Considering getting a Broadway
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Considering getting a Broadway
I have read in the past about stress fractures on coach builds and also possible damp due to the construction methods, but I cannot recall if this relates to the Broadway.
My PVC is in excellent condition and I am concerned after spending money to switch I might be worse off.
Thanks
Toffee- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
For me the most critical physical dimension of any motorhome is width.
The Broadway is nearly 300 mm wider than the PVC's.
Depends where you go and how you use your van but, for me that alone would be a stopper. Narrow villages, effectively unusable on, say, the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland, all the sorts of places we like to use ours.
Your needs or uses may, of course, be totally different, that's just my feeling.
As a coachbuilt it may suffer from damp which is very rare in PVC's????
IanH- Donator
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Caraman- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Toffee- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
If you want to be able to travel with full or nearly full water tanks (to cover wild camping) and/or heavy bikes on the back perhaps mounted on a tow bar you will almost certainly need to find an up-plated Broadway with 225/70 R15 112 CP tyres rather than the standard 215/70 R15 109 CP tyres. There is a thread somewhere about someone who bought a new Broadway and then had to up-plate and fit new tyres so he could accommodate bikes on a tow bar.Toffee wrote:Thanks caraman I had wondered about weight, i enquired about uprating the Broadway and was told 3650 maximum, the fairford is plated at 3900 due to a tow bar and heavy bikes.
Caraman- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
On another note, I’ve got it in mind that European break down cover is unobtainable on vehicles over 10 years old is this correct?
Toffee- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Toffee wrote:I was expecting to have to up-plate the vehicle I think as this thread is playing out I’m being steered to considering a different pvc or sticking with what we have.
On another note, I’ve got it in mind that European break down cover is unobtainable on vehicles over 10 years old is this correct?
My Comfort Breakdown cover is European wide, 12 year old Gloucester.
_________________
Peter L
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
I wasn't trying to put you off the Broadway. We have the SWB version which is the Nuevo and are very happy with it. But we only drive it from site to site, via a supermarket or NT carpark, with the equivalent to two light bikes on the back and with empty or near empty fresh, grey and black water tanks. It's comfortable and cosy which allows us to use it all year but we are cautious using grass pitches as the front wheel traction is not good. As mentioned it has the width of a caravan which can lead to scratches from hedgerows but due to its short wheel base it has a tight turning circle.Toffee wrote:I was expecting to have to up-plate the vehicle I think as this thread is playing out I’m being steered to considering a different pvc or sticking with what we have.
...
Caraman- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Think, though not my decision, the best plan is stick with what you have!
One, you know its faults
Two, you know its recent, at least, history
Three, already modified to take your heavy bikes
Four, it won't leak when it rains!!
Anything you buy to replace it may be absolutely perfect, but equally likely to be a total nightmare....
I like my Exec, have had newer, indeed, 2 x Warwick Duos, both of which I also liked, but it is old enough to avoid all the bad things new vehicles have....ECU, EGR, DPF, Ad Blu, I could go on. Best of all it has nothing with Sargent written on it anywhere!!!
Your toy, your call!!
![up!](/users/3014/30/14/83/smiles/3459062273.gif)
Last edited by IanH on Thu Oct 12, 2023 1:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
IanH- Donator
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Could you not have put lovely Sargent
![Considering getting a Broadway 1f602](https://2img.net/i/fa/twemoji/16x16/1f602.png)
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Firedecisions- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
cobs- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
The 1900 kg for the rear axle is more than I would like. TyreSafe and tyre manufacturers recommend for my 109 load rated tyres it should be no more than 1854 kg. I would be concerned if it was as high as 1950 kg.
Caraman- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
cobs- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
I am thinking of replacing my 215/70 tyres with 225/70s as you have done with a higher load rating. A stupid question but did the wider tyres fit the Broadway and existing rims OK? Did you notice any change in handling, ride, economy, noise or traction?cobs wrote:Have replaced tyres with 225/70 which have higher load rating. Am also thinking about semi-air which means I could up-plate if necessary in future
Caraman- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
cobs- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Caraman- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
No problem with size as had much bigger vans for the previous 15 years.
