Getting a caravan ready for the road

Most vans in this district sit beside a shed for ten months and then get hitched up in the first week of April with nothing done to them since the last trip. What follows is a checklist and, more usefully, the reasoning behind each item, written for a corridor that sits on the road north and empties out every autumn.

The regulatory parts have been checked against the regulators' own pages and are current as at August 2026. The service intervals are indicative. They come from manufacturer handbooks and from what workshops between Wagga Wagga and Wangaratta actually do, not from any law. No workshop is bound by them.

Bearings and brakes, and the interval nobody keeps

Wheel bearings fail from heat and water, not from distance alone. Grease breaks down whether the van moves or not, and the inboard seal is the part that quietly lets water in after a wet camp at Bethanga or a launch at Lake Hume.

Manufacturers commonly nominate a bearing service every 10,000 km or twelve months, whichever comes first. That is an indicative figure taken from handbooks, and almost nobody keeps to it. Three years between services is closer to the district average, which is why a hub starts smoking somewhere past West Wyalong.

Done properly, a bearing service means the hubs come off, the old grease comes out, the races are inspected for bluing and brinelling, new seals go in every time, preload is set rather than guessed, and the brake assembly is measured while the drum is off. Electric drum brake magnets wear against the armature face on the drum. Shoes are cheap. A scored armature face means a new drum, and that is the part that turns a two hour job into a two day one.

The braking rules themselves are set nationally in Vehicle Standards Bulletin 1, revision 6 of which issued in August 2026. Trailers up to 750 kg GTM need no brakes. Over 750 kg GTM a trailer needs an efficient service braking system activated by a control signal from the tow vehicle, except that over-run brakes may be used up to 2,000 kg GTM. Up to 2,000 kg GTM the brakes may be on one axle only. Over 2,000 kg GTM they must operate on all wheels, and the van must have an emergency braking system that applies immediately on separation and keeps the brakes applied for at least 15 minutes.

That 15 minute figure is the reason the breakaway battery matters more than any other single component on the van. A voltage reading proves nothing. It needs a load test.

Tyres, where the date matters more than the tread

VSB 1 requires trailers with a GTM not exceeding 3,500 kg to carry a tyre placard stating the manufacturer's recommended tyre size, load rating, speed rating and cold inflation pressure. That placard is the reference, not the pressure the last tyre shop happened to use.

What VSB 1 does not contain, and neither do the Australian Design Rules, is any maximum tyre age. There is no legal expiry date on a caravan tyre. This matters because a van tyre almost never wears out. It ages out.

The four digits at the end of the DOT string give the week and year of manufacture. A tyre with 8 mm of tread and a 2016 date code has spent nine summers standing still in the sun at Howlong losing the plasticisers that keep a sidewall flexible. Tyre manufacturers commonly advise replacement at five to seven years from manufacture regardless of tread depth. That is indicative industry guidance, not a regulation, and it is worth following because the failure mode is a sidewall letting go at 100 km/h with 2.5 tonnes behind it.

Check all five date codes. The spare is usually the oldest tyre on the van, and it is the one that gets fitted at the worst possible moment.

Gas, and who may legally touch it

This is where New South Wales and Victoria genuinely part company, and it is the part most owners get wrong.

In New South Wales, gas installations in recreational vehicles must comply with AS/NZS 5601.2:2020, the standard covering LP gas installations in caravans and boats. Building Commission NSW is explicit in its advisory note on gas service to recreational vehicles that LP gasfitting work may only be carried out by a qualified person or under the immediate supervision of one, meaning somebody holding an endorsed contractor's licence or supervisor's certificate in the category of LP Gasfitting. A general plumbing licence is not enough.

A caravan runs on cylinders, so it is not connected to a gas network, and that changes the paperwork. Under the Gas and Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act 2017 and its 2018 Regulation, work on a non-networked installation produces a certificate of inspection, not a certificate of compliance. Within five business days the gasfitter must inspect every gas container, regulator and appliance connected to the installation, test the whole installation for defects, attach a compliance plate to the installation, and give the certificate of inspection to the owner. Since 1 March 2026 it must be lodged through the BCNSW eCert portal. Emailed PDFs are no longer accepted, and the gasfitter keeps a copy for five years. Swapping a cylinder over is expressly not gasfitting work.

