We all like a nice Ride!!!

Hi all,

Well it had to be done, I had been talking about it for ages and ages. I thought long and hard and looked at the benefits of many but opted for the dunlop kit, no gauges, no fancy compresor, just simply the bags and the valves and lines. £285 for the kit from www.marcleleisure.co.uk. The reason why I went for the simple kit was because all the other gumph I dont think gives any benefit, who want to be able to blow the bags up from inside the van? lazy or what? or is i am jealous? No not really I bought the kit for the purpose of giving a better ride, more stability in winds, and to release the forces on the springs due to the weight of the van being constantly loaded at just under 3.5T. Which when you think about it is a lot to put up with all the time.

FITTING,
well, I done this myself. In terms of difficulty it is surprisingly straight forward. First thing is to move the bump stops, using a hammer and chisel. A few bangs and then you can use your hands. Then the bottom brackets, undo the nuts (4) and remove the Ubracket. These were tight and required a torque wrench and brute force to get them off. Then simply fit your new brackets, build up the air bellow, fit, route the air lines and bobs your uncle before you know it you are putting in the air.

RESULT.
Well, the van does feel much more car like. It handles nicely round bends and roundabouts, it is much smoother to drive, and noticebly more comfortable.
So all in all very impressed and cant wait for the next edition the new tv/dvd player.
Hopefullly all in place for next weekends fishing meet with www.motorhomefun.co.uk

PAINT MY WAGON

Well I finally done it. Something I wanted to do for ages. I painted my front Bumper to match the rest of the van. I have seen many MHs with colour coded front bumpers and in my opinion they look really nice. I attempted to do it last year but unfrotunately one or two of the bolts would not come off meaning I could not remove the bumper.

This time I refused to be beaten. Any bolts that did not come off were cut off and then replaced in the refit. 2 in total refused to come out.

Step 1) was to remove the bumper. It was quite tricky but not beyond someone with decent DIY skills. Loads of bolts and the front grill required removing. Once removed I needed to ensure some space in my garage. I could of course taped up loads of the van and done it situ but with the inclement British weather I took the safer option.

Step 2) was to rub all the bumper down and give it a good wash. I used some wet and dry to get the bumper nicely clean and ready to accept some paint. A rough bit of paper was used to ensure the bumper was truly scored.

Step 3) This was to place the primer on. I used approx 5 cans of primer and it dries in 15 mins to allow the next coat to be placed. The primer chosen is of great importance. I used a plastic primer that coats the plastic and of course maked recieving the new paint better. If you use ordinary primer allegedly the paint will crack when the bumper flexes.

Step 4) Having matched the paint the best I could at Halfords I purchased some paint and when the primer dried started to spray it on. In total I gave about 4 coats. The experts recon between 2-8 coats so I opted for the middle.

Step 5) this was to spray on some lacqa to give it that nice deep shine. This is where the disaster struck. I lacqued it all and it looked absoloutly great and I was dead proud of my self. However there was a run on the paint right where it would be seen. I promptly set about getting rid of it only to make matters worse. Eventually with perserverence and determanation I managed to re sand re-apply the paint. There was two small cracks but I can sort them out at a later date. they will need filling and repainting but you cant really notice them when your coming towards me.


Overall the cost of this job worked out like so
6 cans of primer,
6 cans of paint
2 large cans of Laquer.
£60 thereabouts and a complete day and I mean complete 8am-9pm day, I never knew paint spraying was such a hard job.
The experts wanted between £280- £450 to do the job, so a good saving and the satisfaction of doing the job yourself. Im sure that in time it will chip or whatever but hey ho not a bad job for a ward sister/charge nurse.