Thursday 29 December 2011

Bailey Orion Evo 4

Came across this link on Practical Caravan for a new Orion that appears to be in the pipeline,the Orion Evo 4.

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/blog/orion-gets-given-evo

No one,outside Bailey presumably,seems to know what the Evo 4 denotes,a super-duper Orion or a bare bones version perhaps,all the options at that particular price mark seem to be covered with the present range so who knows.

Will some of the present range be deleted??

Perhaps it will include ATC,Tracker/Phantom and alarm as standard??

Twin axle ??

Is there an Orion Evo1,2 and 3 or even a 5 ??

Is it just a drawing board project or will it go into production ??

Nothing else on Google.

Will post any further information as available.

Ian

Tuesday 27 December 2011

A Couple of Jobs

Before Christmas I noticed that the edge of the woodwork under where the TV stands by the two shelves had got kicked and was dented in a couple of places.

I decided to put some plastic corner pieces on to protect it.Visited B&Q and the brown plastic corner strip that they sell matches the colour of the woodwork ( well MDF ) in the Orion exactly,a meter costs about £3 or so  if I remember correctly plus a tube of Evo-Stick.

I cut the plastic to size and stuck it on and the corner is protected,the bits that were left over I used in the kitchen at home.


Doesn't look too bad ( apologies for the picture quality,forgot my camera and had to use the phone ).The colour matches much better in the flesh than in the photo.


A thing I remember reading on the CT forum was that it is wise to turn off the aerial booster when in storage without EHU as it is a small drain on the battery,ours had been left on so I switched it off ( in the cupboard to the left of the microwave).

Whether it is turned off automatically if the master switch to the left of the door is off I don't know but anyway off it is now switched.

Ian.

Thursday 22 December 2011

Battery Problems

Went up to the storage site to check on the van and swap the battery over for a fully charged one.

In removing the battery clamp on the negative side one of the wires came out of the clamp.On closer inspection there is very little room for two thickish wires ( I presume one is for the motor mover ) in the clamp,anyway I managed to bodge it as it was getting dark and it is OK for now but a better arrangement is needed.

After taking some advice from CT I think I will fit some quick release clamps to make life easier,something like these:-

http://www.leisure-mart.co.uk/shop/vclose1.asp?prd=2584&cat=274001727

Will order some after Christmas and report on the fitting.

Ian

Thursday 1 December 2011

Skint ??

It struck me,as it has before,when visiting the dealers today that,according to the media, we are all supposed to be skint,broke,call it what you will but on every visit there are always plenty of cars in the car park and a healthy number of people looking round the vans on show.

I read somewhere,CC Magazine perhaps,that Bailey took £13 million pounds worth of orders at the NEC caravan show and Swift did over £20 million pounds worth,so a lot of people are riding the slump and to be personal I suppose we aren't doing too badly.

Glancing at the new and second hand vans on display,even though we drive what I would call a reasonably powered 2.0L diesel Jetta that we wouldn't have been able to tow the vast majority of vans that were there ( according to the 85% guidance ) so people must be driving and fuelling some powerful vehicles to tow these beasts.

The Bailey Orion seems well suited to us.

Just a thought in passing.

Ian

Pneumatic Jockey Wheel Purchased

I have purchased a complete new Al-Ko pneumatic jockey wheel assembly today and returned the old wheel for ( hopefully ) a warranty replacement.

I will eventually report whether it is a better option than the original supplied one.

Al-Ko appear to be a difficult firm to deal with.I asked at the dealers if when they replace the wheel if they ( Al-Ko ) could send it direct to my home address,as after all they have to send it somewhere.

The reply was no,Al-Ko only supply direct to the dealers,so I will have to make an 80 mile round trip to collect it.

Seems a strange way to do business in these straitened times,no bending just a little bit to help the customer.

Ian