In Victoria, gasfitting is a class of plumbing work under Part 4 of the Plumbing Regulations 2018, and the definition used by the Building and Plumbing Commission expressly includes any gas appliance in, or on, a caravan or a vessel. A licensed plumber, not merely a registered one, must issue a compliance certificate for the installation, relocation or replacement of any Type A gas-using appliance regardless of cost, and for any gasfitting work where the total value including materials, appliances, labour and GST exceeds $750. The certificate goes to the customer within five days and is lodged with the BPC within five days.

The Building Commission NSW audits of RV manufacturers are worth reading because they list what actually fails: press fit connections, which the standard prohibits outright; gas pipe clipped to the chassis closer than 25 mm to an electrical service; and a caravan fridge not installed in a sealed recess, which lets combustion products into the space people sleep in.

One more item that catches people out. To be refilled, a cylinder must carry a valid 10-year stamp, according to NSW gas cylinder safety guidance. Cylinders over 100 kg water capacity may extend to 15 years. Check the collar before leaving, because a swap-and-go depot at Jerilderie will refuse an out-of-date bottle and a remote roadhouse may not.

240 volt and the certificate that proves it was tested

VSB 1 requires that electrical installations on a trailer intended for connection to an AC supply other than the tow vehicle's comply with AS/NZS 3001, the standard for transportable structures and vehicles including their site supplies.

In New South Wales, any electrical wiring work must be done by or under the supervision of a licensed electrician, and the person who carries out the electrical test must submit a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work no later than seven days after the test is completed. From 1 July 2026 all CCEWs go through BCNSW eCert. Building Commission NSW notes on-the-spot fines of up to $1,000 for each occasion a CCEW is not supplied, and penalties up to $550,000 for installation work that does not meet the technical standards in the Regulation.

In Victoria a Certificate of Electrical Safety is required for all electrical installation work. For non-prescribed work, which covers most van jobs, the contractor has 30 days to give the customer a copy. Prescribed work must be inspected by an independent Licensed Electrical Inspector, cannot be energised until it has been, and the certificate follows within four days of the inspection.

The practical version: a new inverter, a second battery feeding a 240 volt circuit, a replaced RCD or a rewire all generate a certificate. Ask for it before paying. It is the only evidence anybody tripped the RCD and measured earth continuity rather than just tidying the wiring.

Where the rules differ

An identical van, bought at the same dealer, is inspected annually on the Albury side of the bridge and never inspected on the Wodonga side. Registration follows where the van is kept, not where the owner works.

Weights, with the arithmetic worked

VSB 1 defines the three numbers on the van's plate. Tare mass is the total mass of the trailer unladen and ready for service, including the mass imposed on the tow vehicle. Gross trailer mass is the mass transmitted to the ground through the van's own tyres at full load. Aggregate trailer mass is the total mass at full load, including the mass imposed on the tow vehicle.

Two pieces of arithmetic follow, and both come straight from the bulletin. ATM minus tare mass is the maximum load the van can carry. ATM minus GTM is the tow ball down weight when the van is at maximum load, evenly distributed.

The trap is in the tare definition. Tare includes fluid reservoirs filled to nominal capacity, but VSB 1 expressly excludes water tanks and waste water tanks in caravans from that. Every litre of fresh water is payload.

Take a plate reading tare 2,320 kg, GTM 2,530 kg, ATM 2,800 kg. Payload is 480 kg. Ball weight at full even load is 270 kg. Now load it:

• 90 litres of fresh water: 90 kg
• two full 9 kg cylinders: about 35 kg
• annexe, poles and mats: 45 kg
• bedding, clothes, food and kitchen gear: 120 kg
• tools, recovery gear and a generator: 40 kg
• second battery and solar controller: 25 kg

That is 355 kg, leaving 125 kg. Fill an 80 litre grey tank on the way home and 45 kg remains. Nobody in that example did anything unreasonable.

