Tow Bar And New Tyres For The Mercedes ML350

 So after we bought the caravan, the race was now on to get a tow bar fitted!

There were two choices, a detachable or a permanent.

I must admit that a detachable one although when not towing, makes the car look better and stops you cracking your shins on a regular basis, but, they really do not appeal to me.

Guess it's the word detachable, I would always worry that it wasn't going to hold or that I would do something wrong and I'd look back and not see a caravan in my rear view mirror.

Plus they were more expensive.

So we had a permanent one fitted by Ambrow Trailer Services Ltd in Christchurch for £375.00 inc VAT which I thought reasonable enough.

The next thing was to fit new tyres to the ML.

They were due a new set all round so after a bit of research we got some General Grabber All Terrains fitted at £640.00 inc VAT and fitting.

I was a little concerned that being a chunky tread we would suffer from an increase in road noise.

However, I haven't noticed any and look good having a slightly lower profile, more in keeping with the road tyres they replaced.

I had these supplied and fitted by New Milton Tyres  who got them in and arranged to have them fitted within a couple of days of ordering.

I now feel that we can get out of any wet and sticky situations we may find ourselves in with these fitted.

Next all the accessories that go with caravanning!

The journey continues.............

Bought A New Caravan - Swift Conqueror 570 - Back In The Fold!

Well, here we are again!

We had been playing with the idea of buying a caravan for a while now, as it fits in perfectly for our long term plans (more about that another time)!

So a few weeks ago we were out in the car and out of the blue I suggested we go take a look at caravans and get a feel for what was available within our budget.

Over to Lady Bailey Caravans, which for you long term readers is where I bought my Lunar Lexon 640 and where I started my full time living experience.

Before we got there we gave them a ring to ensure that they were open and the caravans were ok to look around, they were so off we went.

We had very specific criteria - Having full timed I knew what worked and what didn't.

So a fixed bed was a must, although I was flexible on an island (any orientation) and a separate shower and toilet.

The dealer had a couple in stock, and we were directed to two, both met our criteria and were within budget.

Like you do, we pulled out all the drawers, opened cupboards and lockers, checked and prodded about and then sat in each for a bit, both were great but did not grab us.

We did agree before we arrived we were only going to look and not buy! Last time we did anything like this we were looking for a new car and ended up buying a Mercedes ML350 there and then and on the spot!

So we had a look around the rest of the stock, and came across a rather lovely looking caravan around the back of the dealers.

Above budget, but it just had that "Wow" factor that the other two did not have.

It was a Swift Conqueror 570 - single axle.

It met all of our requirements and the finish and look was far superior to anything else we had seen.

We were both really taken by it, but we were only looking at this stage!

Talked to the Salesman and got the details, it had extra's fitted to it - The Alco Electronic Stabilisation System and an on board 35l water tank.

It really was a lovely caravan, but true to our word we were only looking today.

We drove away congratulating ourselves for being sensible and decided to call in at another dealers on our way home to continue our search.

Having looked at a number of caravans, nothing came close to what we had seen, and deep down we both accepted the inevitable, called Lady Baileys and told them we were coming back and would be back with them in less than an hour!

An hour later we were the proud owners of a new caravan!

Due to Covid it was a couple of weeks before we could collect it, and arranged to take delivery on the 10th October.

This gave us enough time to buy all the equipment and kit the caravan out.

I'd got rid of practically everything, so it really was starting from scratch. In my next blog I'll go through the items I bought. 

Thankfully having the experience I have, it was fairly easy to assemble the required gear.

Below are the pictures I took whilst the caravan was still at the dealers.

The quality of the inside I felt was exceptional, certainly compared to my Lunar and to the other two caravans that we looked at.

The race was now on to get a few things organised, like fitting a tow bar for starters!

Hope you have enjoyed reading this, I cannot promise to blog as much as I used to - time is a factor these days.

I will be returning to update, I have plenty to blog about since we took delivery of the caravan!

This blog I have decided to run, purely as a caravan blog, as this was it's intended purpose to start with, and my other blog I will use for my general travelling about.

I'm what's known within the truck world as a "Tramper" which means that during the week I live in my truck, working stupid long hours and driving long distances! I'm sure the two blogs will cross over with each other but will try to keep them separate.

If any of my original readers are reading this (Robin & Jenny in NZ) hope all are well and keeping safe!

The journey continues.........