starider

Using another way of adding privacy when camping.

If no one is interested, I'll put them on Ebay,unless some one wants them with free postage? i.e, £50 post free.

Still waiting for rear wiper parts, realised it was one of the"coming from China items"!! Will report eventually??

From what can be seen a repair seems do-able, I think the best course of action would be to remove the bumper to see exactly what needs to be done and just what parts would be needed. It is usual to find with such damage, metalwork can be straightened and if necessary re-welded. I would expect any competent body shop will be able to help. It's certainly not a write off.

Had a day out yesterday and drove to one of our favourite areas of Somerset. We spent some time in Watchet, Blue Anchor and then decided to try tha Alphard up Porlock Hill, anyone who knows this infamous climb will know how steep and twisty the climb is. I have been up[and down] this hill in numerous vehicles over many years and am able to report how good the Alphard was,I set the gearbox in 1 for the first hairpin 1 in 4 and as the gradiant eased, used 2 with no concerns. It's quite an exciting and beautiful drive from Minehead to Barnstaple with fantastic views over the Bristol Channel.

Hi, Isn't it great when clubs like ours can generate advice which helps other members to sort out problems with their vehicle. Keep it up folks!!

Hi, I'm often interested in the names given to vehicles and was wondering where the name Alphard came from. I think I might have worked it out [or perhaps not?]. The star Alphard is located in the constellation of Hydra,the celestial Water Snake, being the brightest star there. The name Alphard is derived from the Arabic "al-fard"- meaning "the solitary one". Seems logical?

Had a look today and fitting new parts looks easy. Will describe once I have fitted new parts.

Hi,just awaiting delivery of a new rear wiper arm and blade for the Alphard. The one in place has just started to split, so found one on Ebay, so decided to have a punt as my local motor factors didn't show rears in their parts book. Will report back once received and fitted.

Thanks for that,will try some although it has to be sprayed each year according to the advice.

Hi, Last week we did an Exeter and return journey and the roads were filthy especially the A30. When we arrived back home the Alphard was covered in mud and road salt and as it's white it looked awful. The next day it was out with the pressuere washer and a good wash all over plus the wheels, wheel arches and anywhere there was salt. This was followed by a wax and wash. The point of relating the above is just to remind you all to make sure you clean out the lip on the edge of the rear wheel arches.Once we get a dry period, I intend to make sure I have cleaned these areas and once dry smear some grease. The front arches are OK as there is an inner wing lining. If you look at some of the earlier Mazda Bongos,many have corroded rear wheel arches and although the constrution is different it is a good simple remedy to prevent corrosion.

I have an Ifor Williams double axle plant trailer which I use for moving small classic cars around and the rear is covered in reflectors. I have found over the years,when driving with the trailer at night on Motorways, that many drivers still drive at speeds normally driven in good daylight[or wet roads] and have had near misses with high speed vehicles arriving at speed on something travelling at comparatively lower speed and having to take avoiding action. At least the warning they get is extremely visible!

Hi Rojie, I have the problem with the all- in- one rear light clusters on my wife's Connect van, the clear plastic rev. light lens goes opaque after a while and as I've mentioned previously I realised the relector lens did not reflect. I can only get pattern clusters at a sensible price, even when described as OE which I have realised is not the case. I think much of the Chinese lighting products are basically good but they do not understand fully UK requirements. It's still cheaper to buy a new lens every couple of years. Hope your MOT man is happy with the reflectors you have bought. PS My Alphard is also white.

Hi,back again ref. reflectors, there seems to be a lot of ideas regarding fog lights/reflectors. My preference is a pair of fogs as described earlier and as in my case 4 reflectors,two as fitted as standard and one on each mudflap, why? because should my lights fail or I'm parked without lights, I want my Alphard to light up like a Christmas tree!. I hope everyone finishes up with rear reflectors and rear fogs that they are happy with.

We have only had our 07 Alphard for about 6months, when we were buyng it I was slightly concerned with front ground clearance,on return from the vendor I measured the front ground clearance on our Ford Connect van,which as it turned out was virtually the same, we live a bit out in the sticks down narrow Devon country lanes. We have had the van 15years and haven't hit anything yet. The same with the Alphard it's just a case of remembering it's not an off road vehicle and watch where you drive and parking. Our Alphard had tired rear springs so if you read my recent posts you will see there was no real problem having heavy duty rear springs fitted. I would suggest if you have new front springs fitted,you fit standard fronts. I have just today driven ours well over 250miles on all types of road and the ride was so much better[a big wash tomorrow to get rid of all the road c**p]. My big dislike are the poor VW Campers and other makes[this goes for cars as well] which have be lowered to such a degree that the ground clearance is only inches. Watched a VW Camper leave a classic vehicle show a few years ago and driving out of the field left a trail of GRP and sparks from the exhaust as it too dragged along the floor. No such problem with the Alphard though,go for it and enjoy,as someone has said you will soon grt used to it. I don't want to start another MOT/Insurance topic and I may be wrong, but I understood that commercial vehicles must not be altered from manufacturers specifications. I'm sure someone will correct me. I know Insurers need to be informed of any alterations to manufacturers spec. Sorry I must chop up my soap box!!

