Hello

I've just joined the forum as I'm looking to buy my first ever van. I'm looking at an old and cheap late 70s to 80s Puck to see how we get on. Any advice from Eriba owners as to what to look out for buying a 30+ year old van would be welcome.

A couple of questions though:

1 - I have a very steep driveway, about 70m long and around 18% gradient! Am I going to be able to get it up that slope with my 2016 two wheel drive 1.2 TSi Skoda Yeti ?

2 - I notice that at least one Yeti owner has had problems with his Westfalia tow bar height causing the van to be nose up. I haven't bought a tow bar yet, so is there anything I should consider before doing so?

Thanks for any advice you can give. I'm certainly hoping that my steep driveway slope won't be a no-goer!

Hi Randa

Thanks for your advice re the framework. My drive is tarmac, so at least the adherence is OK, but it's steep enough to give some wheel spin when starting up it with wet leaves around. The link to the What Tow Car calculator is great and the result seems optimistic. Thx again. Nick

we reverse up our drive so far then unhitch and pushed by hand with wooden blocks to swing wheels against, we haven't had eriba out for a few years so, no doubt an easier method will have to happen
why the hand pushing, the cars clutch its not dual mass but does get warm, and wheel grip goes on one wheel,

the eriba goes out forward, the spare wheel underneath just clears the back tilt has an inch clearance,
alas we do tow up a grass steep hill and there is no touching. I don't know the gradient, but have towed up birk brow near Guisborough with no bother, ask the white van man a number of years ago cough grabs coat quickly

I did hear of one person who used an electric hoist fixed to the garage wall to pull their Eriba up a steep driveway.
Dave

Pucks are fairly light and should be easy to tow and manoeuvre. If a VW camper van or an old Mini can tow one, you should have no problem with a Yeti. A 18% gradient should present no issues; after all, it is less than 1 in 5 and you could expect to meet this sort of gradient on the road network from time to time.
If you are concerned, as the previous post says, why not install an electric winch to pull the van up the slope. Another solution would be a motor mover but this probably overkill on a Puck and would be quite costly.

Good point. No doubt more than a few old VW combis have towed a Puck and, as you say, faced the odd 1in5 hill. So far I'm getting only optimistic replies, so I'm feeling positive about my driveway challenge. Thx.

Possibly a dumb question, but as a towing virgin I dare to ask. Can you manually manoeuvre a light van like a Puck on level ground, eg pushing/pulling it a few metres or turning it 180 degrees?

Not a dumb question, the answer is yes.

Thanks Julie !