Time to Roam Magazine Issue 12 - December/January 2015 | Page 14

| letters feedback Believe it, or not Time to Roam is correct in regard to the D shackle story being a hoax. I have never heard of anyone getting a ticket for not using correct shackles and the definition of “suitability” is a grey area. For this reason we only stock and sell the rated shackle, the actual colour is only a choice of the manufacturer. The important thing is the rating on the shackle. This also applies to the safety chains. These don’t generally have a weight, but every second or third link is stamped with a code. Hayman Reese D shackles don’t have a weight rating stamped but are still rated. As for drilling bigger holes in the tow bar, this would most likely void any warranty or the engineering approval issued to the tow bar. Perhaps you should have a section in the magazine called “Chinese whispers”. Anthony Rolf, Camden Caravan NSW Sharing the family pride Just wanted to share with you this picture of my dad Andrew and his two loves (-well three if you include the dog). He fully restored this 1963 EH wagon. On the dash inside it has a priceless autograph of the late Mr Peter Brock. His EH has done a few trips to Bathurst over the years. Two years ago he added his caravan, The Jellybean, with matching paint to go with the EH. He’s been working on restoring the inside with new cupboards etc. Every chance he gets he takes his two grandkids camping -sometimes even just parking her outside the house and spending the night in her. Lucy McNamara, Gold Coast Qld Defending the Aussie made caravan I wish to make some comments in regards to your recent article, “Get Set for a Caravan Invasion” (TTR Oct/Nov). I am somewhat concerned by the comments that Caravan and RV buyers could make big savings and gain access to better quality product as overseas manufacturers increasingly focus on Australia. This insinuates that locally manufactured product is both too expensive and that the quality is poor. I would remind you Australian Manufacturers build to some of the highest standards in the world. We know this from examples of an ever increasing range of imported product that clearly does not meet our Australian standards. We have as an association been working tirelessly with the Caravan Industry Association of Australia to ensure a level playing field for Australian Manufacturers when an import can land in Australia and the importer does not have to meet the same Australian design rules that locally manufactured product does. As to price, it is any wonder in some cases an imported product is cheaper when they do not have to comply as the local industry does. As to your comments about US Wiinebago’s move into the local market as sending shock waves through the industry well I am not sure about that, our industry has seen plenty of competition and will see plenty into the future. As an industry we see competition as healthy and we are certainly no protectionists, we only ask for a level playing field and when we see articles that insinuates that local product is too dear and poor quality we are disappointed. As you are aware the Victorian Association introduced a successful compliance regime several years ago for our shows, one of the stated aims was to provide to the consumer comfort that any RV product at our shows was compliant to the appropriate Australian Standards. Our experience to date does say some local product needs to improve however much of the imported product that wants to exhibit in our shows does not meet the appropriate standards. Therefore, in closing we would like see our caravan media in Australia better informed and educated around a number of industry related issues including the imports issue. We would also expect that Time to Roam reviews its picture before publishing as the photos of the caravans in the article are non-compliant in Australia as they have the exit door on the right hand side. My passion and mandate is to improve the standard of the RV industry in Australia and is not exclusive of manufacturing. Peter May, President. Caravan Trade and Industries Association of Victoria Editors note: Time to Roam would never suggest Australian-made caravans are expensive and poorly made. Over the past two years we’ve championed the Australian industry and called for better policing of standards to weed out dodgy imports. Our article merely suggested more competition inevitably leads to product improvement and better value for customers. This is true for any industry. The Winnebago-supplied photos (above) were of their top-selling caravan in the US. We’d assume if they do start importing they would build models with doors on the left side. Time to Roam Australia welcomes letters, photos and contributions from our readers on just about any subject that relates to caravanning and camping. [email protected] 14 timetoroam.com.au