Club 80-90 Forums

Last week we got back from our first venture with the camper after a good year if fannying about.
We went to France, did about 1800 miles over 10 days and got down to the Lot region with some mooching about on the way. We did a few proper off roading sessions to get to good camping spots (although nothing like what a lot of you lot get up to!). I am amazed to say that i took a small box of tools with me and didn’t even open it! to be honest i though it would be the systems that i put in that might cause me the trouble rather than the car, although having said that i still need to get some bits done that didn’t stop us doing what we wanted
anyway, heres some pics with the bare minimum of "family album" efforts! i am not the most photogenic!

on our way to another out of the way spot in a massive forest near Orleans

Saw this van in Orleon

anouther spot in the forrest, notice proper jed-esk flip flop use


So, what else do i need to do? well i couldn’t get 4x4 to engage (not a problem as rear diff lock got me out of any little issues), i need a second leisure battery, no big surprise , i just about had enough charge for one night to be honest.. and the gear change still needs some work, i snapped off my aerial (twice) looks like a bit of fun to replace...

Lastly, i did all that and managed to get back without a scratch until it tried to put it back in the garage and put a nice big chip in the paint!
Ooh, didn’t use any toll roads pay for camping once, just what i was after!

guzzi wrote:So, what else do i need to do? well i couldn’t get 4x4 to engage

I'm saying absolutely nothing

Van looks good in that colour ....

1800 miles in ten days?
Did you ever get out of the van.


Rob.

De-coupler most likely a vacuum failure.

Glad to see you on the road and enjoying it.

Just to keep paddy amused you dont need 4wd any way.

Test the light on the de-coupler first(bridge the terminals on the plug), then check your vacuum. You can always jury rig up the rear diff lock to run the de-coupler and that will show if you have an actuation problem. (with a bit of extra hose)

I am doing a lot of my local lanes in 2wd to improve my driving skill and observation.

guzzi wrote: i need a second leisure battery, no big surprise , i just about had enough charge for one night to be honest..

Have you got a 160A alternator to battery Sterling charger? If not thats what you need. I finally got round to fitting the compressor fridge (50l) that I was asking your advice about earlier on in the year and on full whammy it lasts just over two days. I took some advice from V-Lux (Al) because he knows about all this stuff, and bagged a Sterling Charger last night on ebay. This way my leisure battery will fully charge in minutes rather than hours from the alternator. Also handy if the ebber will be on 24/7 during camping in the winter etc...

Glad to see you out in the van now

jed

syncropaddy wrote:

guzzi wrote:So, what else do i need to do? well i couldn’t get 4x4 to engage

I'm saying absolutely nothing

jed

Thanks all, i was just glad to get back without using the AA! Or couldn’t cook because i messed something up
Re the 4 wheel drive, i am fairly sure it isnt the warning light because i can’t hear it (it sounds like when the brake rings are being applied on an old automatic gear box to me) and it stopped working after i got the front CV joints fitted so i wonder if he has just knocked something? i will have a look.
I have to say i never got even close to needing the 4x4, the diff lock pulled me out easyily the couple of times i need a bit more, but i havent driven it in the snow yet?
i am definitely in the market for one of those Sterling efforts, to be honest i should have got that rather than the full on Stirling on board mains charger i got, i was never anywhere near metropolis to use it anyway! although i need to save my penny’s for a few months for something else so it will have to wait...plus i hate wiring (is still haven’t wired in the mains charger yet!). How much do they run at? plus all the proper thick cable cant be cheap?
1800 miles in 10 days isnt so bad although when we were nearly 900km from Calais with two days to go i thought i better pull my finger out!
it was lovely to drive other than the aforementioned gear change - oh an i think i need to get the rack looked at soon, good and wandery in the right (wrong) conditions
oh jest i got about 33/36 MPG which isnt bad consider the kind of roads i was on mainly and the full loaded nature of the thing (i mush have double the normal water capacity somtimes when we fill up with extra bottles and stuff.
Really looking forward to the next one

lhd wrote:1800 miles in ten days?
Did you ever get out of the van.


Rob.

We did 750 miles from Syncro25 to Fishguard in one stretch .....

Nice one...
(we reg do a 650 mile run inc ferry in 14 hours.)

syncropaddy wrote:

lhd wrote:1800 miles in ten days?
Did you ever get out of the van.


Rob.

We did 750 miles from Syncro25 to Fishguard in one stretch .....

I usually have an 11 year old on board ,so think that comes into child abuse territory

Did I see your van parked up in Surbiton outside The Lamb pub the other week? Next to the they Bay Window ambulance?

Yep that was me, Had some business down there, were you in your van?

syncroand101 wrote:Did I see your van parked up in Surbiton outside The Lamb pub the other week? Next to the they Bay Window ambulance?

Does that ambulance ever move?

guzzi wrote:Yep that was me, Had some business down there, were you in your van?

let us know next time your over, i could pick up them CVJ's

lloydy wrote:let us know next time your over, i could pick up them CVJ's

oh yes forgot about them...! i will give you a shout

lhd wrote: I usually have an 11 year old on board

Care to rephrase that ??