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Post by olivetheescort on Feb 27, 2016 15:36:08 GMT 10
Hi everyone. Been a while between drinks!!! Since my last post both my sister and brother and their partners have bought old vans and are doing them up. My Sis in law today asked how to measure a van. I really don't know so thought I'd ask for help.
Is it from tow bar to the end of van or from front wall to back wall of van? We have a 1973 Escort.
Cheers.
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Post by kiwijim on Feb 27, 2016 19:03:28 GMT 10
G'day Olivertheescort; Like yourself, it's been many moons ( and drinks ) since I posted here, To answer your question the Body length of a caravan is measured from the foremost point of the body through to the last projecting point at the rear, For overall measurement, you measure from the tow hitch to the rear most point, being rear fitted tyre , or bumper bar, or what-ever. this usually adds around 1mt extra to the body length. Cheers Kiwijim  |
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Post by drylander on Feb 27, 2016 21:59:22 GMT 10
Welcome back home Jim. was watching you over there ----->
Pete
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Post by kiwijim on Feb 28, 2016 5:15:33 GMT 10
Welcome back home Jim. was watching you over there -----> Pete G'day Pete, I'm not to sure where you refer to by saying over there, I've been wandering all over the Forums lately, Would it be GN, or BB or CF  PS it's good to be back where there is no Bickering !!!! Cheers K.J. |
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Post by olivetheescort on Feb 28, 2016 10:04:48 GMT 10
Thanks Jim. So when someone says their van is a 14 foot van where would they be referring to. The overall length including the draw bar or just the actual caravan cabin.?
Cheers
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Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2016 10:12:26 GMT 10
Hi olive,
The legal cabin length of a van in Victoria is measured a foot above the floor line end to end.
The legal overall length is measured from the rearmost point,be it body or spare wheel on a bumper bar to the tip of the coupling.
Cheers
hughdeani
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Post by atefooterz on Mar 15, 2016 14:48:53 GMT 10
I used Al`s advise originally,that is the same as what Hugh posted as being a Vic thing. By being 16fot i have been able to get into many cara parks that say they are full... but do you have a small or big van, if i said 19feet, that is the max length as described Kiwijim style i wonder if they would have said no vacancy?  |
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Post by kiwijim on Mar 15, 2016 17:53:51 GMT 10
I used Al`s advise originally,that is the same as what Hugh posted as being a Vic thing. By being 16fot i have been able to get into many cara parks that say they are full... but do you have a small or big van, if i said 19feet, that is the max length as described Kiwijim style i wonder if they would have said no vacancy? G'day. I have found that when going to a caravan park, it's always best to tell them the total length of your van, this way you will have enough room to fit the van comfortably and not be pushed onto a small site where you wont have enough room to put up an annexe and the next van wont be that close they will scrape your van with their door. also if you state the full length, you may be lucky and be given a drive-thru site with no need to un-hook your van at all. I have never noticed any difference in site prices no matter what size van you have, the thing is the bigger the van tells the manager of the park, where the best position in the park is best for your van.
In all our travels, we have only been caught once, that being up in Port Hedland W.A. at the height of the Tourist season, there, we had no choice but to park on a camper van site, this meant, we had to unhook our van ( being 17'.6" long) and then park our car out in the visitors car park, pretty poor conditions as it still cost $42.00 p/n
K.J.
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Post by drylander on Apr 4, 2016 22:35:13 GMT 10
Welcome back home Jim. was watching you over there -----> Pete G'day Pete, I'm not to sure where you refer to by saying over there, I've been wandering all over the Forums lately, Would it be GN, or BB or CF PS it's good to be back where there is no Bickering !!!! Cheers K.J. GN &CF bit late but better late than never Pete |
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Post by atefooterz on Apr 5, 2016 13:08:34 GMT 10
^^ Re Kiwi Jims post, i too always give both measurements, along with the time/day of checkout as sometimes they can get confusing, they are confused, with saying yes you are booked in until "Sunday" = checkout Monday by 10am... or checkout Sunday 10am!
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Post by planner on Apr 6, 2016 9:05:38 GMT 10
^^ Re Kiwi Jims post, i too always give both measurements, along with the time/day of checkout as sometimes they can get confusing, they are confused, with saying yes you are booked in until "Sunday" = checkout Monday by 10am... or checkout Sunday 10am! I too, tell them checkout date. I've seen confusion before on this. |
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Post by doublechevron on Apr 6, 2016 11:03:59 GMT 10
I noticed the big 4 website wanted overall length. If you have big tool boxes and spares on the rear, you will be quite long. I've never measured mine overall, but 22foot in the body ... is about 6.7meters ... + drawbar + rear bumper + spare. I'd imagine 8.5 -> 9meters would be a pretty accurate guess.
You could say smaller, but I've already been put in spots that I wouldn't have a snowballs chance in hell of getting the 'van into if the spaces around me hadn't been empty..... If they'd been full I'd have to have gone back to the office and said "your joking right? Do you have a sky crane to lift it in with ?.
Wives aren't a lot of help either, they don't seem to understand the angles and physics of getting something towed into a tight spot. (ie: the cars nose needs to swing .. the caravan will swing at the axles etc).
If your ringing the park, if you say to the management "it's a 22 foot 'van" .... I'm sure that would be fine, and they'll know which sites you will fit into with converting 22' to ... "that is 9meters meters overall ... plus the towcar which is another 5meters ... So we have somethign 14meters long trying to squeeze in".
I try to always walk in first and see where the site is .... There can be all sorts of stuff you'll spot will cause you issues. especially with caravans that have there axles right at the back edge of the 'van. You won't be able to swing the tow car wide enough around the corners, and the caravan will cut across taking out it's front walls on the inside of the corners etc....
I had someone pickup a caravan from my place a couple of weeks back. As always I said "watch the eves of the house, swing wide, at the gate YOU MUST CROSS THE ROAD AND RUN YOUR BULLBAR DOWN THE EMBANKMENT AT THE OTHER SIDE... IF YOUR LEAVING SCRAPE MARKS IN IT, YOUR NEARLY CLOSE ENOUGH". I said this to the guy at least 1/2 dozen times. DO NOT TAKE OUT MY GATEPOST. Sure enough, I hear a big crunch and heard the gate bouning as he left. At least he didn't bend the gate post like the guy I said the same thing to (who was towing a car trailer out of my yard). Car trailers aren't soft like caravans, so he moved the gate post. He sure did take off and not check the (substantial) damage he would have done to the 'van "I know how to drive, I've been towing trailers for years"..... Everyone that's said that too me has taken out my gatepost.
seeya,
Shane L.
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