In Case of Emergency:

We all have our mobile phones, but this tip passed on by Ken McCloskey (2607) could really save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest.

Message from NSW Ambulance Service

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory, but if we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us wouldn't know who to call.   Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency?

Hence this "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) Campaign.   The concept of "ICE" is catching on quickly.   It is a method of contact during emergency situations.   As mobile phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name "ICE" (In Case Of Emergency).

This idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call.   He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose.   In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialling the number you have stored as "ICE".

For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc.

RepellANT:

Troubled by pesky ants running around your pristine kitchen area?   Nellie Romer (2617) advises talcum powder sprinkled around the wheels, stabilisers, jockey wheel, power cable and water hose fixes the problem.   Apparently the powder gums up their little feet so they go elsewhere.   Cheap powder is just as effective as the most expensive.

Watch where you walk:

Visiting van parks boasting wondering "cute and cuddly wildlife"?   Have a grass rake in the A'van locker.   Tried and tested at many club gatherings (kangaroos, possums, ducks... ), the rake is always in great demand!

Takes a bit longer, but... :

Prefer not to have wet towels hanging around?   Pam Thomas (2902) suggests you use instead a ‘face cloth' to dry yourself after showering.   They absorb a lot of water and are easily rung-out when saturated.   Guaranteed to get you at least 95% dry and the face cloth itself dries quickly on the van towel rail.

Flapping lockers:

If your A'van locker doors hinge along the bottom (many of them do), ensure the screw holding the inside tab to the door lock is kept tight.   If this vibrates loose, the door will fall open resulting in your ‘treasures' being scattered along the highway.   Some ‘Threadlocker' (eg Loctite 243) on the screw thread would provide added insurance.

ABC Radio station finder:

Do you arrive at your intended destination then have to spend valuable minutes (or even hours) searching on the van radio for your favourite ABC local, national, classic fm or (God forbid) triple J station?   Invest in the credit card size ABC Travellers' Guide ($1 from ABC shops & centres) which lists those stations for locations throughout Australia.   Pre-tune the radio before leaving home to save even further holidaying time!

Dry locker:

For a quicker getaway, join the two ends of your water hose with a hose-lock joiner.   This prevents water draining out from the hose in the locker and retains the hose in a neat coil.

Drip...drip... drip:

Wherever two or more A'vanners gather together, you can guarantee sooner or later, the subject of condensation comes up.   Condensation usually occurs at sun up after a very cold night, particularly in humid conditions.   Moisture in the air, usually from our breath, condenses on most metal surfaces and can cause all sorts of problems as water droplets fall off the roof or, even worse, soak into the wall and floor surfaces.   Experiences vary from "no problem whatsoever" to horror stories of ruined books and a saturated video recorder.

A'van Campers suggest leaving open windows and/or the roof vents, but in our experience the effect on reducing condensation is marginal.   Other solutions vary from "sticking masking tape on all the metal surfaces" (Jim Wright, 2560), to holidaying in Mudgee mid-winter, when the condensation promptly freezes on the metalwork - you can scratch your name in the frost but no drips (not for a while anyway)!

A novel approach has been suggested by Les Walsh (2448):

The perennial "condensation" problem - solved in one with a product called Damp-Rid, available in Coles and (probably) most large supermarkets.   Comes in a box like a milk carton.   I've made a small version of the original container, utilising a small bowl which fits neatly into the top of a screw-top plastic jar (holes in the bottom of the bowl of course).   When stationary, open the cap and the crystals in the bowl absorb extraneous water, depositing it in the bottom of the jar.   Screw cap on for travelling (after emptying water from jar).   Replace crystals as necessary.

Tight wheelnuts:

A member recently had the tyres on his car replaced at a ‘prominent' tyre outlet in Fyshwick.   The following morning the (cold) tyre pressures were 38 psi all round (should have been 29 psi front, 26 psi rear).   The car manufacturer specifies the wheel nut torque at 90 newton metres.   The actual torque on all the wheel nuts was greater than 160 newton metres (maximum on the member's torque wrench), and it would have been impossible to remove the wheel nuts on the roadside with the tools normally carried for that purpose.   Over stressing of the wheel nut studs was also quite likely.

