I am in the process of purchasing my first caravan, having been a trailer-and-tent camper for many years. I am in the process of purchasing a 2006 Jurgens Exclusive. My tow vehicle is a Hyundai Terracan 2.9Crdi which has seen a lot of South African bush. To be honest, I am getting a bit long in the tooth for pitching tents, and we are thinking of a two year (or so) extended road trip, staying a month or so in a place, exploring and then moving on. So the Exclusive will be home for a while.

We will, I assume, from time to time be travelling on gravel roads. I am not talking about 4x4-type roads, just the odd gravel road in fair condition. In addition we all know how many potholes we have on our country tar roads. Can anyone of those mightily experienced Exclusive owners offer advice on possible improvements/mods that can be made to the Exclusive' suspension/axle setup to make it more pothole or gravel road resistant?

Are there ways to strengthen the axles/suspension?

Is it at all possible to lift the clearance height slightly? 

Is it advisable to fit decent aluminium rims, and thereby lose a few kilos?

Any advice or input, especially from those who have perhaps made any such conversions will be much appreciated.

Looking forward to hearing from you. 

Be very very careful taking an Exlusive off road.  I was on-road, and hit a medium size pothole.

6 months later, at a service, the dealer said there was damp wood in places.

Ok, no problem, i thought- fix it.

on further examonation, they said both axles were damaged and the structure was damaged because of the pothole. That let water in.

to cut a long story short, i got a quote to fix it - R90,000!

They said its an insurance claim. i thought no way insurance will pay for that.

but they did.

moral of the story- an Exclusive is an on-road ( tar road) caravan. If you go on a gravel road, you will get bumps and holes in the road- its a very heavy caravan, and  the jarring and bumping  can cause real damage.

Thanks Fendt.
Your experience is exactly the reason why I am looking into the possibility of doing some sort of conversion to improve the resistance against heavy bumps and potholes. The fact is that the current condition of roads (even asphalt ones) is terrible. 

We did a trip to friends in Ficksburg recently. It was heart breaking to see the condition of the main roads, and in towns like Clarens. The main roads in the  Ficksburg CBD is basically non existent. Only patches of asphalt can be found closer to the sidewalks.

In fact, I have driven on some gravel roads that are far easier to traverse than some of our main arterial roads. Then there is also the problem of possible roadworks that one may not be aware of in time. This is the case now when you go to St. Lucia. There is about a 3km stretch just before you get to St. Lucia which becomes quite dangerous to traverse with a normal vehicle, especially when there's been some rain. 

Enrico all newer caravans are very flimsy and especially the floors are weak. You might fit a better suspension than the probable rubax on the van, but you can do little to strenthten the floor to which the frame and suspension is attached to. I have no experience of the Exlusive but many of them are used on our roads. My advice would be just use it as it is. You won't be in a hurry so drive slowly especially if the road seems bad, that way you should be able to avoid hitting potholes and the like. Rather keep the money you would have spent on strenghtening to cover possible damage in future. With a bit of luck you won' t ever need it.

My advice as well.  Any on-road caravan realy do not like even the odd gravel road.  If you make changes to the axle you will have to gravel road Proof the inside of the caravan as well.

The way the walls and structure is attached to the floor and suspension does not make provision for driving fast on gravel roads.

Rather get yourself a gravel roader which is a better but not fool proof choice.

I had the unfortunate experience of hitting a pothole in which you could bury a pig. The car missed it, but the van did not. The axle bent, and that called for an axle replacement. Some furniture inside broke loose from the floor. I had to choose between replacing the caravan or fixing it properly. A dealer offered me next to nothing, saying that because it is older than 10 years banks won't finance it, which I doubt anyway.

 I soon realised that upgrading the axle only will not be sufficient, the rest of van including the frame or chassis still matched the flimsy old axle. I had the frame reinforced all the way from the hitch to the rear leaf axle fitting point. I had a solid axle with leaf springs and shock absorbers fitted.  Bigger wheels and off-road tyres followed. The body fitment to the frame was extensively improved, and the furniture attachment to the floor was also strengthened. All doors inside got special closing clasps, and the hitch was replaced.

The caravan tows much better now. I guess the stiffer leaf springs and shocks is to blame. The only disadvantage is the height. It now stands >100 mm higher.

With a pothole riddled country I will not support the idea of swopping steel rims for aluminium. 

 

We also had to replace the axle on our van due to a pothole a few years back. Was imported and thus pricey but thankfully the insurance paid out.

I have a 2015 Exclusive and we are almost permanently living in it.

I would not recommend modifying it to be more rugged. It will mean a total make over which would rather be achieved by buying a off-road purpose built caravan. The one that comes to mind and is very popular is the Mobi Lodge.

Due to its length and weight the Exclusive is very prone to pothole damage. If you tow it on a gravel road drive at a fast walking pace and avoid any ditches or holes.

When we go to places where we will have to drive for long distances on gravel roads then the 747 does not come with. We either leave it at home or we leave it where the tar road ends and pick it up on the way back.

Hope this helps?

It looks like you are obviously in the know. If possible, I would like to have a private chat and maybe you can let me have more details on how the job was done. I would very much appreciate any input I can get.

My reasoning is simply that this will be a long term investment for me. The additional 100mm won't bother me. I really so much appreciate the input from everybody here, and I understand that some guys may consider my route as not the best option.

However, it seems to me that even if you avoid gravel roads, and drive really slowly, you still stand a pretty good chance of damage just because of the conditions of our roads in general. Strengthening the chassis and the other improvements you mentioned, sound like the way I would want to go.

I would therefore appreciate it if you could send me your contact details details to surfenric@gmail.com.  I would very much appreciate more input.

