Colin,

You instantly won me over with the mention of an innertube. Premium Jockey Wheel is on the list.

I think the reality is whatever we order we will be happy with, as we don't know any different!

On a completely seperate subject...

Our Brother/Sister in law have a lovely T2 Early Bay which they camp in regularly at so-called 'trendy' campsites. It would seem a lot of these tend to take a dim view of caravans, with a fair few banning them altogether. I can only assume that they don't want an influx of WWBs. Has anyone had any joy reasoning with campsite owners, specifically regarding the footprint and aesthetics of an Eriba Touring Caravan compared to a WWB?

Part of me thinks I shouldn't be offering my business to them anyway, but hey...

We've got a 2013 Troll 530 with front rear dinette/beds which we were told had sprung seats. Recently had our second only outing since purchased so still very much novice Eriba folk.
The front dinnette cushions don't have springs and cushions sit on a lift up boards over the front lockers. The rear cushions have a heavy board under each cushion and sit over the rear lockers. They use swing out supports rather than using the table, which is what the front bed uses. We found there are heavy to configure each night/morning, or lift to access lockers and the outer most backrest cushions keep tipping into locker.
Must admit they don't feel like they've got springs inside like you can with a conventional home mattress, and they are very much on the firm to hard side!
Got a lovely wool mattress topper for last trip and made a big difference.

I’d recommend adding the Truma electric option to the heater. Heat with the flick of a switch. You can leave it on overnight without any worry about leaving the gas on. In fact we have only ever used it with electric. Even in darkest winter. Never needed the gas. You need to be on electric hookup for it to work. Which we are during the darker and colder months.

Hi loving this thread, like you guys we have a new caravan on order (22 Rockabilly) it has been said before the extras are all a matter of your own needs, Personaly having had a vw T4 I am used to not having hot water, on board loo, heating and spending most of my time in the awning really only sleeping in the van. So when we bought our little puck a few years ago it was exactly the same as the T4 apart from more inside space a better bed and a fridge that runs on gas, I still spend most of my time in our awning lol.
I have ordered just the gas fire as this will probably never be used (we wont be away in the winter months) and its a small caravan so dont think we needed blown air.(if i am on hook up i have a small fan heater).
Also the hot water heater will only work on gas, the reason i did this is because if i am on a caravan site i will use the washing/showering facilities they have.
the only reason for the gas heater is if i am at a festival there will be no hook up and i can shower outside in my pop up loo tent. (was at the Mighty dub fest last weekend in out puck and sold it at the festival lol).
I only added the sprung mattress and the cassette roof blind (i will buy the sides for this later) and the shower kit because this suits our needs.

I’d say blown-air is a must if you’ve got a couple of ankle-snappers.😝
You can route the warm air just into the bathroom and it makes a great drying room. It’s also nice & warm when showering. We’re having truma water heater retrofitted in 2 weeks to replace the electric-only heater. (Should have been done when we collected in May but supply issues etc.
We’re also getting the electric fire element retrofitted while it’s in for the work as we quickly got fed up of moving the plug-in electric fire. We’ve got the 530 rear-seat layout and the fire was always in front of the fridge or bathroom doors!
You’ve got a great layout for the 4 of you; enjoy!

I've just bought a 2021 GT550, I have found the premium jockey wheel with noseweight gauge invaluable, & with you at all times when using the vehicle.The caravan tows much better if you get the noseweight right (mines 70/75kg on my yeti) & it's hard to load the vehicle the same every trip if you have an on board water tank with varying amounts of water in it each time, travelling out or back home, especially as that weight is all to one side of the vehicle. I try to equalize this imbalance by loading the floor on the opposite side with an equivalent 'guesstimated' weight to the water that's left remaining in the tank, it really does make a difference.
I would also fit a towing cover immediately or have dealer fit one for you, I failed to do this & now have a dent in the front ally panel from towing it back home from the dealer along the A14 with all it's gravel lorries!, I also met a guy 2 weeks ago at Longleat site with an Ocean Drive who done the same & chipped all the front painted area, we both now have a Protec one & they fit very well.

Hi Easy, we were advised not to leave water in our 40 litre onboard tank whilst travelling as the weight of the water slopping about could, repeat,could dislodge the tank. We drain it each time before set off. I can see there may be an issue, best safe than sorry.

Hi Colin, yes, we do the same.

Quote: chasnick wrote in post #24

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Hi Easy, we were advised not to leave water in our 40 litre onboard tank whilst travelling as the weight of the water slopping about could, repeat,could dislodge the tank. We drain it each time before set off. I can see there may be an issue, best safe than sorry.

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Hi

I always fully empty my water tank before towing.

Once after some work on the boiler was done I was left with the large underbed water tank on our 540 full and we got into a very unusual and uncharacteristic sway as I entered the M6 from a slip road. It was unnerving.

We got off pulled into a service area and on checking the tyres and tow connections first I discovered the water in the tank. I immediately drained it all the same way as Colin describes above. This immediately solved the issue.

I have since talked with people who do travel with water in their fresh water tank and think it is OK but it is an absolute no-no for me.

MikeT

Thanks for that SBM.

It is something I would be concerned about I must admit.

I dont travel with water in the tank normally but may wish to in the future, hence the question

I am also concerned about water sploshing out of the tank whilst travelling.

There is a vent on top of the screw lid that houses the pump pipe and the pump pipe doesnt have a watertight fit as it passes through the cap: how does water leakage through these points affect the water ingress warranty I wonder?

Hi,
whilst I agree, the ideal situation for towing would be with an empty tank, however, this does mean that if you are not booked on a fully serviced pitch with a water supply, you would need to fill the tank at a campsite service point on entering, before finding your pitch & also stop at a service point to drain it when vacating the campsite, unless you are dumping your remaining water on the pitch, which is not a very good idea for the next people using the pitch or at times of water shortage.
This 'travelling empty' would be acceptable for me on a longer stay, maybe 7 days or more, but for a short stay it simply makes more sense to leave the tank with water in it & avoid queueing with the motorhomes to fill or empty. Of course, it's not a good idea to use the tank water after it's been in there too long, so every so often it should be emptied & re-filled or/and sterilised.
Incidentally, my assumption is that the Hymer nosewight gauge that I had fitted from new as a Hymer extra, has been calibrated to take into account it's distance from the ball/socket, making it simple to just view the noseweight reading on your set-up just before you hitch-up, alowing you to move weight around in lockers or on the floor inside, that's the whole point of it, simple really, no calculations are required.