Caravan Brake Servicing Risk

In my case I watched him change them also inspect, rub down and clean the hubs and brake shoes  

With a history of over 40 years caravanning ourselves, it’s hard to see how you’ve survived without engaging some practical skills. We carry a small, but sensible toolkit, enough to tighten screws, check electrical connections, clear drains, change fuses and bulbs, lubricate sticking latches replace roof vents, clean contaminated cooker burners and a great deal more. Bigger jobs such as a fridge swap out, are left to the dealer. A couple of years ago, at an event rally, off EHU, our immediate neighbour suffered a flat battery because their water pressure sensor was stuck on. All he needed to do was turn the knob to a lower pressure threshold, then plug his car into the van and run the engine for half an hour. A quick search on Google shows us, in video, how to adjust the switch. As it was, he bought a new battery and called out a mobile mechanic.

So “yes there is another way to caravan” without waiting in for a mobile mechanic, buying an unnecessary leisure battery and spending money unnecessarily. A small toolkit, Haynes manual and Google combined could save a lot of time and money.

Sounds like another silly scare story. Any decent mechanic would know the difference. For those owners with little or no mechanical ability having an annual service by a AWS is quite adequate.  

Apart from agreeing with previous observations regarding Vaughan sticking to what he knows best. One minor detail he seems to have overlooked is that very few vehicles these days (not for many year in fact) are manufactured with drum brakes, most now have discs so you might struggle to find a mechanic (sorry Technician) who has experience of working on them (unless they are a person of a certain age of course ;-)  ) 

I have 2 Smarts,  both if which have drum rear brakes & my last tow car (Mercedes R Class ..... Google them 😉) used a common drum/disc set up at the back i.e. a disc foot brake & drum parking/hand Brake ☺

Drums aren't dead yet 😉😉

Tell my neighbours son he is at uni ,comes home practices in garage ,annoys everyone ,mom says i dont want the noise in the house  ,i had a word with him . Have i got the subject wrong ?

I did say not many ;-)

Quite a few base model cars have rear drums.

And higher spec models, CY. See MM's post re disc foot brake and drum parking brake. 

I feel the adviser has a valid point, at least in as far as using someone competent. Caravan brakes in respect to involving an over run system and its associated auto reverse, are different to automobile brakes even drum types. There is the vital point that in testing for drag on setting the shoe clearance a drum must never be turned backwards. Then there is setting the rod energy spring clearances up correctly. It needs somebody who knows, as simple as that.

I am far from convinced even dealers always know what they are doing or invest long enough to do these things "well". 

With our brakes unless you tow many thousands of miles so wear and dust become an issue, I am firmly in the "school" of leave the whole thing untouched, then it might work a lot better and the wheel bearings remain undamaged in the process. Saves the costs of the nuts as well!