Thank to everybody who has responded so far. It is natural for opinions to differ, and I will weigh all the advice, even from those who have not responded yet, before moving in one way or the other. This is probably going to home for a while, and I want to be sure I have done all I can to make it a pleasant experience.

Enrico, before you venture into changing the original specs of any vehicle as approved by the SABS, take note of the definition of modifications as stated in the Road Traffic Regs and what needs to be complied with.  If you change anything on the axles, the weight or the height, the vehicle needs to be reregistered. 

I note that many persons ignore this but it could have an impact on the insurance issue.

Good point. I did not think about that to be honest. I have found a very good company that builds trailers from scratch (some heavy duty ones as well) and I will ask about that. I don't mind the re-registration costs.

I would really like to speak to @kanneman. Sounds like he has been through a similar exercise successfully.

Butts, please be so kind and be more specific in terms of exactly where in the Road Safety Act of 1966 reference is made to modifications to vehicle components. I am sure it must be addressed somewhere, but I could not find it.

I I know insurers insist on being advised of modifications.

When it comes to the replacement of parts where the load capacity of a vehicle iis not altered, I cannot see the logic in requiring re-roadworthy or re-registering. If this was the case every caravan with bigger after-market rims altering the height of the caravan would be involved, and I can assure you, there are many of them. My own Glider lugguage trailer with after market commercial tyres on is then also at fault. 

The modification to my caravan was made by a firm building and marketing trailers, and because there was no significant weight increase in the end product they did not deem it necessary to advise the authority of a change in GVM, which could impact license fees. 

I think Kanneman is right.  Vehicles are not individually weighed for licencing purposes.  Instead the manufacturer presents an example of the vehicle, apparently the lightest one in the series, for licencing purposes and all similiar ones are then regarded as being the same weight.  My Kuga AWD for instance weighed about 1600Kg according to Ford but it was licenced as something over 1300Kg which probably the weight of the front wheel drive version.  Sometimes this works in your favour (lower licence cost) and sometimes not (maximum towing capacity).

Also, how will the authorities know whether your basic caravan is heavier that what the licence says?  The weight can only be measured as it is standing and nobody knows what the empty weight is.  And now I wonder what loaded weight is acceptable when the van is weighed by the traffic cops as only the empty weight is stated on the disk. (Pieter, enige idee?) I think many caravans are in fact above their allowable weight, whatever that might be,  because of overloading and not because of the built of the van.

I agree with you 100%. The fact is that at the end of the day there is no real way of control, unless they pull you off, and take you to a weigh-bridge, and even then there would be some debate as to whether you are over-loaded.

I will certainly have a look at the law on this, but in my opinion one should use common sense, and ensure that both the vehicle an the caravan is not only roadworthy, but set up in such a way that maximises safety. For example, it is of the utmost importance to ensure that the suspension and brakes on both vehicles are absolutely top notch. For this reason, I have already told my mechanic that I will be bringing my Terracan in for an upgrade on both suspension and brakes.

Now I would like to do the same on the caravan. The only other part of the safety equation will of course be how responsibly one behaves when travelling. I recently read a post by some hero bragging that he travelled at 160 kmph whilst pulling a caravan.  

I genuinely appreciate all the input from all the members here. Does someone perhaps have a sketch or drawing of the Exclusive's chassis and suspension set-up. Even photos will help. I would have taken some photos, but van is not with me at the moment.

Personly I think people speeding while towing misses the pleasure of caravanning. It can be a restful and enjoyable experiece, both while camping and travelling. That is besides the idiocy in not appreciating that a caravan is inherently quite unstable and a disregard for the safety and nerves of their passengers normally their spouses and children.

It is wise to plan your trip in such way that you cover a comfortable distance each day. Camping along the route is n nice experience which makes the trip so much more enjoyable, especially for the passengers.

Enrico, terwyl jy die regulasies naslaan oor tarra, BVM en BKM, kyk ook sommer na die definisie van "Modifikasies" en regulasie 144. 

Hier waar ek bly is 'n paar manne wie se voertuie nie 'n padwaardigheid sal slaag nie weens die verlagings, verhogings, veranderde gewig en ligte wat hulle aangebring het.  Daar word spesifiek met mofifikasies melding gemaak van verandering aan aste.

Groete

 

Dankie Butts

Ek waardeer jou bydrae. Dis nogal snaaks hoe dinge van plek tot plek kan verskil. Ek aanvaar dat ek die wa sal moet herrigestreer met die nuwe spesifikasies. Die truuk is om te sorg dat n' ou alles so ver moontlik wettig hou.  Het jy dalk enige idee waar n' ou die regulasies kan naslaan? 

Ek goo dit sal dalk vir n' paar mense hulpsaam wees.

Enrico en Kanneman op 'n ander inset hierbo.   Ek verwys spesifiek na die Nasionale Padverkeers Wet van 1966 emt die Regulasies daar by soos gewysig tot en met 2008.   Ek het net die Engelse weergawe.   

In die Regulasies is 'n lys definisies.   By "M" is Modifications.     Lees verder by 144 oor die geldigheid van die lisensie as daar veranderings is.   Die term "void" word gebruik.

Daar is ander oor ligte - van 154/55 tot by 184.

Dit is interressant om deur dit te lees want niemand waarvan ek weet het dit deurgewerk ten einde 'n bestuurlisensie te bekom nie.  

 Dankie Butts

Ek het die wet aanlyn gaan soek. Vir mense wat ook will gaan naslaan hier is die web adresse:
Die Afrikaanse weergawe.
https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/36962rg10042gon820.pdf

Engelse weergawe
https://www.gov.za/documents/national-road-traffic-act

Die wysingswette is op die Engelse blad ook beskikbaar. Daar is n' paar wysigings.