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Prob getting long c'van on drive when wheels in rain gutter.

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Old Jun 4th, 2011, 23:55   #1
c_lee
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Default Prob getting long c'van on drive when wheels in rain gutter.

I'd welcome any suggestions regarding this as it is something I have only done 3 times so far and have had difficulty each time.

My caravan has a body length of 5 metres and is single axle, 1100 KG max.
The road that my drive meets is, I assume, standard width for a small road on an estate allowing 2 cars to pass easily - but not if there is a car parked on the road.

I have a dropped pavement entry to my drive which is a bit higher than the road.

When the caravan approaches the drive at 90 degrees to the kerb and the wheels are at their lowest point in the roads rain gutter there is not a lot of space, front and back, between the corner steadies and the road/drive surface - it's very tight even when the caravan is not attached to the towball on the car.

Being that my drive is higher than the road, getting the van actually on the drive is an ( possibly - 1100KG ) uphill push, and hard work for just 2 people. It can be made to clear front and back by adjustment of the jockey wheel to a point where the towhitch is quite low and near to the road surface.

Ideally I would like to reverse the caravan onto the drive using the car but the low position needed of the towhitch to give clearance for the steadies front and back makes this virtually impossible due to the height of the towball on the car. The towball height is right for normal use.
It might be possible to pull the caravan onto the drive but the clearance situation, front and back, wouldn't be much better. The car would also then be trapped on the drive by the caravan.

There are 3 fixed points that will remain the same when considering getting the caravan on the drive unhitched. They allow just enough clearance of the corner steadies with fine adjustment of the jockey wheel.

Assumed here to be backing the caravan onto the drive.
They are 1) the raised height of the road surface at a distance equal to the distance between the axle when in the gutter and the front steadies due to road camber 2) the depth of the rain gutter 3) the height of the drive surface at a distance equal to the distance between the axle when in gutter and the rear steadies ( in 3 it is not just the drive surface it is also the edging stones[??] of the tarmac pavement which are not ours to move ).

It's difficult to describe but I hope that describes it adequately.

And, I really want to use the car to get the van on the drive otherwise my back will ( already is ) suffer(ing).

How do you do it?
Plank in the rain gutter - supported runners made from floorboards.
Not tried those yet.

Any ideas more than welcome.

Colin
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Last edited by c_lee; Jun 5th, 2011 at 00:58.
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Old Jun 5th, 2011, 00:17   #2
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Not done it with caravans, but have had plenty of lowered cars, bits of wood is probably the best low tech solution, you make them up to fit your needs so that they cant slip and wont bend and just store them away somewhere for when you need them.
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Old Jun 5th, 2011, 00:35   #3
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The plank of wood trick is the easy option, but have you considered a motor mover? There are always plenty of second hand ones for sale in the caravan magazines. It would be a dead easy job then, just lower the jockey wheel until the rear steadies are clear of the grounding point and reverse away.
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Old Jun 5th, 2011, 08:03   #4
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Find out what the cost of dropping the pavement and replacing with tarmac between your drive and the road, quite a few have been treated this way around Blackpool by the council - Mike
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Old Jun 5th, 2011, 11:09   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikealder View Post
Find out what the cost of dropping the pavement and replacing with tarmac between your drive and the road, quite a few have been treated this way around Blackpool by the council - Mike
Hi Mike,

The dropped part of the pavement actually is tarmac, it is the edging stones between the tarmac and the drive that form the high point, only about 1/2 inch higher so a plank in the gutter may be the solution.
The stones are about 2 inches wide.

I have scrape marks from the corner steadies nearby on the drive too.

Colin
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Old Jun 6th, 2011, 07:59   #6
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Fit a drop plate so that you can temporarilly move the tow ball to a higher or lower position?
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