#46

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Sat Mar 23, 2024 10:47 am
by Randa france | 13.258 Posts

Not the full answer but there has been a lot of debate about balancing caravan wheels. There is a line of though that by doing so it must make the ride less bouncy/rattly. I belong to the "must balance" brigade.
Randa


ERIBAFOLK POP UP EVERYWHERE 1999 Eriba Troll 530 pushing a VW Touran 2L TDi Match . FORUM ADMINISTRATOR
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#47

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:34 am
by eribaMotters | 5.585 Posts

As regards the door opening.
On our previous Eriba, a Triton 430, I set the van up on level ground and adjusted the top door catch to a snug fit. I then put a bolt through the door instead of one of the screws. It never came loose in the 6 years I owned the van.
The problem is the chassis flexes and allows the door to move. If anybody wants to check then simply close the bathroom door and adjust your corner steadies. As such on our current van, a Feeling 425 I decided on a different solution. Look here:- Bathroom door opening fix
If I ever come across a nice simple brushed stainless steel or aluminium fitting to replace my offering I'll swap it over. This should not be a problem as I have only made one hole through the cabinetwork.

Now the hinges.
Some have used a piano hinge, which I think would be difficult to get correct. Others have simply fitted extra hinges, and this is the route I would take, adding one in the middle of each gap between the factory fit hinges. I would attempt to source hinges that are a few mm longer so that you can replace the existing hinges in order to avoid using the original screw holes. If you cannot then the last stage is even more important. Lightly countersink the hinge screw holes in order that the screws sit better in the holes and araldite all screws into place.

Colin

Edit - Wheel balancing
I belong to the opposite camp to Roger. We are on our 5th Eriba and over 20 years of Eriba ownership. None have had the wheels balanced and all were bought either new or on the original factory tyres, so they have been that way from new.
On several occasions I have left site and forgot to put the sink cover away, only to find it still in place when we have arrived at the next site. Similarly items have accidently in the past been left on the front table and kitchen worksurface only to be found where I had left them


Forum Moderator. aka Oscar - Audi A3 1.5 petrol - oh dear me, I've gone to the darkish side and bought a Feeling after 4 Tourings


Last edited Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:56 am | Scroll up

#48

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Sat Mar 23, 2024 12:42 pm
by scouteralf | 125 Posts

RE toilet door flexing, I do not think you will sop that happening but to keep the door closed whilst traveling i have tried magnetic catches, pipe insulation and a small hook and is now used at the top of the door, tight the hinges on the door the better, but we still have to slightly lift the door to lock sometime.
as for top locker I made some retaining straps from uninsulated cable lugs and picture wire. this stops the door from dropping fully down.
somebody will come up with a good idea soon i am sure.
Nice when you have a few hours to spare to sit in the van and ponder solutions.


troll 530GT pushing Skoda Karoq (petrol)
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#49

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Sun Mar 24, 2024 1:09 pm
by SOULBLUESMAN68 | 1.193 Posts

I think I have posted on this subject a few times over the years. I did a great job of re-fixing the fitting on the toilet door in new screw holes. I may even have taken a photograph of the work. I was really proud of my craftsmanship - until one day after a long tow I entered the van and the fitting was lying on the floor again.

Like Alf above, I sat in the van and pondered a solution...............................eventually I reached a philosophical rather than practical solution. I recognised that our beloved Troll was really just like an errant teenager. Whatever we decided to do didn't matter, it had a mind of it's own and would do whatever its whims suggested it should do.

It hasn't solved the problem of the door opening in transit but my new understanding and sense of zen means that its effect on me is minimal and I still love the mischievous 540 to death

MikeT


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#50

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Sun Mar 24, 2024 9:52 pm
by Inspecta_Gadget | 334 Posts

We fixed the problem with that catch shortly after purchase; it lasted 2 trips before becoming a pendulum.
Solution? It’s in a plastic bag in the loft and the holes are filled. It’s absence has not been noticed.👍

I belong in Roger’s camp; bungee strap from the coat hook to the door handle whilst travelling.

Steve.


Hyundai i30 Estate pulling “Little Flo”, a Troll 530.
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#51

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Mon Mar 25, 2024 6:49 am
by Islay | 319 Posts

Reading this thread makes me appreciate our 1998 Triton even more. Nothing comes open/falls off LOL.


Triton 430 from 1998 and Renault Mégane.
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#52

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Mon Mar 25, 2024 9:14 am
by eribaMotters | 5.585 Posts

If I remember correctly your van has the bar and claw closing on the bathroom door, like that used on the wardrobe. Why Eriba changed from such a tried and tested fixing is beyond me. I suppose they it progress.

