Greasing

As compared with a car the caravan requires little maintenance, even during the touring season, when it is rarely necessary to do more than to oil the spring shackles, corner leg screws and brake connections every two or three weeks. Should the springs shackles be fitted with grease nipples they should be greased with a grease gun every two to three thousand miles, in most modern caravans it is usual for the hubs to run on a heavy ball or roller bearing and these should be dismantled at least, once a year. To dismantle first remove the hub-cap and the wheel and then take out he split pin which locks the nut. The hub must be rotating until the hole in it lines up with the split pin. When the nut has been removed the hub can then be taken off the axle. The order of the packing washers should be remembered for correct reassembly.

The inside of the hub, the axle and bearings should be thoroughly cleaned. It should be seen that the grease retaining device is in good condition. The bearings should be thoroughly smeared with a high quality grease. Whilst the wheel is off the brake linings should be examined and if greasy , new linings should be fitted. It is important that the brake linings should bear evenly on the drums over the whole surface and if this is not the case they should be adjusted. The brake shoes are expanded by a cam which turns on a spindle which passes through a bearing in the back plate of the breaks.