On raising these matters with the tyre supplier, the response was less than convincing.   The moral of the story is to ensure you will get professional service before deciding who will work on your car (or A'van), and try to slacken the wheelnuts as soon as you get home rather than finding out that you cannot remove them when you have a puncture on the roadside.

A'van Al-Ko wheel alignment:

Al-Ko (manufacturers of the suspension on A'vans) advise that if re-alignment is necessary, the whole assembly has to be removed from the A'van and returned to one of its Service Agents (see listing below) the for re-building.   If the suspension is still under warranty the re-build will be free but the owner will have to pay delivery costs to & from the agent.   If out of warranty, the owner will also have to pay the re-build costs which amount to many hundreds of dollars.

Owner experience is that some A'van dealers are prepared to negotiate with Al-Ko over costs for warranty units.

Eddie Houghton (2611) tells us that Canberra Truck Align in Queenbeyan can re-align the suspension in-situ and at considerably less cost than having it re-built.   The difference is that parts of the suspension are re-aligned using hydraulic jacks instead of using shims as in a re-build.   The choice is yours!

We have been advised that AL-KO (manufacturers of the electric brakes/hubs and suspension system fitted to most A'vans) have closed their service section at Hallam and have provided a one page list (as below) of some of the recommended service centres in some states - no doubt other accredited service people also exist.

The major Australia wide recommendation appears to be ABS Stores, which are located in most capital cities and major towns.

State	Town/Suburb	Company	Address	Phone	Agent/Contact
All States	---	ABS Stores	Nearest Store	132-271	---
NSW	Albury,   2640	Albury Brake & Clutch Centre	288 Kiewa St	(02) 6041-4733	---
NSW	Albury,   2640	Murray Fab Engineering	234 North Road	(02) 6041-4688	---
NSW	Griffith,   2680	MIA Caravans & Trailers	74 Willandra Ave	(02) 6964-2611	Jayco
NT	Winnellie,   0820	Darwin & Winnellie Brake Centre	31 Winnellie Rd	(08) 8947-0069	(Mark)
NT	Winnellie,   0820	We'reabout Engineering	Lot 1732,   Mataram St	(08) 8947-3088	(Darren)
NT	Stuart Park,   0820	Muffler City	26 Stuart Highway	(08) 8981-4406	(Bob)
NT	Katherine,   0850	Neil Engineering	Gorge Rd,   The Rocks	(08) 8972-1241	(Noel)
SA	Cavan,   5094	SA Trailers & Chassis Equip	136 Port Wakefield Rd	(08) 8262-7170	---
SA	Holden Hill,   5088	Electric Brake Specialists	14 Braeside Ave	(08) 8263-0733	---
SA	Port Augusta	Mike's Mobile Repairs	(Mobile)	(08) 8641-1010	---
TAS	Glenorchy,   7010	Auto Brake Service Tas	17 Farley St	(03) 6273-1744	---
TAS	Moonah,   7009	King Trailer Industries P/L	5-9 Florence St	(03) 6228-0317	---
TAS	Somerset,   7322	Austins Caravans & Trailers	Bass Highway	(03) 6435-2643	A'van
VIC	Bairnsdale,   3875	John Anderson's Caravans	481-483 Princes Highway	(03) 5152-2510	Repairs/Service
VIC	Ballarat,   3350	John & Catherine Davis Great Outdoors	217-231 Learmouth Rd	(03) 5339-3072	---
VIC	Bayswater,   3153	Hardings Caravan Services P/L	6   The Nook	(03) 9729-8477	---
VIC	Campbellfield,   3061	Able Caravan Repairs	Fact 2,   281 Rex Road	(03) 9303-9677	---
VIC	Cobram,   3644	Peter Ennals Cobram Caravans	Broadway Street	(03) 5872-2333	Regal/Compass/Colt
VIC	Hamilton,   3300	Albie Tully & Son	129-131 French St	(03) 5572-1353	---
VIC	Metropolitan Melbourne	Max Evans (Fits Brake Controllers)	Mobile	0408-398-558	---
VIC	Richmond,   3121	Richmond Brake & Clutch	Swan Street	(03) 9429-3155	---
VIC	Thomastown,   3074	D & I Caravans Maintenance	52-54 Commercial Drive	(03) 9465-6122	(Dale)
VIC	Wodonga,   3690	Wodonga Brake & Clutch	193 Melbourne Rd	(02) 6024-7155	---
WA	Bayswater,   6053	Trailer Parts P/L	4 Katanning St	(08) 9279-5777	---
WA	Belmont,   6104	Ken Peachey Caravans	194 Campbell Street	(08) 9277-1381	---
WA	Maddington,   6109	Advance Caravan Repairs & Hire	37 Eva Street	(08) 9493-2771	Jayco
WA	Osborne Park,   6017	Coromal Caravans	7 Walters Drive	(08) 9445-1911	---
WA	Welshpool,   6106	Caravan Parts/Camec WA	129 Welshpool Rd	(08) 9350-5898	---

