Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

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Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

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Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Tue Aug 02, 2022 3:41 pm
by DJP (deleted)

Hello, we drove a few miles with the handbrake on, stopped, corrected. The wheels and drums seems hot, but not burning and and the when we continued the brakes seemed fine. The handbrake worked and the caravan broke with the car. But 1000km later and things dont� seem as good. We are pretty slow drivers and stick well below the speed limit and engine rather than pedal brake. But coming up to a junction yesterday the caravan seemed to clunk a bit when slowing. We�re staying near Puy en Velay and asked the site owner who has contacted a local bloke who�s popping in tomorrow to check it out. Any advice. It was only serviced the other week and all the bearings were replaced, wheels and brakes check all fine.

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Tue Aug 02, 2022 4:04 pm
by eribaMotters •

| 5.600 Posts

Sounds familiar. some years ago I had my 2006 Familia serviced. It needed a new wheel bearing so that was duly fitted.
Several weeks late we drove from Essex to the middle of the Dordogne, about 600 miles. The car did not seem to pull as well as usual and mpg was not recording what we usually get. When we arrived the door side wheel was HOT. We when left site a couple of weeks later the noise was terrible. We stopped, called Red Pennant and returned to site. It was a Sunday and we were told not to expect anything until Monday. To our amazement a wonderfully clean and shiny recovery truck turned up a couple of hours later. It turns out the garage had received a call and they knew the site owners. A couple of mechanics emerged, jacked the van up, pulled the wheel off and it was apparent the bearing had not seated correctly. They cleaned out the hub and with my big copper Thor mallet re-seated the bearing. Within the hour we were off again and towed for another year or so before selling the van without any issues.I did return it to the original mechanic who stripped the hub and brakes, comparing one side with another but could find no issues.
Dom Fox bought the van, who I informed about the issue. He stripped also the hub, found no problem but painted the drum to tidy it up.
I have heard of two or three similar cases across the Eriba forums, so I do not believe this is an isolated incident.

Colin

Forum Moderator. aka Oscar - Audi A3 1.5 petrol _ ex 430, 552, camplet trailer tent, 310, now a nice white 2017 430.

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:02 pm
by Steamdrivenandy •

| 1.051 Posts

Is it the brakes or is the' clonk' the hitch damper not damping enough?

I had nothing to do on this hot afternoon
But to settle down and write you a line

Skoda Karoq 1.5 Petrol DSG

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:13 pm
by DJP (deleted)

Thant could be it - is the damper connected to the brakes?
Should you be able to compress the damper by pushing against it?

Last edited Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:14 pm | Scroll up

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:34 pm
by cabbie37 •

| 695 Posts

I had a somewhat similar issue a couple of years back. A very simple test to try is, on a nice bit of smooth surface, is to push the van backwards and forwards by hand and feel if there is any resistance... That might help eliminate things...

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Tue Aug 02, 2022 6:06 pm
by Steamdrivenandy •

| 1.051 Posts

Quote: DJP wrote in post #4
Thant could be it - is the damper connected to the brakes?
Should you be able to compress the damper by pushing against it?

In a sense it reacts to the brakes, damping the natural quite forceful forward movement of the van when the car brakes and as it moves it also applies the caravan brakes. If it's weakening the van moves forward under braking much more quickly and the damper can clunk against its stop.

I had nothing to do on this hot afternoon
But to settle down and write you a line

Skoda Karoq 1.5 Petrol DSG

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Tue Aug 02, 2022 8:21 pm
by Aaron Calder •

| 3.834 Posts

If only you'd had a pre-departure checklist, DJP.

Here's a link: Checklist thread

Forum Administrator
2003 Triton 420 and Audi A4 2.0Tfsi S-line SE Cabriolet

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Thu Aug 04, 2022 9:41 am
by Pepé Le Pew •

| 2.752 Posts

For some inexplicable reason the title of this thread reminds me of a dad joke:

Grandma decided that she wasn't getting enough exercise, so she took it upon herself to walk two miles a day.

That was back in April, and we've got absolutely no idea where she is.

.

Frantone, eribanaut, scouteralf and Simboc2004 like this post!

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Fri Aug 05, 2022 9:46 am
by DJP (deleted)

So we had a local chap look at the brakes and said they�re still biting, but the damper inside the hitch might need replacing. I�m wondering whether we should try to do this before we leave france. We�re near Clermont Ferrand which is a sizeable town with an Alko chap

#10

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Fri Aug 05, 2022 10:41 am
by Islay Corbel (deleted)

If you would feel better about it, and you've got quite a long trip home, (I assume you live in GB), then why not get it done for peace of mind. After all, Eribas are supposed to be fun, not a source of stress.

Betty, 1998 Triton 430 and Colin, a Renault Mégane.

Last edited Fri Aug 05, 2022 10:42 am | Scroll up

#11

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Fri Aug 05, 2022 11:06 am
by DJP (deleted)

I think we�ll limp home we�re unite slow drivers �take it easy and avoid the alps

#12

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Fri Aug 05, 2022 11:17 am
by Islay Corbel (deleted)

You'll be fine. No alps between you and Britain. Bonne route!

Betty, 1998 Triton 430 and Colin, a Renault Mégane.

#13

RE: Help drove off with the handbrake on, now in the south of france

in We've got it down to a T Fri Aug 05, 2022 10:30 pm
by Alan •

| 77 Posts

Is the noise every time you brake? When the damper went on my previous van that clunked at every stop which to me was quite worrying when you think the damper is there for a reason.