Gloucester/Malvern

Hi Everyone
   Do the early (prefacelift) have a spare wheel as standard or is it an optional extra.I have a 2010 Gloucester and it has a spare wheel just behind the rear axle.Next where is the waste water tank normally mounted,mine is at the extreme rear of the MH,is is also very low about 4" protrudes below the rear skirt,in my view there is a severe chance of grounding.The reasons for this enquiry is that I  took the Gloucester in today to get a towbar fitted,The engineer says the waste tank is not an Autosleeper fitment and he has never seen a tank mounted the way it is .He thinks he can still fit a towbar but will have to take the rear steadies off.I have no reason to doubt what he says as he fits lots of towbars to Autosleepers.

Don't know about waste tanks and spare wheels, but taking off the corner steadies is pretty standard.

I asked for them not to be fitted when we ordered the present van, but the dozy beggars at A/S still fitted the mounting brackets for them. Even these had to come off to make room for the towbar.

My 2011 Gloucester does not have a spare wheel carrier fitted the Fresh water tank is just behind the rear axle, waste tank just in front. The steadies are still in place on mine towbar fits without removal.

Hi Peter
    Mine as you know is a 2010 build,it seems that no two builds are the same. Watling Towbars have managed to fit the Towbar OK,I am going to the factory at the end of the month,so I will ask about ground clearance.
regards
Alan

Peter Brown wrote:Mine is as Peter's.  I'm familiar with a 2012 Gloucester that has a spare wheel and the waste tank is fitted across the back as near to the bumper as possible - no tow bar fitted.  I would be worried about grounding on river ferry ramps but I don't believe the owner has experienced and grounding problem.

There is a spare alloy wheel fitted to the 2014 Malvern just behind the rear axle and consequently the Fresh Water tank is fitted centre chassis and to the extreme rear of the vehicle. 
I am guessing that as we do not have the electric orthopaedic bed fitted and all of its associated kit there was probably a fair amount of weight loss over previous models and in order to maintain the weight distribution they fitted the 90ltr FWT to the rear. Ride height is fine even when the FWT is full. 
However, given the overhang on the Malvern it can be venurable to catching on extreme inclines (it happened once - no damage!) such as when descending ferry ramps at low tides. So I would be wary of fitting a tow bar unless it could be fitted such that it was well clear of rear skirts.

Rear steadies are a must as far as we are concerned - they are always deployed on management instructions when we are staying on the same site for more than a couple of days.