Swift twin axle caravan wheel arch spats
Travelling home from SkegVegas (Skegness) my offside wheel arch spat came of and nearly caused a serious access as the car ovetaking On the A46 swerved to avoid it.
1) has anyone else has this issue
2) where do i get a replacement for less Than £254
3) how easy are they to fit
My caravan is a swift conqueror 630 twin axle
Cheers Marcus
Comments
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In 2007 we owned a Swift Kontiki motorhome tag axle. Shortly after purchase we received a recall for what I think you are referring to. It seems the clips which secure the wheel arch are made of steel and are subject to rust. Ours were all replaced with
some sort of galvanised clips. When we sold the motorhome in 2011 we has not encountered any problems0 -
We have just returned home from a trip to London and the same has just happened to us. We also have a Swift Conquerer 630. It is the plastic clips on the actual wheel arch that have snapped. Does anyone know where we can buy just the clips please?
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Just buy a tube of Sikaflex 512, put plenty where each plastic clip was/is a press hard and leave for two days. Laser wheel arches also fell off and after dealer had a go, with no effect, the above fix has lasted 3 years.
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We have a smaller single axle Swift Fairway 460. The clips holding one wheel arch spat broke after the weak part of the moulding by the skirt rail broke.
I found a magic "glue" product called Sugru. Applied it to hold the spat near to the rail and used it to fix the stubs of the broken clips onto the hooks fixed to the side of the van.
This will hopefully make sense to those who have seen the problem first hand.
Anyway we have done over 3000 miles round Europe since the fix and it is still holding tight.
Google Sugru and check it out, I think you'll see why it is such a suitable product for the job. (I have no connection with the company
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Although this thread is a little dated, I believe the topic is still relevant.
Having recently lost the offside ‘spat’ (wheel arch moulding) from my Swift Charisma 560 (2010), I researched the issue on the internet. What I have found on various blogs seems deeply worrying, some born out by the previous comments above.
1. These things are not held on very securely.
2. Many people have lost them.
3. They cost an arm and a leg (£135-£150 + VAT, + fitting) from Swift.
4. Swift have been tackled a number of times and apparently refuse to address the issue (I wonder why?). They say it is not a safety issue.
5. Like the person at the beginning of this thread I lost mine entirely, who knows where, whilst travelling (on motorway). How can this not be a danger to other traffic?
6. Now that I have secured a replacement (from caravanpanels.com), it seems it is only held on by glue (although I have encountered various recommendations, including some above: Soudall Fixall, Sikaflex, Tigerseal, Supru).
7. I will get my local man to try and rivet it. My other one is a little loose also.
I would be interested in any comments others may have on this subject.
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We had a similar issue with a Swift/Bessacarr 2007 MH and the wheelarch spats were replaced as a recall as some people's had fallen off.
The problem was caused by the spats being fixed to the van with steel clips which rusted. They were replaced with stainless steel clips in the recall. However, as far as I can remember, the clips themselves were only stuck to the van with sealant . 😕
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Well I never, guess what ......we lost the other wheel arch spat from the other side of our swift conquerer 630, this is just ridiculous. I suppose another £275 from swift.
This is happening to caravans all the time. SWIFT should supply the replacement free of charge as obviously this is a design fault.
Back on the phone today to try and find a new one,
Any ideas where I can get one please.
Cheers Mark
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We need a new one for our twin axle but Swift no longer supply parts for our 15 year old Sterling model, so our dealer has suggested this place
https://caravanpanels.com/caravan-brands-184-c.asp
Ours did not fall off, we had a blow out on our way to have it serviced and part of it was shattered. Most of it was still there when we stopped so dealer taped it up with white tape, which seems to be doing a good job.
The new one for our van seems to be £195
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Reynoray wrote: "I found a magic "glue" product called Sugru. Applied it to hold the spat near to the rail and used it to fix the stubs of the broken clips onto the hooks fixed to the side of the van."
A company called "My Memory" sell it. It's a sort of plastic putty that sets hard after a few minutes in fresh air. I've used it quite a bit - the best fix I have done with it was to fabricate a new plastic guide for one of the steel rods in the locking mechanism of our van's locker door. It's still going strong after 4 years.
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cheers again
