How do Lunar make their caravans so light
How do Lunar make their caravans so light compared to other caravans, are the materials they use inferior or do they just source lighter material?
Comments
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I have a Lunar and I would say it was mainly poor quality. Obviously they can't control the weight of the chassis, fridge, oven etc but the rest of the build is tightly controlled in terms of materials. I was taking to a couple from Preston who had a relative
who worked for Lunar and his description was scrimping, robbing so and so. My 2015 van needs a new floor as its delaminated in a number of places. So one who knows about these things (won't say who) said manufacturers consider liesure use to be 2 weeks/year
so design them accordingly.0 -
Although lightness does not necessarily mean less robust I have noticed when visiting a string of models on display at my dealers that the cupboards and doors on Lunars always seem more flimsy compared to other brands. No doubt there are many who like their
Lunars and will testify that they are durable.0 -
I purchased a new Lunar lightweight in February 2014, I would say its not as solid in hard furnishing material as some, but Lunar also make heavier so the comparison must be done with other makes of similar weighting.
I have not had a problem in the time I have had it other than poor screw fixings and out of square door flyscreen, both fixed by myself. It does the job and as yet nothing has fallen apart and I'm happy, but there is some flimsy/fragile thin 'wood' around. As for the standard fridge, cooker etc its good and no different than any other.
My guess would be lighter, thinner wood plus some of their caravans are slightly narrower than other mainstream makes.
It's a vehicle for use really and if a door fell off I would just put it back on. It tours, its dry and the fixed beds give me a good nights sleep without a cupboard door falling on me as yet, what more do I want
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not sure its poor qulity our lunar delta as far better quality uoholstery and and mattress compaired to our barcelona and thicker carpets but build quality seems to be on par
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Lunar came up with a flimsy van and said to the marketing team " How do we make flimsy sound positive ? " So they called it Lightweight. I had a Clubman which I kept for less than a year because the tool box I had to carry for running repairs more than offset the lightweight construction.
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We have had our current lunar clubman ES for 4.5 years and have had a total of 85 weeks away in it using about 100 sites (usually 5 nights and move on). Only problem with fixtures was the bracket coming lose underneath the side diner table during travel
- soon sorted and some screws coming loose on the oven fixing after it had been removed to repair a grill burner under warranty. They had been overtightened and so I simply dowelled the screw holes with a matchstick and rescrewed.The few problems that we have had have been common components such as the oven and a failing toilet flush pump.
No idea if it is that lightweight. Not sure what to compare it with.
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As can be seen by this thread ,if a few have a "problem" then a complaint rubbishing all of the make is forth coming,
Where as the Majority of owners who are quite satisfied with the product just get on with enjoying it,
It happens with most things every where
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trouble is jvb not many people are 100 precent happy with the build quality every one i speak to agrees that the build quality is goinig down hill prices going up year on year quality going down
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As can be seen by this thread ,if a few have a "problem" then a complaint rubbishing all of the make is forth coming,
Where as the Majority of owners who are quite satisfied with the product just get on with enjoying it,
It happens with most things every where
That's not quite the case as I said our Lunar Stellar was a good van. I can only speak about my van and it's a bit of a disaster A new floor after 16 months is pretty serious and the delamination is not caused by water ingress. Wrong front window catches
fitted at the factory, all the waste pipe work fell of the underside of the van, all of these are Lunar problems not their suppliers.0 -
as more and more 'gizmos' are added to vans (electric this and that....) these will add cost and weight...
to keep the van in the same cost/weight bracket as previously (or to compete against other similarly pitched brands) something else has to change....
it doesnt take a rocket scientist to make a reasonable guess as to what....
...and when 'it' is removed, i'll wager the 'impression' of strength/quality will disappear with it....
a couple of german brands are experimenting with a 'different' approach to interior construction....
from memory, one is using a 'pressed' form of 'wood', the other is using (yes, really..) Balsa Wood.....
interesting times...
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As can be seen by this thread ,if a few have a "problem" then a complaint rubbishing all of the make is forth coming,
Where as the Majority of owners who are quite satisfied with the product just get on with enjoying it,
It happens with most things every where
...didnt you refer to them as 'Leaky Lunars' in another thread?
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It is very difficult to compare vans for weight etc/layout and relative build. When I looked for a side dinette I dismissed some mainstream vans because the dinette seats were not fully sprung. I read talk of 'egg box' contruction. Many homes these days
have panel doors of such construction with a cardboard honeycomb and have had for the last 50 years at a guess. Not a problem. When we bought the lunar I fancied the
apparent strength of the bailey construction. However they did not cut the mustard for me with regards to comfort. I mentioned screws coming loose on the refitted oven and my repair. They were obviously overtightened as although the crosshead keyway
was not damaged there was roughness on the edges where a power driven bit had jumped out after tightening. Would one use a power tool to screw into lightweight construction? I wouldn't but somebody did.I do not personally rate the construction of any UK mass produced van. However the fact tha tI would have purchased the equivelant model next year if they had not added the panoramic window says that I am pretty happy.
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Having had six caravans from six different manufacturers with the last from Lunar I would have to say there is not a lot in it. The Lunar is about the same as the rest some flimsy bits but so had the others.
The Lunar does not have any excess weight on it though unlike the others and it looks like the main reason they shave a bit off is attention to this.
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As can be seen by this thread ,if a few have a "problem" then a complaint rubbishing all of the make is forth coming,
Where as the Majority of owners who are quite satisfied with the product just get on with enjoying it,
It happens with most things every where
I am a happy Lunar owner mine is a 2013 model and the only issue i have had is with the bed slats at the front not retracting fully, was quite easy to sort a quick squirt of lubricant on the runners sorted it out. this has been sorted on the 2017 models.
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As they used to say back in the day of smaller yachts, If you want to stand up, go on deck.
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our 2014 Lunar hasnt been trouble free but we have had less warranty issues with it compaired with the Bailey before it and the 3 Swift group vans before that. Cant say about longevity as it is less than 2 years old (new Jan 2015) but so far very pleased
with its build qualityKev
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We are on our second Lunar (actually fourth but first were in 90`s so a lot has changed) the first was faultless the current had to have a new micowave (overheating) and a window catch restrainer refitted have now done 4000` so very happy. I suspect a lot
of the saving comes in the construction of the shell, no heavy shaping on the front/rear panels and smooth over the roof, this has one additional benefit with ease of cleaning.0
By replacing them I have probably reduced my user payload
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