Safari Rescue - Advice Needed

[polestar]

Hi,

I have had my Safari for about 10 years (and joined the initial Yahoo based Safari group many years ago). My caravan was in a poor state when I bought it and I did some basic work to waterproof the exterior and clean up the interior. For the last 6 years I am afraid to say that it has been very neglected - not used and left outside with little attention.

I am now in the fortunate position of potentially being able to afford to pay someone to rebuild/restore and would VERY much appreciate advice and recommendations from more experienced Safari owners.

The caravan is in South Wales and a friend who visited it yesterday said that it is surprisingly dry inside. The wooden frame has rotted from all 4 lower corners and some of the roof joints but there are no obvious leaks and the floor and all interior cupboards/woodwork etc is still fine.

The van was last moved about 5 years ago and towed ok. The body of the van had started to 'drop' at the towhitch end but the chassis itself appeared to be strong. However it has sat in a damp place for a long time and is likely to have worsened considerably.

I need to move it from it's current location (down a long, unmade and very muddy woodland track) in the next month so my initial questions are:

How do I find out whether the caravan is towable? i.e What are the main things I need to check

If it isn't towable, what are my options (e.g. getting it onto a trailer and towing it out with a tractor?) Had anyone had experience of extricating a caravan from a tricky spot?

Can anyone recommend a good company/individual who may be able to do the rebuild work? (I understand that this will be a big job, probably involving a rebuilding of the internal frame and won't be cheap!)

I will really appreciate any comments/advice/useful contacts.

Cheers!

Attachments:

[rdjpb]

Hi Polestar

Got a bit of a shock when I saw the picture of your Safari!
Have you read the thread - mystery solved and a unique Safari - in the "General Board". There can't be too many Safaris that are green and have a chimney like that.
Seems this old girl has seen better days but if she could be restored to how she looked originally (see my picture) that would be fantastic. I've currently got a 17/4 in the workshop at the caravan breakers at Blaenavon,Torfaen. www.caravanbreakers.net . Not sure where you are in South Wales but take to Malcolm in the workshop or Graham.
Good luck and if your pockets are deep enough to get her restored, please,please document it for others to enjoy.

[polestar]

Hi rdjpb,

How very interesting! I am no Safari expert but it looks like the same caravan to me, especially with the woodburner in the same position. Sadly I am not able to shed any more light on the history but, if it is the same van, the photo entitled 'Nicola's battered friend' was taken well before I bought her (in 1996 I think) as she was already in a fairly poor condition then.

Am sorry you have to see her in her current state Am very sad too. Am afraid a lack of funds has meant that the lovely thing has been badly neglected. However, I am hoping this will change and will definately keep the forum updated....

Thanks for the contact in Wales. The van is near Swansea so not too far from Torfaen and I am heading to Wales this weekend so may well be able to speak with them, and maybe see your 17/4 too.

Best wishes and thanks for the post.

[Brian M]

Hi Polestar - and welcome to the new group.

Paul's reply had me confused for a moment - I first thought he believed yours was his old one, but then I noticed the chimney on Nicola's Safari.

But to answer your questions regarding moving your Safari.

From your description, my guess is that water had got into the frame before you sealed the outside which is why your friend says in doesn't feel damp. It sounds as if you have got a lot of rotten wood, and I expect you will find even more as you try to move it.

The normal precautions before towing it on the road are:

Check the a frame is sound - but you say this has sagged so cannot be used without being welded.
Check the tow hitch and over run mechanism all works
The tyres will need replacing
The brakes and wheel bearings need looking at. Difficult to do on soft ground in the middle of a wood!
Check the lights or use a trailer lighting board.

But the bigger problems from your description are that if the bottom corners are all so rotten that the body is dropping over the chassis, I would be concerned about the unpredictable that is going to happen when it starts moving.

The "cost no option" way would be to find a low loader that can get down the track and then the Safari can be winched on.

If you are going for a full restoration, then a brute force extraction behind a tractor is a solution, but will cause more damage.

Bear in mind that a 17ft caravan needs a very large trailer, probably bigger than can be towed by anything less that a big engined 4x4.

As Paul has requested we need photos of every aspect of the extraction and restoration to provide an invaluable archive to other owners.

Good luck with what ever you decide.

[polestar]

Many thanks Brian! Really useful info.

Have also had the chance to look through some other threads in more detail, especially in the technical/restore section and found lots of good stuff there too. She is in a bit of a state but seeing some of the restoration pics of other caravans gives me hope... She is very lovely and I'm extremely fond of her so will do what I can. Hurrah for this forum by the way!

I spoke to Caravanbreakers, who are not too far away from where the van is. Am going this weekend to take lots of photos to send to them and they're going to give me an approximate quote for moving and restoring it. So should hopefully have more of an idea about what my options are soon. Will keep you updated...