The 270 kg of ball weight does not come out of the van's payload. It lands on the tow vehicle, inside the tow vehicle's own GVM, alongside the passengers, the fuel and everything in the tub. That is the number that puts utes over their limit.

ATM and GTM are manufacturer specifications and cannot be measured on a weighbridge. What a weighbridge gives is what the van actually weighs today, which is the only figure that tells you whether the plate is being respected. Service NSW requires a weighbridge ticket to register a trailer where the tare mass cannot be confirmed, where the trailer is imported, or where there has been a major change.

Water is what actually kills vans

Bearings get replaced. Brakes get replaced. A rotten wall frame gets a quote that exceeds what the van is worth, and that is how vans in this district end up at wreckers at fourteen years old rather than thirty.

Sealant is a consumable. In a climate that runs to 40 degrees at Corowa in January and frost at Tumbarumba in July, the joints move constantly. Water gets in at the roof to wall join, the front and rear mouldings, hatch and window frames, the seal above the entry door, and the join between the wall and the floor.

Find it early by lifting the bed base and looking at the ply underneath, pressing the floor near the entry step and around the shower recess, running a moisture meter down the inside of the front wall in the boot, and looking along the exterior panels in raking light for the waviness that means delamination. Staining at the bottom corner of a window frame is never cosmetic.

If the van is newer, the discovery is not automatically your problem. Consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law are automatic, cannot be taken away, and sit separately from any manufacturer's warranty. The ACCC's position is that there are no set rules for how long a product should last, which means a four year old van with a leaking front seam is a conversation worth having rather than a bill to swallow.

Why the workshops are full from March

Every van in the corridor leaves at roughly the same time. The Murray towns empty north from late March, the Riverina follows, and the same three or four workshops in Albury, Wodonga, Wagga Wagga, Shepparton and Wangaratta take the same six weeks of bookings from everybody at once.

The compounding problem is that caravan work does not fit neatly into a booking sheet. A bearing service that finds a scored drum, a gas leak test that finds a fridge flue, or a moisture reading behind the front wall all convert a half day into two days on a hoist that somebody else was booked onto. By the second week of March the good shops are quoting May.

Book in October. A van serviced in spring gets the parts ordered without freight urgency, and any water ingress found then has all summer to be repaired properly rather than sealed over in a hurry. Businesses offering this work in the corridor are listed under caravan repairs, including Albury, Wodonga and Wagga Wagga.

What a pre-trip service normally includes

• Bearings stripped, inspected and repacked, with new seals both sides
• Brake shoes and magnets measured, drums inspected, brake controller output checked under load
• Breakaway system load tested, not voltage tested
• Coupling, safety chains, drawbar welds and A-frame checked for cracking and rust
• Suspension bushes, shackle pins and U-bolts inspected and torqued
• Wheel studs, nuts and torque checked; all five tyres checked for date code, pressure against the placard and irregular wear
• Full gas leak test, regulator pressure test, and service of the fridge, cooktop and water heater
• 240 volt test with RCD trip time, and the certificate issued
• 12 volt system, battery capacity, solar controller and charger output
• Water pump, tank flush, and a check that the grey outlet actually drains
• Roof, hatch, window and door seals inspected and a moisture survey of the walls and floor
• Jockey wheel, corner steadies, handbrake and lights including the plug pins

Before ringing anybody

Do four things first, because they change the quote. Read the compliance plate and write down the tare, GTM and ATM. Read all five tyre date codes. Check the 10-year stamp on both cylinders. Then put the van on a level surface, run the fridge on gas for an hour and the water heater for twenty minutes, and note anything that does not light, does not hold or smells wrong.

That takes forty minutes and turns a vague booking into a specific one, which in March is the difference between a workshop finding you a slot and a workshop finding you a date in May.

Sources

Checked on 2026-08-25. Government fees and rules are indexed and revised, so open the source before you rely on a figure.

• infrastructure.gov.au
• nsw.gov.au
• service.nsw.gov.au
• bpc.vic.gov.au
• energysafe.vic.gov.au
• vicroads.vic.gov.au
• accc.gov.au