish trailers are sold with their own log book.If you buy a trailer elsewhere you will get the manufacturers documents with it and these are what you will be asked to show if stopped.

[syncropaddy]

Hmmmm....... not like Ireland