A'van Aspire Hardtop Series Questions & Answers (page 2 of 3)

Not to sure I think our van weighs under 1800 kg so you should be Ok to tow.If your interested our van has only been used twice and we are selling it as my Wife doesn’t really like caravaning.

I have a cx9 with has a tow capacity of 2 tone towing the 555 and I am upgrading to a diesel 1 because of the fuel economy is poor and 2 because it does feel precarious especially when fully loaded. Mind u it is the off road version so it is more elevated I recommend u upgrade to avoid risks and burning out your clutch

speaking of which in my upgrading, what do other people tow there Avan 555 with and what do you recommend?

Is it for the hot water? Is it for the fridge? Microwave ?Don’t know the layout of 499. We have the 555.

On my 499 theere is two leads from the power point in the wardrobe, the black one goes to the microwave and the white one goes to the aircon but there is another black lead that runs down the corner then disapears at floor level,this is for the small screen on the outside of the wardrobe that tells water levels and battery levels as well as controling the water pump

Solar to battery

Ours is at the foot of the bed. Depends on the year model and how they were feeling on the day, as to where it is. I find the variation in placing things in the van, astounding.

Usually as far away from a convenient place to get to as possible!

Depends which one you have . The es base model only has a towing capacity of 1600 whereas the exceed diesel has a towing capacity of 2000 kgs. Maximum atm of my van is 1840 kgs. The atm on your vehicle is between 1985 and 2290 kgs. Could be legal, but suggest you get weight distribution hitch and ESC on van, also you would need an electric brake controller. The ESC is to prevent sway from reaching the point that you flip the lot.

Forgot to mention. Expect your fuel consumption to rise dramatically the smaller the motor. When we towed with the six cylinder cruiser,went from 13 To 17 litres per 100. With the 2.8 ‘16 hilux goes from 9.8 to 14.5 -16 per 100

It is as Wayne said, the model of the van, as various lengths available plus your listed tow limits on the towing vehicle

Your vehicles towing capacity. Needs to be 1550 kg.

Suburu have tow capacity of braked 1500 across the range of foresters according to their site and they do say that max towing speed is 80kph. As the tare of the van is 1250kg you would be on the limits very quickly.

Can it do it, and how comfortably will it do it; 2 sides of same coin.Tow mine with a 2.5 TD Auto king cab Navara. No problem except we don't exactly speed up the grind into Toowoomba!

Pull out much preferred, and I have both, on 2 different rigs of course.. Quicker, and much easier to set up, and pack up. The way the Thule is set up with the weight hung off the extending arms has the potential for big problems as well.

I had a small crack in mine too. I just removed the silicone from the top and also the 2 sides and resealed. Make sure you reseal the top with the crack at the same time so nothing leaks.

Had a similar crack problem with the frame, and fixed it with Fixtech 15 marine sealant. No more leaking.

Thanks folks that answered my question was very much appreciated. Have repeals now & am on my first trip since fixing, so far so good & have had some rain to test it out.

At the rear under the bed.

Thank you so much Donald.... but by the tim this whole Q & A things I registered and u answered .... we had of course found it ( and felt pretty stupid I o!) not to worry, this caravanning seems a never ending learning Journey?!
Cheers

What a pain that location was. No longer there in the 2014 I own. Now located at the foot of the bed just out side of storage area, and out of view under the lip of plywood bed frame/storage cover.

Tom
Can’t help I am afraid. I have the 555 . I have glanced at the L shaped dining and thought about it . But that’s as far as I got, as I have no real need.

It can be, but I would suggest only suitable for Children as it is not a full size double and a little short.

We were told in could be done. There is a short table leg and a cushion insert.(so far we haven’t purchased) We have a aspire 555 L shape lounge. My adult sister and grand children have slept on the lounge by just removing the back rests. We have a table adjusting arm on all the time which brings the table out a bit from the seats as we found the table too close to the seats for comfort.

The pan on the fridge is powered from the battery . Find the fuse and check it.

That was the panel on the fridge. To get to the fuse behind fridge, find it behind the outside vent. To remove vent, there are two slide catches at the top. Slide them towards one another, then vent hinges from the bottom. Find the fuse holder and check it. Place panel back in reverse order. Hope it’s not just a flat battery.

