josie gibblebucket Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 We only bought these at the Season Finale Show last September, so they have not had much use, but just like the pair before them, they have already cracked underneath and gone banana shaped. At least the first set lasted for a season and a half. Am I just unlucky or am I doing something wrong? They say max weight 5 tons, our van is only 2800kgs fully laden! The plastic must be very brittle.Unfortunately, you can't really get hold of anyone from Fiamma to complain! :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 This is not uncommon. I had a split pair given to me a few years ago (otherwise being thrown away) and I screwed them onto a 10mm plywood backing and they have been fine. It might be that use on softy ground bends them when they begin to sink and that is what breaks them? I have a second set which I liberated from a bin at a show last year and I have done the same to them and they work fine on our gravel drive (too lazy to fish the first set out of the van locker!) If you use plywood some 6" longer than the ramps it gives the tyre something to grip on and prevents the ramp skidding away as you start to go up it on hard ground. Your complaint is not with Fiamma but with the trader who sold them to you - if you know who it is and have the receipt that should be the first point of contact? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Not surprised 'Level Pro' are for Caravans NOT Motorhomes. For a Motorhome you need either 'Level Up' or 'Level Up Jumbo' Fiamma also do a couple of other ramps for up to 8 ton & 14 ton axle weights. We have been using 'Level Up' ramps for 3 years without any problems. http://www.fiamma.com/products/QMP.asp?Fam=P10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie gibblebucket Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 If thats the case, it would be helpful if they were labelled accordingly. Surely if they can take 5 tons, they should cope with our little van. The site you linked to shows the caravan kit listed as having only one level pro, surely caravans can manage by adjusting their wind up legs. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 As I understand it Nicola wind up legs are designed as steadies not jacks and are only supposed to steady an already level caravan - for which one ramp should be enough I guess - unless its a 4 wheel caravan - or they are being used as chocs on sloping ground? Nevertheless you don't get many caravans that weigh 5 tons, so if that is their alleged capacity and it says so on the packaging then they should be man enough for a normal UK motorhome and not split so easily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie gibblebucket Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 My sentiments exactly. I'll have to try and fix them to a bit of wood as you suggested or buy some more new ones, but maybe I should try a different make. Milenco or similar. I may even have a look at Ebay! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Can you still get sloping Ebays then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 josie gibblebucket - 2011-06-07 8:59 PM If thats the case, it would be helpful if they were labelled accordingly. Surely if they can take 5 tons, they should cope with our little van. The site you linked to shows the caravan kit listed as having only one level pro, surely caravans can manage by adjusting their wind up legs. :-| The site is Fiama's own site, normally for a caravan you only use one level as front to rear levelling is achieved using the jockey wheel and as Rich says the legs on caravans are steadies and should never bear the weight of the caravan. They list 2 part numbers one for a pair of levels & one for a single level + grip plate, however dealers usually sell them singularly. On their website all the Motorhome levels give a weight limit there is no weight specified for the Level Pro. When we collected our van I picked up a pair of Level Pro's in the showroom & my dealer told me they were for caravans and got a pair of Level Up's off the shelf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie gibblebucket Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Both times we bought ours as a pair, both times packaged in cellophane with a paper label, that is where it says 5 tons max weight. I still have the label in the van. I don't dispute what you are saying, just that there was no indication on the label that they were for use with caravans only, and it would be helpful if this was made clear to the purchaser. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Juat had a look at the Fiamma site and the do say caravan for level pro, and do not give a weight as all the others do. I suspect as mentioned they are not suitable for the weight. I use 'level system magnum', not as tall as the jumbos but always found adequate if I carry a couple of bits of wood to raise them up a bit higher or use on soft ground to help stop them sinking in. 8 years and levels are still going strong which cannot be said for the wood. Sometimes they have sunk in a bit and when I drive off have a definite curve to them, but always flatten out over a few days and go flat again, so are pretty tough. Never felt the need to attach to a piece of wood and they rarely slipped when climbing them. Now the bases are fairly rough from use they never slip even on wet smooth tarmac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Ok Josie, I retract what I said about not being for a heavy weight, if the label says so then they should survive. Tell who sold then to you and say you want replacments or some money back, and I think I would change to a different type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie gibblebucket Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Just found the labels from the two different packs - one bought at NFOL in 2008, the other at Season Finale Lincoln last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie gibblebucket Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Just found the labels from the two different packs - one bought at NFOL in 2008, the other at Season Finale Lincoln last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie gibblebucket Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Just found the labels from the two different packs - one bought at NFOL in 2008, the other at Season Finale Lincoln last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Are you trying to make a point Nicola or just got itchy fingers. