...........but not before a few comments...........................................

So, this last week we've taken advantage of a short spell of decent weather to prepare our Eribas in readiness for the winter months.

First job and not one I look forward to because I end up getting wetter than the Eribas, is a good hose down and wash. This year, for the first time ever, I noticed that the dimpled finish had a lot of green moss (algae?) growing in much of the dimpled surface. The only think that would budge it was to scrub it with a dishwashing brush that we've put into use as a wheel cleaner. As we wash the vans before every trip this has formed in the last month or so.

Then we fitted the covers. The little one is made for and sold by Automotive Leisure. Probably quite new. The bigger one is was made and sold by Protec and is now 14 years old. A bit past the sell by date now but still does the job. Several holes but none done by the weather. The mice got at it one Summer while it was stored off the van.

and so to bed 01.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)and so to bed 02.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Talking of mice, some folk may remember that our Troll was "invaded" by one mouse who nibbled its was into the van via the fridge vent before making a bed in an overhead locker thanks to a woven place mat. No food left on board so it lived on candle wax.

Anyway this year, we hope we are prepared and we have sprayed liberally around the outside of the van with Peppermint Spray. We just have to hope that our mouse isn't addicited to XXX Strong Mints

For a number of years we have used old offcuts of awning skirt, cut to length and dragged through the bottom rail, to help shelter the corner steadies from the worst of the weather.

We are happy that it works so this year we decided to purchase a new length of awning skirt as the old stuff was getting ropey and we needed extra for the Puck.

Attracted by the slightly lower price on offer we went for 7 metres of 500mm depth skirt, adverised by many outlets on line. We knew it looked to be a different material to the stuff we are used to but were prepared to give it a try. Bad move.

When it turned up it was made of fabric which in itself was OK but the Keder bead was an extruded clear plastic which slides in and out of the fabric. Result is that while the plastic will slide OK the fabric catches on the cut leading edge of the aluminium rail.

We got it to work but wouldn't recommend it to others who are looking for a new awning skirt.

and so to bed 03.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)and so to bed 05.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)and so to bed 04.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Please note that I discovered the last picture recently on another ad for this awning skirt, elsewhere on the interweb. It's NOT included on many of the other ads.

Randa

This is how Crazy Troll the Norwegian Viking winters his caravan:-

https://www.google.com/search?q=eriba+to...h0vubikcuI,st:0

I used to jack the van up onto axle stands so the wheels could spin freely. My previous Eriba's have also been garage stored so low light levels effecting the tyres. I now have to store outside and use the Fiamma tyre savers, motor moving the van onto them. One is packed out with paviours underneath it so the van slopes across the axle as well as being nose high. My generic cover is tall enough to go under the Eriba and down to the ground at the wheels.

Colin

Without wishing to be a contrary Mary just for the sake of it, we've never used tyre savers since we got our first van in 2008, and to the best of my knowledge we've never had flat spots.

To my eternal shame this Troll (and the Puck L before it) almost certainly spends more time resting on its tyres going nowhere at all than any other van on here.

Our Troll is stored inside (in the corner of one of the kids' bedrooms, fwiw) so it doesn't suffer from sunshine-induced tyre degradation, which I'm sure is a real thing.

My experience is that flat spotting, on the other hand, might not be a real thing at all, and the cynic in me wonders if, as is the case with lots of things in this life, tyre savers are a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist.

Just a thought, that's all.

Quote: Pepé Le Pew wrote in post #8

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Without wishing to be a contrary Mary just for the sake of it, we've never used tyre savers since we got our first van in 2008, and to the best of my knowledge we've never had flat spots.

Our Troll is stored inside (in the corner of one of the kids' bedrooms, fwiw) so it doesn't suffer from sunshine-induced tyre degradation, which I'm sure is a real thing.

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