Big problem with camper - sad news, help!

mariesnowgoose

mariesnowgoose

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Took our old camper for MOT yesterday (runs out tomorrow).

The sad news is the chassis is totally and absolutely b*gg*r*d, stuffed, a goner, due for the scrap yard in the sky :(

Now at a total loss for what to do next.

Is is worth taking the body off (it's in pretty good nick, 1988 Autosleeper Legend, all new gear inside, on a knackered ford transit chassis) and putting it on a newer chassis cab?

Understand we need a coachbuilder for this, and is it worth it? How much does it cost? Is there anybody out there who could do this?

Would it be better to trade it in against another camper?

Oh bugha! :( :( :( :sad: :cry:
 
It is not unknown for caravans to be "rehomed" onto a bare chassis truck, so it may well be possible, what was the failure actually on? I would expect a grand or so for a Hab swop, that would cover an awful lot of chassis rebuliding.

Funny to have such a catastrophic failure without at least some advisories on the previous test, have you considered getting another test centre's opinion?
 
Smaug said:
It is not unknown for caravans to be "rehomed" onto a bare chassis truck, so it may well be possible, what was the failure actually on? I would expect a grand or so for a Hab swop, that would cover an awful lot of chassis rebuliding.

Funny to have such a catastrophic failure without at least some advisories on the previous test, have you considered getting another test centre's opinion?
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Thanks for that, Smaug :)

No point - they are spot on with the problems.

A lot of stuff underneath is filler.

I'll try and replicate the failure list.

Nearside front steering rack gaiter split.
Offside front steering rack gaiter split.
Offside (centre of sill inner) vehicle structure has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings.
Centre rear (x member) vehicle structure has unsatisfactory modification, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings.
Rear exhaust system not adequately supported.
Nearside rear (above leaf spring) vehicle structure has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings.
Offside rear (above leaf spring) vehicle structure has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings.
Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content excessive.
Nearside front (incorrect fit) brake hose stretched (found during steering lock to lock check).
Offside rear (next to shocker) vehicle structure has unsatisfactory modification, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings.
Centre rear vehicle structure has an unsatisfactory modification, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings.
Nearside front vehicle structure has excessive corrosion which adversely affects braking or steering.
Offside front vehicle structure has excessive corrosion which adversely affects braking or steering.
NSF shocker incorrect fit right side fitted to left.

Do you want me to go on? :)

As you can see, a dog's breakfast no doubt about it.
 
i would have thought someone would have pointed out you could be getting a proplem with rusting in your LAST mot as a sort of advisory so another mot station might be a good idea as for a trade in your on the back foot cos your van is not road worthy with no mot so not worth as much as it would be with 12 months ticket....id be tempted to try to repair i know per hour is expensive in the garage..a lot of moneys worth just to go to scrap seems a shame... but if you pm me if your stuck ive got a good mate who has bodyshop and his weldin and fabrication is second to none we are not too far away from you .can come with ya an wrangle him if you wish...hope you get sorted
 
readin that it dont sound that bad new brake pipe,couple of new gaitors sort emissions probs need to tweak carb to sort.....that leaves the rust prob ....the modifiction fails not sure without lookin same as rust problem really
 
It's petrol gaz, but the main problem is definitely with the chassis.

I can't believe it would only cost a grand to swop onto a new chassis/cab Smaug. Seriously?
If it was that price, I'd be up for that option any day of the week :)

There were no advisories on the last MOT.
 
Good welding costs a fortune, and in any case it's recommended to take the body off beforehand because it's fibreglass. :(

Hence the thoughts about sticking in on a newer chassis cab.
 
right i see
whats the price of a decent cab chassis??? and plus the grand to swap
 
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Some of that stuff, like gaiters & brake hoses is minor, but there is a fair bit of welding needed. I can't see it costing as much as a new base vehicle & a hab swop tho. My main query would be about the "Unsatisfactory Modification" & how that might be rectified.

I would be inclined to take the list & the van to an agricultural workshop & ask for a quote. Their rates will be lower, the work a bit less pretty but will be as strong as tractor. You could be looking at a bill for 500- a grand at a guess, but just think how much a replacement would cost. You'd only get a couple of weeks of "normal holiday" for a grand after all.

How long have you had the van & who did you buy it off, sounds like a serious bodge has been done which could be construed as fraudulent. There should NEVER be filler in a chasis member, it can only make the problems worse. And filler should have been spotted on the last MoT as at least an advisory if not a fail anyway. Possibility of the MoT station being complicit in the fraud. Could be an issue for the trading standards/ DoT to follow up on.

You could also consider a Small Claims case against the previous owner for the cost of repairs (or even 50%) especially as it does look like deliberate action to hide the situation, so that means they must have known what they were doing.
 
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The underside has been sealed, and I gather the mot inspector is not allowed to scrape it away to look underneath.

He found a couple of bits hanging down and was able to get in behind to take a better look at some bits.
 
smaug s right and the repair work wont need painted fancy cos it s underneath only n brown an die hards like that would pull you about it pmsl in all honesty id dont think its gonna be as bad as you think.... just needs a bit of plannin
 
Well, my philosophy on life is that it was going to happen anyway.

The previous garage last year who did the mot only said one bit of welding wasn't right and we had that done and it passed without any advisories.

The garage we've used this time is the one we use for our cars and they are pretty good.

Mind you, their mot inspector has a reputation for being a bit of a stickler, but I don't really have too big an argument with his findings :lol-053: ;)
 
mariesnowgoose said:
The underside has been sealed, and I gather the mot inspector is not allowed to scrape it away to look underneath.

He found a couple of bits hanging down and was able to get in behind to take a better look at some bits.
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If it wasn't already on the computer I would suggest resealing it & going elsewhere for another test, but everything goes onto the DoT database these days, so it might be a bit glaringly obvious.

But you have still clearly been deliberately stitched up by the people you bought it from. I would be inclined to contact them with an implied threat of legal action to see if they will at least refund part of the purchase price towards repairs. You will need an estimated cost first tho, get a few & wave the dearest one at them!
 
you ve a lot of pros n cons to weigh up...but you know what they say
wayhay and up she rises
 
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Smaug said:
If it wasn't already on the computer I would suggest resealing it & going elsewhere for another test, but everything goes onto the DoT database these days, so it might be a bit glaringly obvious.

But you have still clearly been deliberately stitched up by the people you bought it from. I would be inclined to contact them with an implied threat of legal action to see if they will at least refund part of the purchase price towards repairs. You will need an estimated cost first tho, get a few & wave the dearest one at them!
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I'm afraid that won't work :)

Was bought from a friend (!) who doesn't have much money at all, and yes, we were stitched up.

BUT - now's the time to bite the bullet and sort the van one way or the other.

I'm always a happy bunny, me. :)
 
I would suggest that you two get together and have look see and come up with a plan to get it welded right this time the rest is only small stuff as he said and just do it one bit at a time as you can afford it ok it will limit the use of it but once it done then it should be ok for a few more years i am dreading mine when it go in this time but will cross fingers that it isnt to bad
 
Is it a coach build on a chassis cab or a van conversion??
 
BT regularly swop their transit vans while still in good nick by taking off the body for re-use and selling the bare chassis'

might be worth a look
 
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