The pressure drop could be caused by a blocked fresh water hose hose, sediment in a fresh water inlet filter, faulty non-return valve in the fresh water hose connector, and you could start by checking all those things first. But it's very likely to be a jammed Pressure Limiting Valve (Google PLV or Pressure limiting valve to see what they look like and how they work). This is a brass in-line valve assembly fitted by caravan manufacturers to protect your hot water system and other components from high pressure damage by automatically adjusting itself to regulate pressure. It's not uncommon for them to play up and sometimes completely jam shut. Our brand new Aspire 555 was jammed before we had even set off on our first trip, only because the van had been sitting idle in the dealer's yard for a few months! You could get a plumber to fit a new one, or if you're reasonably handy and have some plumbing knowledge, you could find where yours is located and fix it yourself. On our 555, the unit was located at the bottom of the bedside cupboard where the fresh water pipe enters the van from outside. You have to remove the assembly by detaching the inlet and outlet hoses, separate the assembly by unscrewing the top off it, and free it up by pushing the inside valve open again, and wash out any remaining dust or debris in it. Two things: It can be a pain getting access to it, getting a spanner to it and removing it, and also re-installing it. If you do it yourself, use good quality plumber's tape on the threads when re-installing to avoid leaks. Tip for re-installing: put about 3 or 4 turns of tape on the threads, screw back together firmly, unscrew, put 3 or 4 more turns of tape on the threads, then screw it all back together good and tight, being careful not to strip the nylon fitting. Doing this repair yourself is a lot cheaper than getting a new one fitted (around $70 just for the valve), and there's no guarantee a new one won't jam up again later anyway, due to dust or dirt entering the pipes, or even just from lack of use. So, knowing how to fix the problem is useful. But you do need some handyman and plumbing skills, and if you don't feel confident doing this, best to get a plumber to do it.

I would say faulty non return valve

How long is a piece of string? In our landcruiser 4.2 after market turbo. We went from 13 l/100kms to anything from 16 to 20 depending on the terrain. In the 2.8 hilux it is around 14 on the south coast highway. Would expect maybe 12 on the north coast highway. In my old work 3 litre ranger towing an excavator of the equivalent van weight, consumption went up by half again . A fellow worker towing with the triton, doubled its fuel use and even had to go to low range pulling up hill on some dirt roads. All I can say is buy it, enjoy caravanning and live with the fuel consumption. Try all speeds 80, 90 and 100 and find the sweet spot. The smaller motors work harder.

Well, in mine it’s under the bed, on the passengers side. They may have moved it outside like a lot of other vans, in a gal box against the drivers side chassis rail.

At times they are an optional extra, depends where you brought the van, private or dealer. Ours came with the van and it is under the bed. Our previous van we had to buy the battery separate.

We found it thanks the charger was under the bed the battery pack was under the L shaped seat in the corner thanks for the replies

Sorry Alan but this is mysterious. I thought the mains/ tank systems would be virtually independant of each other. As a basic, I assume the mains hose is connected to the van mains inlet.
Sorry, can't help. Let me know the answer. Regards

What I think may have happened is that I probably put a little too much pressure through the mains. It wasn't a problem when we first set up camp, however after two days, a couple of vans around us left, and I reckon, by them disconnecting from from the mains, has put more pressure onto our connection. Since we've moved on I haven't had the problem.
Thankyou for your input.
Cheers,
Alan W

Ours is a aspire 555 we have just done over 12000 ks with no issues except for the water gauge which is not very accurate. The quality of fittings we have found first class. I would check the weights ours weighed heavier than the plate stated, conciqently we couldn't fill both 95lt water tanks.

Check your fuses. I only had trouble with installation of stereo. The positive power was from el cheapo connector. Which only worked when the wind was from the right direction and the sun in correct posi as well.

Ended up with an irrigation connection

Thanks Wayne we finally found an irrigation connection at Bunnings, but a little surprised we are not given one with the black hose, or is this asking too much?

Dont expect customer service if you have purchased an AVAN, you will probably
discover there is no service !!
Fittings for the grey water outlet can be purchased from TRADELINK plumbing
stores, probably a lot cheaper than a caravan outlet.
Phantom