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie gibblebucket Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 :$ :$ :$ Sorry folks, I've been trying to post pics of the labels, to show where the confusion may have arisen re their intended use, but I've obviously made a hash of that too. Oh well I am the 3 F's - Fat, female and fifty something...................... :D :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirles Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 We had some fiamma levelling ramps and they cracked just like yours,so we chucked them away when we bought some made by truma at the nec in feb. Should have known better after 40 years of caravanning and buying some pretty iffy stuff with the fiamma label on it. Only last week in Germany i was winding the fiamma awning out when something fell off it and almost hit the wife.On our last caravan the stitching on the fiamma caravanstore burst open. We might be just unlucky as the saying goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 josie gibblebucket - 2011-06-08 11:12 AM :$ :$ :$ Sorry folks, I've been trying to post pics of the labels, to show where the confusion may have arisen re their intended use, but I've obviously made a hash of that too. Oh well I am the 3 F's - Fat, female and fifty something...................... :D :D :D A youngster as Motohomers go then. :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 josie gibblebucket - 2011-06-08 11:12 AM . Oh well I am the 3 F's - Fat, female and fifty something...................... :D :D :D I prefer to think of you as fit, fabulous and friendly! But it does beg the question - if you don't mind me asking - or unless I misunderstood - but, if the first set broke what induced you to buy another set of the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie gibblebucket Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Thankyou Tracker, you're a smooth talker! We only bought the same again as we just thought we'd been unlucky with the first pair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 As you have the packaging, and the cracked ramps, and can easily prove your whole van is within the load limit, the seller should replace them. Do you know who you got them from? If so, take them back and ask for replacements. In doing so, it may be worth saying you have limited confidence in that product, and offer to pay the difference in price between the ones you have, and the Level Up, or whatever heavier duty ramp they have. However, because you describe them as bending, I do just wonder how long you may have kept your van on the ramps, and whether the ground was soft. I'm fairly sure the weight limit stated merely refers to use on solid ground, ideally tarmac (into which they will also sink, if left for long enough), brick, or concrete. I think it is a crushing strength, not a bending strength. Structurally, plastics are just that, plastic. That means they deform. If they recovered to their original shape, they would be elastic, which they are not. The PVC, or whatever they are made from, is now expensive, so is padded out with filler, most commonly kaolin, or china-clay. When they bend, one surface, in your case the lower surface, must extend, and to that it must somewhere thin. If it gets longer, it must get thinner, because its volume is fixed. Under these stresses, the filler prevents the "plastic" extending and thinning, so it does the next best thing, and cracks. So, if you have kept the van on the ramps, on soft ground, beyond a fairly limited time - probably not much more than 24 hours - you will have unwittingly been guilty of "ramp abuse"! :-) However, if the manufacturer does not see fit to warn of this limitation, you cannot be expected to take it into account, so are quite entitled to ask for your money back. Otherwise, if you frequently camp on soft ground, do as Richard says, and put a piece of thick ply, or blockboard, under the ramps. Make sure it is WBP, or marine, grade though, or it will begin to delaminate in the damp. Also a good idea to seal the ply with a couple of coats of varnish, to help cleaning off before putting back into the van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie gibblebucket Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Brian Kirby - 2011-06-08 5:45 PM - you will have unwittingly been guilty of "ramp abuse"! :-) Guilty as charged, we were on them for about a week, on grass, but the ground was very hard, we've had no significant rainfall since February! 8-) I tried really hard to upload the pics of the packaging earlier on, because nowhere does it say, or even imply, that they were only for use with caravans. It does say "The use of the leveller is to level the vehicles, in particular for those used on campsites" *-) Make of that what you will. Sadly I don't think I still have a receipt, but I would know the guy again. Its probably unlikely he will want to know, we took the first pair to show him, even though they had been bought elsewhere, and asked if there was anywhere in the UK to contact Fiamma. He just said we should email them in Italy and indicated it was likely we would wait 2 months plus for a reply, if we got one at all. He didn't say they were not suitable and happily sold us another set! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Then, unfortunately, I think you'll just have to buy some more suitable ones to replace them, and keep the receipt, or do as Rich suggests and mount the cracked ones on stout ply. Sorry! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheetahdavie Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I must be doing something wrong again.. My [our] first attempt [notice `attempt`] at motor `home` travel was in the mid 1970s in an old converted tranny..our current vehicle is a 55 reg pathetic..sorry..peugot..got the p right!..I have never ever needed a leveller of any sorts on any site i have been on. Seasoned travellers will say that is not many..but We [royal we ] have just spent a week on a grass pitch..we drove on..hooked up..and watched many others..putting down ramps..arguing/falling out about silly little plastic [usually yellow] levelling blocks. I put my foot behind the door if it swings open.roll on the other sid if the bed aint spot on..come on..your having a laugh when you talk about "levellers" :-S B-) :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Depends where you camp, what van you have & what in terms of level is acceptable to you. Our van has a pronounced nose down stance on level ground the beds great as our heads are at the highest point but the shower doesn't drain very well. We always look at the ground & park to achieve a levelish position when possible, if needed it only takes a minute to employ the ramps. Do like to have the shower draining well otherwise not too bothered don't worry about it too much as rarely stay longer than 1 or 2 at the most nights anywhere. I think the ones that flap about for ages just don't know what level is, we used to be caravanner's the amount of them you see with spirit levels spending 30min or more trying to get it level. I used to get in the van & instantly know which way to adjust it don't need a level if it feels right it is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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