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Up Topic General Chat / Welcome - A place to say Hi - Visible Externally! / Eriba puck L 230 GT. newbie
- - By Florence Date 01-05-2020 20:55
:grin:
Hellooo there, have bought my first caravan ( puck L 2008) but can’t puck
Up ( pun) due to covid :cry:

I’me so excited !! Will be travelling just me and my 2 Devin rex cats that are leash trained .

Things I’d like to know ..... cheapest bike racks and where .... tv aerial .... Teeny  microwave .... can I use cat litter
Instead of toilet chemicals !!  ( sounds vile but the cats do it !!)
Parent - - By eribaMotters (£) Date 01-05-2020 22:04
Welcome Florence, sounds like you are the proud owner of a nice late Puck L. The last ones were made December 2010

You can fit a carrier to the back. It will be either an Omni/Thule or Fiamma. This would be a custom fit job and requires skill and accuracy to fit correctly as it has to be bolted through the exterior aluminium trim, aluminium skin and steel space frame. If it was screwed into place it is not as good a job. If you look on the Automotive Leisure website then you might see some examples fitted to vans. With a rear end kitchen you might find it better to mount the bikes at the front. This is a fairly recent approach. Dom Fox https://www.domfox.co.uk/ sells a kit to enable you to do this and along with a THULE Xpress 970 Towbar Car Bike Rack would be your cheapest way forward, by a long way.
Whatever you do get a cheap pair of bathroom scales [IKEA] and check how much force the tow hitch has pushing down. To do this lay a piece of plywood on the ground and sit the scales ontop of this. Then get a stout piece of timber, 50 x 50 sqaure in section and about 400 long and place this ontop of the scales and undernath the hitch where the towball would locate. A reading of 50/60kg would be about correct, but check the owners manual of your car to see what the max load is allowed on the towbar.

For a TV aerial you can buy an aerial [typically a Vision] and mast or better still a suction mount Avtex,
https://www.leisureshopdirect.com/electric/caravan-tv/avtex-accessories/avtex-sth3000-suction-mounted-12v-24v-boosted-tv-aerial/?ref=gs&gclid=Cj0KCQjwka_1BRCPARIsAMlUmEq0g-Is8bdoFSwibbYtlDzRY_5D50JM0UEAUeaq0izngQHJwQ9uf_EaAj0jEALw_wcB
This really is top drawer and if you run it along with an Avtex TV makes an excellent combination as it has a built in amplifier powered down the co-axial by the TV.

Some owners do use small microwaves, but a Remoska is the default setting for owners. Originally supplied only by Lakeland Plastics these are an expensive option but the 470 watt product really will roast, bake etc nearly as good as your oven at home. I "enjoy" cooking, infact had to teach it as secondary school level and though them a gimmick until I was gifted one. I now will not travel without it. I recently bought a spare [Gumtree is the best source] for £25 in excellent condition, although £40/50 is the norm. www.alza.co.uk are the best source if buying new.

As regards a loo, we used a Fiamma Bi-pot on our last eriba. Buy the tallest model as it is a bit difficult getting down onto the low model. Just go with one chemical, the Elsan Green for holding tank and flush. It is easier to carry one dual purpose bottle and eco friendly.

Colin
Parent - By Florence Date 04-05-2020 23:33
Hi Colin thank you so much for all that advice, that’s really kind of you. I’m glad I went back and checked this post because for some reason I didn’t get a notification that you’ve commented on it. Regarding the bike rack I don’t think I would feel comfortable screwing through the metal of the caravan, I might just put the bike in the caravan and carry other heavy items in the car as I should imagine most the time I’ll be travelling on my own. Good idea about the nose weight I was wondering how on earth do you know what the Wait is without going to a public way in station! Regarding portaloos, I didn’t realise that you could get a portaloo which had a flush?! Anyway I’m still so excited a lot to think about, thanks so much for your welcome.
Parent - - By Steamerpoint Forum Admin & IT Support (£) Date 03-05-2020 08:58
Welcome Florence.:grin:
Parent - - By Florence Date 04-05-2020 23:34
Hi !!!
Parent - - By eribaMotters (£) Date 05-05-2020 08:22
Florence,
I understand your concern about fixing a carrier to the back. It is not an easy job. Also putting a bike in the van is not easy and the damage it will do if it moves around is considerable. I know some owners have done this this but it is not a route I would like to take. The exception would be if you have a folding bike in a bag that you could pack stuff around on the floor.
I would advise you think about the front carrier. It is a simple bolt on job using the jockey wheel mount holes. All you have to do is then check your loading as regards the noseweight. You will find you usually load the van the same way, so once you get into a routine weighing only really needs to be done when you do something different.

Colin
Parent - By solebay (£) Date 05-05-2020 21:51
If it's just the one bike, is a high-level rear bike carrier for the car a possibility?  Obviously, there's no permanent fitting involved.  Depending on your car, the bike may tend to hide the rear lights a bit but that's not an issue whilst you're towing. 

We carry two bikes on the roof of the car.  Depending how tall you are, this is OK if your bike is a lightweight.  

The newer type of caravan front carrier would be an option for one normal bike, and shouldn't push the noseweight over the limit. 

Really, there's no ideal solution for carrying bikes.

And...welcome to the forum!
Attachment: buzzrack_beetle.rsz.jpg (137k)
Parent - By Steamerpoint Forum Admin & IT Support (£) Date 10-05-2020 10:28 Edited 10-05-2020 23:51
If I can make a suggestion regarding the location of a bike carrier.

You are lucky that you have bought one of the most stable caravans around, but if you are not careful you can destroy all the hard work carried out by the Eriba engineers!

I will attach an image that shows how to load a caravan.

Essentially you want to put any heavy objects as close to the caravan axle as possible and as low down as possible. The very worst place to put heavy objects is high up and at the rear.

The image suggests loading high up at the front is not recommended too, but it is less of a problem at the front (as long as your nose weight is okay) because the car will cancel out much of the pendulum effect, whereas that back of the caravan can swing around freely!

Have a look at this video to illustrate the instability caused by putting heavy objects at the rear.

https://youtu.be/PFzrWHTG5e8

I currently tow a white plastic box, which doesn't have the stability of an Eriba, so loading is very important, if not critical.

On my last trip out I pulled over 30-minutes into my journey and moved two duvets and four pillows off the rear bunkbeds and moved them forward, such was the instability I was experiencing on the motorway! These relatively light items made all the difference, but our van is nearly 8 meters long and the back of the caravan is around 3 meters from the axle.

You would however notice a reduction of your stability if you mounted a heavier bicycle carrier and bike at the back of your Eriba.

Your most stable option is to mount the bike or bikes on the car. Best place would be on the car roof between both car axles, but on the back of the car should also be fine.

After that, I would mount a bike carrier to the caravan drawbar, as we have.

Hope this helps. :smile:
Up Topic General Chat / Welcome - A place to say Hi - Visible Externally! / Eriba puck L 230 GT. newbie

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