Colin


Forum Moderator. aka Oscar - Audi A3 1.5 petrol - oh dear me, I've gone to the darkish side and bought a Feeling after 4 Tourings
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#53

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Mon Mar 25, 2024 4:29 pm
by Old Rocker | 534 Posts

Islay on my travels in France the roads are far superior to our pot holed riddled bits of tarmac posing as roads


2022 Troll 530, Volvo XC60 2,4 R design

Now all he believes are his eyes, and his eyes they just tell him lies
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#54

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Tue Mar 26, 2024 7:59 am
by Simboc2004 | 788 Posts

re #dhj_oceandrive's post: I'd put countersunk headed machine screws right through the hinges, with nyloc nuts (and sizeable washers) on the inside. Not as attractive, but they wouldn't pull out of the wall... Stainless steel, of course :-)

Or you could use those fixings that IKEA provide to join cabinets together - one screws inside the other, so both ends have flush heads. A touch of thread lock should stop them coming apart. If they are too long, then just cut both down.

It's funny how the older Eribas don't suffer from this. Presumably because ours are made from real wood and plywood... Is the modern wall/door material particle board? Or MDF? Wood will split if enough torque is applied, but it won't disintegrate like modern particleboards. Ply is generally fine too - as long as screwed through the ply layers, not into them - which is where some of the lockers doors come to grief, I think, because ply is only as good as the glue used to make it...


Poppy, our 2005 Eriba 430GT, leading our Volvo V70 astray...


Last edited Tue Mar 26, 2024 8:10 am | Scroll up

#55

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Tue Mar 26, 2024 8:06 am
by Simboc2004 | 788 Posts

Our Triton came with small bolts on both wardrobe and toilet doors. As long as we remember to bolt them before departure, the doors stay firmly closed. The previous owner had fitted brass bolts, however I sourced some nice satin finish stainless ones which match the other interior fittings...


Poppy, our 2005 Eriba 430GT, leading our Volvo V70 astray...


Last edited Tue Mar 26, 2024 8:10 am | Scroll up

#56

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Wed Mar 27, 2024 7:24 am
by Islay | 319 Posts

Yes, the door has a pole and claw closure.
Not all roads are smooth here! Some departments spend more than others. I must say Brittany has very good roads but places like the Vendée have dreadful surfaces.
The doors don't fly open but often, I get into the van and find stuff all over the floor...... It must bounce about a lot.


Triton 430 from 1998 and Renault Mégane.
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#57

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Wed Mar 27, 2024 8:14 am
by eribaMotters | 5.585 Posts

Islay, sounds a bit like Devon where we now live. There was one road I avoided with the caravan that has finally been resurfaced. On the "good" alternative I wrecked a tyre last week, an unwelcome £122 bill. I've filled in a pothole claim with the council, took 1 1/2 hrs to complete and wait time of 16 weeks. Friends of my wife say we are lucky. One has had to replace 3 tyres over the last year.

Colin


Forum Moderator. aka Oscar - Audi A3 1.5 petrol - oh dear me, I've gone to the darkish side and bought a Feeling after 4 Tourings
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#58

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Wed Mar 27, 2024 8:48 am
by Simboc2004 | 788 Posts

Between us, my wife and I have written off five tyres and a wheel this winter (the wettest ever recorded in Suffolk) - the roads locally are appalling - and not just rural ones, major routes too - not helped by huge trucks. New holes are opening up overnight - sometimes really deep as the rain washes away the aggregate underneath... Here's a recent tyre killer, the water was running underneath the tarmac "skin" like a stream:

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Poppy, our 2005 Eriba 430GT, leading our Volvo V70 astray...


Last edited Wed Mar 27, 2024 8:52 am | Scroll up

#59

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Thu Mar 28, 2024 9:00 am
by Islay | 319 Posts

They look awful. colin I must drive you crazy having to spend all that time filling out forms.
The French term for a pothomle is nid de poule - chicken's nest. Some clown has been going about putting straw and fake chickens in some. It made me laugh.
This motorbike club is suggesting straw ans easter eggs for this weekend! https://www.niddepoule.fr/


Triton 430 from 1998 and Renault Mégane.
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#60

RE: Toilet door top catch

in Anything Eriba-related Thu Mar 28, 2024 9:31 am
by Randa france | 13.258 Posts

Quote: Islay wrote in post #59

The French term for a pothole is nid de poule - chicken's nest. Some clown has been going about putting straw and fake chickens in some.

That's interesting Islay for we learned about where the term pot hole comes from when we paid a visit to Guédelon Castle in France where we were told that the clay that surfaced along the tracks and cartways that serviced the building of a castle was dug up to make pots etc thus leaving a cartway hole called a pot hole.

https://www.guedelon.fr/en/

Randa


ERIBAFOLK POP UP EVERYWHERE 1999 Eriba Troll 530 pushing a VW Touran 2L TDi Match . FORUM ADMINISTRATOR
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