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Caravan Protective Covers


Gary and Kaye

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Hi Everyone,

What's the general consensus of opinion about caravan covers, especially the quality covers that offer protection against all weather and the formidable 'Hail Stones'.

My geographic location being the Hinterland of the Gold Coast can produce some powerful weather and sizeable hail stones.

Currently I have viewed (via the internet) hailsafe.com.au & caravancovers .com.au

I would appreciate your feedback on products tried & tested by the end users.

Cheers

Gary & Kaye

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I haven't heard of that particular make but will pass a comment regarding covers. We lived for many years in the North West of WA - anything left outside was subjected to extreme hot weather and when the wind blew quite often we would ended up being sandblasted. We bought a very expensive (over $300) cover for our boat which was supposed to handle this, that and the other plus be UV stabilized I think they call it. Turned out to be a complete waste of money, the wind caused it to rub through and it didn't even have to have a sharp edge for that to happen, also the wind caused sand to blow up under it and then when the covered moved it acted like sandpaper. This was a cover that fitted well and was well tied on too not something loose and flappy.

We thought it was a one off dud cover so silly us bought another of a different brand and the same thing happened all over again.

More recently we have thought of covering the Kedron we have just purchased as it is a few inches taller than the shed door but have decided we wouldnt stand a chance on it staying in one piece for long as it would surely rub on the solar panels. We then thought that since the van has already spent the past three years living in Karratha and looks like new that as long as we keep it pollished it will be fine. OK - the plastic hatches have had to be replaced as they had yellowed but that was still cheaper than a cover. Hopefully someone will answer who has bought and used a cover that has worked well and prove us totally wrong, we will probably be the first ones to go and buy one!

As for the hail stones, ekkk... we fortunately don't have that problem up here but would have to wonder whether a cover could possibly protect for that kind of pounding.

Cheers

Sue

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G'day Gary & Kaye

I'll back up Sue on this one. We, too, live in the Northwest and decided to buy a cover for the van. It wasn't a cheapie, but it lasted just 18 months. While the Sun did eventually cause it to fall apart, it was the tearing of the cover on any sharpish edge at all that did the most damage. The corners of the solar panels were the worst offenders, along with the TV antenna, NextG antenna, radio antenna, yada, yada.

I doubt that we'll bother to get another one.

Cheers

Russ

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Hi Gary & Kaye,

I used a cover for a short time which was not a particularly cheap one and like everyone else it got holes in it very quickly, there are just so many sharp edges and to try to reinforce the cover at those points seemed to me an impossible task as the cover moved around a bit despite being quite well tied down. Whilst this is bad enough, by far my biggest concern was the temperature rise in the van because of the cover. On some days the temperature in the van reached 70oc plus which is not good for just about anything and everything inside the van.

John

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Hi Everyone,

Thank you for the informative replies, it has helped me to make my decision.

It's great to have this Forum to bounce a few questions off, as there's a wealth of knowledge out there.

I'll now keep my money and put it into dieso for the next trip.

Safe travels

Gary & Kaye.

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Hi Gary & Kaye

we purchased a Stormcover on the Sunshine Coast - their premises was just south of Mooloolabah in Feb 2011 when we picked up our new van

the cost was approximately $1400.00 - at first you think that is very expensive

But really in consideration to the cost of the van and the protection it offers for our van which is stored outdoors in the bush (storms / high wind) we havent had an issue to date as it is a padded cover - not sure about hail

it is a 3 piece cover and takes 2 of us to fit it

we cover any sharp edges on the van with marine carpet 1st then fit cover

from memory it has a 7 year guarantee??

we recommend it

regards

Carl & Trish

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