What Have You Done To Your Van Today?

dcpen43 said:
Did a tyre rotation. What a pain. Every tyre was seized on, the 20inch rims weigh a ton, it rained and the spare, once it had reluctantly come away from the holding bracket, was found to be well under inflated. Cannot believe any of the wheels had been taken off after the OEM tyre swap out. Anyway it’s done.

At least I know I need a club hammer in my tool kit if I ever have a puncture.

Looking forward to doing it again in 6,000km time.
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Wow looks awesome! I want to do exactly the same to mine. Do you mind me asking rough cost and why you went wrap rather than spray route?
 
What have I done to my van today? Not a lot. It’s been up at Leighton Vans for a warranty claim on the tailgate roof spoiler, which had weirdly developed a crack on the top edge. Credit to them, replacement at no charge 18 months after buying the van off ‘em, no quibbles. Dropped it off 10 days ago, and got the call to collect it last weekend. Not happy with the finish though (deep scratches on the paint on the top (roofline) edge of the tailgate - I imagine from removing the cracked spoiler before fitting the new one). So they’re having another go, and delivering my pride and joy back to me this Friday (3 hour round trip to get there, so they’ve offered to drop it back - I will, of course, expect photos in advance to confirm the work has been done right this time).

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So, missing the bus, and hoping to be happy on Friday when I get it back :rolleyes:

On another note, an accidental experiment happened while my drive is empty. I washed it before it went in, using my usual 3 bucket method (Wash, Rinse and Wheels buckets - I know, I’m ‘odd’, and I accept that). This won’t interest those who prefer the x1 garden bucket, Halfords sponge and Fairy Liquid method, but the still full (after wash) buckets have been sat in my garage ever since, until tonight. It was interesting(?) to see how the sediment in each bucket had settled, and confirmed to me why it is SO worth using multiple buckets to clean your pride and joy. The amount of grit in the Rinse and Wheel buckets really surprised me (from cleaning a not very dirty van). If you’re just using one garden bucket, this is the level of grit you’re rubbing into your paint when you wash it. Have a look, food for thought…

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Iany1954 said:
Fitted a home made clip to hold the awning skirt up in the (almost) middle. Even with the bungee pulled very tight it still sagged. Not perfect but
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I’ve made a similar awning skirt, although I only used eyelets to secure the bungee cord.
in order to get a better fit, I found that securing the bungee around the wheels, further inboard and also a bit higher worked for me.
That enables me to run it under the van against the lip of the plastic under vehicle tray.
It is a bit of a faff threading the bungee around and through the wheels mind.
 
EAN said:
I’ve made a similar awning skirt, although I only used eyelets to secure the bungee cord.
in order to get a better fit, I found that securing the bungee around the wheels, further inboard and also a bit higher worked for me.
That enables me to run it under the van against the lip of the plastic under vehicle tray.
It is a bit of a faff threading the bungee around and through the wheels mind.
Click to expand...
The original design of this skirt was for it to connect/loop around the wheels. I didn’t bother trying this as being of older years with arthritis to boot I couldn’t imagine that being an enjoyable exercise! I’ve shortened the cord, added hooks and it now clips into the end of the sill and is held up by my new clip. I originally tried magnets but wanted to find an alternate/ better way.
 
Got mine back after 2 weeks away. It’s been up at Leighton Vans for a warranty claim on the tailgate spoiler, which had weirdly cracked on the top. It’s not been straightforward to get sorted out. They replaced it last week, just not very well, so they had another go this week and this time, it’s tip-top. A couple of difficult conversations were had along the way, but credit to them they’ve sorted it. They’re a 3 hour round trip from me, so because they made a bit of a fist of replacing the spoiler the first time around, they delivered it back to me today, and they dropped it off with a fully brimmed tank of diesel, probably 75 quids worth.

It has been a bit frustrating to deal with, but sometimes things don’t go right, and the mark of a decent company is how they deal with their mistakes and look after their customers. I’ve got no complaints on that front and I’m left feeling positive :thumbsup:

Obviously I then had to spend the rest of the day detailing it back to the required standard :whistle:

Cracked spoiler…
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All fixed…
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Nice and shiny again…
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Mission complete Hallelujah!….

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Thanks for the feedback..
Relatively simple task
Purchased the below from Simple lighting
TAPEKIT-6m Kit-Non Waterproof (IP20)-Cool White led-tape-kit-cool-warm-natural-white-1-to-6-metres
2m Long, Bendable Aluminium LED Profile bendable-aluminium-led-profile-2000mm


  • Daisy chained 12v feeds soldered and electric taped from original led's in headliner (most awkward was feeding cable trough tailgate rubber grommet)
  • Test all feeds and isolate
  • Worked out centres for 12v led strips (avoiding headliner panel fixing)
  • Affixed glued/ stapled, 100m wide strips of 3.6mm ply keeping 100mm in from each side to back of OEM board panels (for descent led profile fixing using self tappers)
  • Used hidden fixing from Harrison trims, and stuck suede backed headliner to original headliner
  • Transferred the 100mm wide ply centres (temporary marked with yellow pencil) to the face of headliner
  • Put headliner up, pulled 12v feeds through sides
  • Measured led profile slightly longer as wanted to have profile ends tight up to panel lining (stop light shining through ends better finish IMO)
  • Cut profile to length, cut a small piece of back of profile to allow cable or led strip to be neatly lost in headliner power
  • Remove burr of metal and smooth sharp edges (use small amount of electrical tape to stop grating)
  • Mark and pre drill inside led profile make sure to avoid any cables in headliner when screwing
  • Fix profile to headliner using small self tapper screws (aligning with pre marked centres) go careful not to pull/stretch headliner when screwing
  • Cut led strip to suit to nearest possible copper point (longer if needed to illuminate all led profile)
  • Solder correct terminals and test
  • Apply small bead of clear silicon to inside of Led profile to hold LED tape (I found the the stickon the back of tape fail after time)
  • Tuck any loose ends carefully into headliner
  • Affix LED profile diffuser​
  • Apply small amount of clear silicon to each end led profile on tailgate to seal​
Voila illuminated headliner




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