Hi, reflective on the outside,black on the inside, suckers in appropriate places.

I have for sale a 5 piece window blind thermal kit, windscreen, N/s door, O/side door and N/s and O/side quarter lights. Used only once. Cost new £80+p&p,yours for £50+p&p.

Blimey!! Seems awfully expensive to me, at their prices £100 per hour!! wow.If,as they should, be able to do the job in 1hour that's £100 extra profit. Perhaps they didn't want the job. What is the equipment they use other than a lift and spring compressors, I've never ever been billed for equipment!

Yep, living "down yer in dear ole Devon" has it's advantages, but many disadvantages, we only have 3 buses a week, one to Barnstaple,one to Holsworthy and one to Tavistock and if you miss any of these it's a taxi fare home! To get anywhere is by car[or tractor], and any real shopping is at least a 20mile round trip away.One of the mechanics was only involved for about 10mins, and I do know the staff really well.

Hi, I actually have 4 sets of spring compressors of varying strengths and sizes, but were still very aware of the dangers. I watched the process from a safe distance and because of the amount of movement they were able to get,the springs were easily gently levered out. The new springs although a lot stronger, with a mechanic heaving down on the suspended wheel and a liberal coating of silicon on the seatings,plus a little force, the springs popped into place, once in their seats each one was able to be turned into their correct position. The profile of the seatings is quite deep and it was these that caused some of the problems. Also there is little room to to attach compressors evenly. I totally agree with you,I definately wouldn't advise anyone to try to do it DIY. Talking to the workshop manager, he re- counted many horror stories of springs flying round workshops and the damage caused. As I have said before I, in recent years changed rear springs on my Suzuki Vitara very easily and quickly, but the springs were shorter and the rear suspension movement was a lot less. I would suggest you find a small well recommened independant garage and call in for a quote. We are lucky,we have an excellent relationship with our garage and the Manager is of the same generation as myself and we spend a lot of time talking about classic cars and tractors when I go in for MOT Tests or for work to be done! Hope what Rojie and I have said helps.

Hi, thought I would start a new thread on fitting Heavy Duty Rear Springs to my 2007 Alphard, which would follow on from my recent posts. As I said in my last post, I had tried to change both springs, but even with the correct spring compressors and 4 post lift, I couldn't compress the springs enough to remove them. I decided to book into my friendly garage who do our MOT Tests and major work if needed. I won't describe how they were changed[1hour],as my advice is leave this job to the professionals. There is always the danger that if I describe the method, someone may try to do it for themselves, get it wrong and I could be in trouble. What I will say is, that the problem was the difficulty in swinging the axle beam down enough to get the old springs out and the new ones in. Two problems prevented this,one was the ABS sensors which needed to be disconnected and the flexible brake pipes/hoses which also needed to be disconnected. I took two mechanics to then pull the axle beam down enough to remove the old and push in the new. The Alphard now stands as it should and the bonus is that the new stronger springs have reduced the roll on cornering to some extent and towing our box van means that being able to have a correct trailer nose weight, will make towing more stable.[All for £62! bargain! with no hassle].

Sorry if I seem to be obsessed with reflectors, I seem to be dogged with reflector problems,a couple of years ago I managed to crack the Connects L/H rear lamp lens. Bought a new one off fleabay[pattern make] a few months ago realised the white plastic in the reversing light lens had turned opaque so severely it needed replacing again. The new lens seemed of better quality until when I did a pre-MOT Test I realised the reflector didn't reflect! Luckily I hd some self adhesive rectangular ones, so fitted one each side on the bottom outer corner of each rear door. No problems for MOT at end of November

Fitting mud flaps all round has certainly reduced the amount of "crudd" sprayed on the pristine underside of our Alphard. Hopefully the flaps plus the undersealing I've done will give some protection to the metalwork. Next year in the Autumn I will,as with all our vehicles spray the underside with oil. It really does work,my wife's Ford Connect Van is still immaculate underneath with no corrosion even after 14years. Obviously great care is taken when spraying with oil to enure oil is not sprayed on sensitive parts such a brakes etc.

From my interpretation there is no height restriction. The best double sided tape is the one which the trade use for fitting number plates. I agree with your comments, but having dealt with insurance assessors in the past they do seem to look for the smallest reasons for refusing claims. Not withstanding this " go for it".

Having read The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, which state[if I read them correctly], that the minimum separation distance between 2 red reflectors is 600mm and the maximum distance from each the side of the vehicle is 400mm.These dimensions apply to the Alphard. These measurements are less if the vehicle is narrower. Hope this helps.