Anti Rust Corrosion Paper

Although we have a retractable VW towball on the Alltrack it still gets rusty between use despite having an Al-KO tow ball cover in situ.

Up until now I have applied grease to the ball which I then clean off prior to use.

A poster on CT suggested a seemingly good idea and that is the wrap the ball in anti-corrosion paper,something that up till now I have not heard of,prior to fitting the cap.

This stuff is as cheap as chips on Amazon :-

Amazon

Anyway I have sent for some and will keep you all posted on how it goes,a lot less fiddly and cleaner than grease,hopefully.

Ian

Calor Lite

As most caravanners will by now know,Calor are phasing out Calor Lite gas cylinders due to,I believe,quality control problems.

There is supposedly a new lightweight cylinder due out sometime this year.

There have been postings on Caravan Talk about people not being able to get their hands on replacement Lites but I had to replace a cylinder yesterday in Castleford (Davison & Robinson on Aire St. if anyone needs to know ) who appeared to have a number of Lites available so they are out there if anyone needs one.

Ian

Price Increase,Get Your Skates On.

Spoke the the CMC today about my insurance renewal,they had quoted the price of a replacement Cadiz at £24,244.

I pointed out that on the Bailey site they were priced at £23,699.

I was told that the higher price is what they are shortly going to be.

So if you are thinking about a U4 and you want to save £545 pounds then get your order in ASAP.

Incidentally the price of CMC insurance has remained remarkably stable probably due to them bringing it in-house.

Increased my cover from £26,500 to £28,000 ( inc. equipment ) and it came out as only £1 dearer than last year.

Ian

Attention Those With VW Tow Cars

This is just a heads up for those,like us ,who have a VW tow car and have had the NOx service action ( EA 189 ) done.

There have been some reports of problems with EGR valves subsequent to having the correction done.

Now this may be coincidental or a problem stemming from the upgrade,who knows.

If however you are suffering EGR,fuel injection or emission problems after the fix then within 24 months of having the work done and at less than 160,000 miles VW "would consider the complaint very carefully and if such a complaint was established to have arisen as a result  of the technical measures then VW will act responsibly and swiftly in line with its goodwill policy as supplemented in the annex (?) to respond to the consumers reasonable concerns."

All this is laid out in the letter that drivers will have received from VW,however my neighbour falls into this category and I had forgotten about it ( luckily we have had no problem as yet ).

He has booked his Golf into the dealers who seem aware of the problem so no grief as yet.

Ian 

U4 To U3 Light Swap On The Cheap

Anyone who is contemplating swapping the reading lights in the Unicorn 3 for those with a USB socket from the Unicporn 4 may be interested to know that the new lights are available from the Caravan Accessory Shop for roughly £12 cheaper than from Bailey:-

Caravan Accesory Shop Lights

Bailey Lights

Naturally I have already bought mine...................................................from Bailey.


Ian

Another "Must Not Miss" For Sale Item

I have for sale an Isabella Eclipse Magnum sun shade,like this one :-

Eclipse Magnum

It will fit onto the front of an Isabella Magnum awning or,as we have used it,direct to the side of the van.

Very good condition,comes with the canopy itself,two FixOns,Carbon X poles, F-Links ( for attaching it to the awning front ),screwdriver ( for tightening the F Links ),three Isabella storm guys,three large plastic pegs and a grey standard issue drawstring Isabella bag to put it all in.

Here is a video of it in action :-

Eclipse Magnum Installation

All this for the amazing price of £150,yes that's right £150.

Collection from Wakefield,West Yorkshire is of course free,if you require it to be posted then the buyer arranges collection,payment by cash or Paypal preferred.

Would make an ideal birthday present for the wife,she might think she is getting an expensive dress or shoes but watch her eyes widen when the Eclipse is opened on birthday morning.

Ian

Durham Grange

Just returned from five nights at Durham Grange CMC site.

It was originally to have been Hawes CMC site but heavy snow was forecast for there and as the approach is via narrowish lanes we decided to swap venue.

Mind you we had our fair share of bad weather in Durham but fortunately no lying snow.

When we arrived it was like a Unicorn 3  convention,there were eleven on site including ours,just goes to show how popular these vans were.

Incidentally was talking to a chap on an adjacent pitch who had a Unicorn 4,he told me that to get a TV bracket fitted to it was over £100,and that is just for one,if you want another for the bedroom side of the fridge it is of course double that.
Not so easy to fit yourself evidently as you have to drill at precise points according to a template to fit the bracket.
Why Bailey scrapped the fitting in the U3 I don't know,great bit of kit IMHO.

Anyway,well pleased with the Cadiz on our first trip of the season,nil to report all systems functional.

With reference to my previous post regarding collapsed axles David Mantell,one of my correspondents,suggested that perhaps it would be best to measure clearance when the van was loaded.

Had a go at this whilst we were out and all appears to be in order fortunately.

Ian