As a newcomer to caravan life I have bought a Abbey Spectrum twin axle gmv 1740 and want some advice on the best caravan mover. Is it best to go with all wheel drive or just the two axles being driven. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Will you be using the all wheel drive function? If not you'll be driving a lot of mechanical components for no gain. A lot of Land Cruiser owners are trying to get away from the full time 4wd aspect of their vehicles as it is only of benefit when you're losing traction at the rear wheels. There's all sorts of arguments from some, that full time 4wd is better, safer etc.. A Ford Falcon will easily tow that weight.
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Welcome to the forum far traveller, I am sure you will get the answers that your after.You might try posting this in techies corner..A lot of good suggestions come out of that thread..Alan
My Pajero has the option of 2WD or AWD (they come as standard that way). I normally select 2WD when not towing but prefer the improved stability of AWD when towing, especially on a loose surface. On a very loose or corrugated surface I use 4WD-locked for the same reason.
I've been told that selecting AWD will slightly increase fuel consumption but I've found there are too many other variables to get a handle on this myself.
(Note that Pajero selector designations are 2WD, 4WD, 4WD-locked, and 4WD locked-low range but I have referred to 4WD here as AWD as it's the same thing in the case of the Paj.)
I think the cost of movers on 4 wheels would be very expensive.
May I suggest that you put the movers on 2 wheels only and see how you go and if required add another two.
However there are many caravan movers that can be coupled up to either the tow hitch or the A frame and a good quality one of these type would be my choice as you can then use it on another van if you need or want to sell your current one.
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Remember also with a twin axle van that has four wheels close together you cannot turn the van sharply.
To do this you would need a car mover type implement under 2 of your wheels.
Hi Michael a very warm welcome from another RFS member
I use an "Aussie Wheel" which boperates on 12 volt either a battery mounted on the unit or running off the house battery as mine does, these are Australian made by a company in Western Australia called traveller industries with which I have no connection .
I move a 21 foot dual axel van up my drive with no difficulty, based on the brochure that I got with mine the new price was $1945 about 3-4 years ago but I got mine on ebay 12 months old for $800 so its worth keeping an eye on ebay if you are looking for something like this it moves my van with ease.
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Sorry that I did not see this question earlier, but I have had a Purpleline E-go installed on my 2 tonne single axle Nova Revivor for nearly three years now and it has been a fantastic system. Using the excellent installation manual as well as the video guide on the Purpleline web-site, I installed it by myself using the bolts and attachment plates provided - taking me about two days of crawling around under the caravan on my back on a paved drive, however not an incredibly difficult job and well worth the $600 plus saving. Installation of the electrics was also very straight forward and in my case the control box lives alongside the 100 amp hour battery under the seat. The battery copes well with the current draw on its mainly uphill 30 metre journey, although you would need to be careful to ensure that the battery is not damaged by being totally flattened. I use a Jaycar supplied cigarette socket voltmeter in the caravan to keep an eye on the voltage. Keeping an eye on the voltage would be good advice for any of the caravan movers on the market. Purpleline also have both an upgrade kit to convert a single to dual axle system or a dedicated dual axle. I have read that some people where the terrain to move their dual axle caravan over is reasonably flat and level mange with just a single axle system plus two of the dollies shown by Onedodger above (available from Supercheap auto for about $189 each).
The only continuing problem that I have is that (especially when wet) the E-go friction roller occasionally slips against the tyre when turning while climbing a 7 degree slope since my el-cheapo 18 volt Ozito drill does not have enough grunt to sufficiently imbed the roller into the tyres which are at 50 psi. I usually overcome the slipping by further tightening up the engagement hex bolt with a wheel brace. Apart from the weak drill, part of the problem is that the roller at about 130mm long only covers about 75% of the tyre width. I have noticed that there is now a 200mm wide roller system available which would possibly solve my occasional problem. There is also a permanently installed electric engagement system now available from Purpeline that runs off the caravan battery and may work better than my Ozito.
Service from Malcolm at Purpleline has been fantastic he gave me plenty of on-site (he happened to be in Adelaide) advice early in the peace when I was having trouble fitting one of the drive units under the caravan step, readily re-placed one of the E-go covers that fell-off on one of our trips as well as providing for free, additional electric spade connectors that I had problems locating. He told me that they were available from Jaycar, but Malcolm sent me some more anyway.
Usual disclaimer I have absolutely no interest in Purpleline line apart from being a very satisfied customer.
Many thanks for your help,I ended up getting a motorised jockey wheel which I can also use on my boat. It seems to work ok only time will tell.
Regards.
Mike.