Peter Brown- Donator
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Last week I threw these away and fitted a set of General Grabber AT3's, 235/65 R16C with 121 load rating. I was going to give it another week or so before commenting on these but I have done about 500 miles now including a very blustery run down to Falmouth this afternoon, and can only say I am really pleased so far. The ride is transformed, the tracking was rock steady in strong cross winds and we had a very smooth trip indeed with far less noise inside the van. I will be beetling round some Cornish lanes this next week so will have a better idea after that but so far I think that these tyres are likely to be perfect. No soft grass trials yet but I am sure they will give a lot more traction than the original tyres, which although only part worn (13,000 miles) looked more like slicks apart from the three plain grooves in the tread.
More to the point of this post the 121 load rating would go a long way to solving many weight issues. I am reluctantly considering up plating to 3,900kg since we are teetering on the 3.5 limit at the moment, and with these GG tyres there is no problem. Even without up plating they allow a much greater margin of capacity.
The only down side might be fuel consumption, but I don't actually know accurately what the van was doing beforehand so I won't have to worry about that! More seriously, I put GG AT3's on my VW Touareg at the same time (expensive week!) and so far after 800 miles in that car I can't see any significant change in consumption (or tyre noise for that matter.)
The Bargee- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Back to our thoughts on getting a Broadway thanks to all who have contributed the posts have all been useful and from lots of perspectives.
The Broadway we were considering is exactly the same age as the fairford we own, if we bought it it would be for at least 5 years intended ownership at which point it would be.12 years old.
I can’t decide which of the two would be the most sustainable option. I use the term sustainable in terms of longevity and cost of maintaining it to a useable standard up to and possibly beyond this period. I suspect the pvc will be corroded and the the coachbuilt will be leaking.
Toffee- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Toffee wrote:I never new these tyres existed, we opted for Michelin cross climate in our fairford 118-116 rated and we are plated at 3900, had to supply proof of the load rating as part up the uprating process. I’ve not regretted the change from 3500kgs. The cross climate tyres don’t seem to have effected the fuel consumption, I doubt your General Grabbers will either.
Back to our thoughts on getting a Broadway thanks to all who have contributed the posts have all been useful and from lots of perspectives.
The Broadway we were considering is exactly the same age as the fairford we own, if we bought it it would be for at least 5 years intended ownership at which point it would be.12 years old.
I can’t decide which of the two would be the most sustainable option. I use the term sustainable in terms of longevity and cost of maintaining it to a useable standard up to and possibly beyond this period. I suspect the pvc will be corroded and the the coachbuilt will be leaking.
It does sound a bit like "out of the frying pan........
I think IanH raised the point that would concern me the most, namely the extra width. That of course depends an awful lot on how you use your van but if you tour with it as we do then the width could be a big issue in the more scenic areas that one might be visiting. I find the PVC to be effectively as easy to drive in lanes as using my (rather fat) SUV. The only downside is the need to think a little bit more about where and how you park due to the length, but you will know all that already. If anybody were to complain when squeezing past in a small lane I would just remind them that the van is the same as the van that delivers their parcels!
When we chose our van I did not even look at coachbuilts. I did not want the extra width and the greater risk of body damage, even though that does mean that the bed is rather narrow! I wanted a van that would go anywhere that an Amazon van could.
When all said and done your van is not that old, and won't be that old in 5 years time. Presumably it is a zinc coated body.
The Bargee- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Caraman- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
Plymouthwelshboy- Member
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Re: Considering getting a Broadway
We then bought a Bourton and being a Mercedes base vehicle is a far superior drive and ride if you can afford one.
We sold it back to the dealer after a few months due to a number of problems including a complete failure of the Truma system so having to travel through France for 4 weeks with no heating or hot water. Lithium battery had problems and there were several other faults.
We are now probably going to downsize to a PVC as being more manageable and hopefully without damp problems. Not keen on any of the AS models which don’t seem to have moved with the times but we shall see.
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