A'van wheel bearing adjustment:

A'vans are fitted with AL-KO electric braked axles in which the bearing hub is not a separate item but is an integral part of the brake drum.   AL-KO recommend brakes and bearings be inspected by an AL-KO Agent every 10,000 Km or at 12 month intervals.   Grease stains on the wheel often are an indication of incorrect adjustment or impending failure.

The following note on wheel bearing adjustment (attributed to Lockheed) may be of interest:

"Wheel bearings must neither be too slack nor too tight.   Either condition results in excessive wear leading to premature failure.   Inspect the cones and rollers for pitting and/or wear (if so, replace), repack the bearing with a high temperature bearing grease before replacing the drum/hub on the axle spindle.

Pre-load the spindle nut to a torque or 40 N-m, then back off the nut 180 degrees, then forward 90 degrees.   Fit a new cotter pin in the nut slot nearest to the spindle hole.   Check that no looseness can be felt by gripping and rocking the drum top to bottom.   If looseness can be felt, tighten nut to the next slot and repeat until no looseness can be felt.   Re-fit wheel to drum and repeat the looseness check by gripping and rocking the wheel top to bottom.   If looseness can be felt under this condition, remove wheel and tighten nut again to the next slot.   Repeat as necessary.   Road test and repeat the looseness check after (say) 100 Km."

Wheel bearings are generally very reliable, particularly if serviced regularly as recommended.   However, bearings have been known to fail catastrophically.   Carrying a spare set of bearings and a grease seal can mean you are either able to fix it yourself or they can be given to a local mechanic for fixing.   Either way you are back on the road again a lot quicker than otherwise!   If you are really paranoid, consider carrying a spare drum c/w grease packed bearings which can be interchanged with the failed unit very quickly at the roadside.   (A replacement drum with bearings cost around $110)   When buying spare bearings or a drum, it is suggested your existing unit is taken as a sample to ensure the spares are interchangeable.   From experience, it appears bearings fitted to A'vans are not always identical.

A'van Levelling Aid:

If you are particularly sensitive to your A'van not being level from side to side (some travelling companions are known to be obsessive about this), A'vanner Richard Giblin (2550) has come up with a solution which makes leveling the A'van side to side particularly easy. A bob weight hanging from the centre of the towel rail and a couple of marks directly under each other on the bulkhead is all that it takes.   By watching the bob weight and marks through the rear window, move the vehicle to align the bob weight and the marks. Simple solutions are always the best!

Neat cross levelling indicator

Extension Cord Coupling:

Extension cords are a necessary evil at caravan parks.   It doesn't matter how long the cable is on your A'van, there will be occasions where it is just not long enough.   Using an extension cord seems to be the answer ...but this too is not without problems.   The connection can be inadvertently separated when walking past, leaving you without mains power to your A'van, or even worse, starting a grass fire if the disconnection is not total.   If it is raining, water can find it's way between the pins which is likely to trip off the power.

The solution is to physically lock together the interconnection, and to weatherproof the joint.   The Clipsal 437PR/SR (available from electrical wholesalers), when properly fitted, provides such protection.   The 437PR (plug ring) is fitted to the van cord plug, and the 437SR (socket ring) to the cord socket.   For those van parks having newer power outlets, the 437PR will screw directly to those outlets providing a firmer mechanical connection than when relying on the plug pins alone.

Clipsal 437PR/SR weatherproof threaded coupling

The yellow HPM D107 Cord Safety Lock, readily available from outlets such as Bunnings, does physically lock together the coupling but it is not weatherproof.   If you are using one of these, wrapping a plastic bag around the joint is better than nothing.