A caravanning couple’s close call before kicking off a long road trip has sparked a renewed warning for Aussie travellers. The pair, from the St Goerges Basin area on the NSW South Coast, were getting ready to embark on their adventure to Brisbane — a roughly 1100km drive — last week when they decided to get their vehicle serviced just in case.
After backing the caravan, which had been checked by a mechanic every 10,000kms, into a spot and hearing a “bang”, the pair called David, the owner of DKZ Mobile – Caravan Mechanical and Electrical, for help.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, David said the safety check on the “very well-maintained caravan” was going smoothly until he got to the last wheel.
After taking it off, he spotted a broken spring, which the couple were completely oblivious to.
“It is meant to be one piece, and you can see it’s broken about 20 centimetres from the front. So there was nothing holding that wheel up, except for where it was pushing up hard against the body of the caravan. Not desirable at all,” the long-time mechanic said.
Hitting the road without having the spring fixed first would have created a very dangerous situation, he explained, adding the spring had been “broken for a while”.
“The caravan wouldn’t have handled well. It would have been pulling all over the road,” David told Yahoo.
“It would not have been fun.
“If that couple had tried to drive to Brisbane, they would have ended up on the side of the road, broken down somewhere.”
Worn out brakes on a caravan heading to Tasmania (left) and bearings in poor condition during a service (right). Source: Supplied
Plea to Aussie travellers before they hit the road
The incident “just goes to show” that before every trip, Aussies should have their car and caravan serviced to avoid disaster or an “unnecessary stop on the highway”.
“These days, a lot of caravans are heavier than the car they’re being towed with, so if the caravan starts playing up, it’s going to result in an accident,” he said.
David, who set off on a two-year trip around Australia with his wife this week and is taking his business on the road, said he often sees “a lot of very old tyres on caravans”, as well as faulty lights and brakes, and tired bearings.
“Your tyres, your brakes, your bearings and your lights are what keeps the caravan safe on the road.”
The mechanic urged travellers to assess their vehicle every time they take it out of storage.
“Just a quick check that all the lights are working, the tyres are correctly inflated, the wheel nuts are nice and tight. And then have a look underneath, and just check for anything that looks like it might be broken,” he said.
“If a person doesn’t know what they’re doing, they should really get a mechanic to check their van over once a year.”
David also encouraged drivers to look into installing sway control technology, which helps vans automatically straighten up.
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