one of the most commonly overlooked safety checks that you should do on your van is regularly checking wheel nuts for tension....... and I do mean regularly.
On a recent trip up to Karratha with van in tow I checked the wheel nuts 3 times, and all three times I had at least one nut... not finger loose but had lost tension.
After leaving Perth (Wangara) first check was Jurien Bay after 200kms, at least one nut on every rim required tightening, in some instances 2 or 3 of them.
Jurien Bay to Billabong Roadhouse (450kms) for our 1st overnight stop on trip, Checked the wheels again and on 3 out of 4 rims, some nuts had lost tension.
things got better on after the next leg of 605kms to our second stop at Nanuttara Roadhouse with only 2 nuts on separate rims needing a little nudge.
This over the space of 1300kms just shows how regularly you should check them, and even more often on off-road conditions. This is not just for the first 100, 1000 or 1500kms of owning your van but continually for the rest of ownership, on every trip on a regular basis.
So, when you are about to open the door on your caravan, and you see that bright yellow sticker on the bottom of it...... ask your yourself, when did I last check my nuts?
Look out for our follow up soon on wheel nut tensions.
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