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BH's 2012 (2011 Model) Swift Challenger 480 2 Berth

15K views 66 replies 10 participants last post by  muzzer 
#1 ·


This is our 2012 2011 model Swift Challenger 480 2 berth 'van

After 3 months of searching we came by chance across this 'van on eBay that a Dealer was selling on

The CRiS report shows it was registered in May 2012 but is in fact a 2011 model with one previous owner

It is in original condition with a lot of its original features

One of our many 'must have's' for us was a motor mover as my back is a bit on the knackered side lol
That box is ticked
The Dealer completed a full service and gave us a back to base warranty for 6 months. Quite happy about that as we only live 20mins away from them

The 'van was really clean when we collected it but being a bit anal about these things the wife & I cleaned every surface on the inside & I mean every surface, even the 1's you can't see lol

The list of bits you need when starting from scratch seems to be endless & expensive but what the hell

Spec on our van here -
https://www.pdf-archive.com/2019/08/02/challenger-sept-2010/

Prior to our first trip away I purified the whole water system, filled the gas bottle & bought a carbon monoxcide alaram with a battery for the smoke alarm
The van already had a fire blanket and a filled fire extinguisher so all those boxes ticked too

We booked 3 nights away as a tester break & ended up booking another 4 nights at another site as we were all enjoying ourselves so much
I was even enticed into buying a sun canopy for our first trip away lol



Away on our 2nd journey shortly with September & October breaks already booked lol

On our next journey I'lll be breaking out our new air awing which I got new with accessories 1/2 price
Caravanners do like a bargain!

I'll post some pic's when I get the air awning up

PS If anyones missed it this is our tow car
https://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=414619

Updates as & when

Come on people, where are your caravan/motorhome threads ?
 
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#54 ·
Just booking up our sites for this year

We have March to July & September booked so far this year :thumb:

Ordering some parts for the 'van, collecting the leisure battery to bring home to charge, collecting the 'thunder box' to fit a new lip seal & collecting towing mirrors to see if they are going to be ok on the X3

Interested to see how much juice is left in the battery after no use or charges in the last 3 months
 
#55 ·
Collected the leisure battery from the caravan today (as well as the other things I needed to collect / sort)

Checked if there was any power left in it using the onboard power meter. Surprisingly it was in pretty good state considering I hadn't used it or the 'van for 3 months



There was never going to be enough power to use the motor mover to get it up on the drive when we bring the caravan home in March in preparation to go away, so I removed it so it can be charged at home

I was surprised to find it had quick release battery clips which made the removal a doddle

The battery certainly is a big mutha', a 120Ah one which TBH I think is a bit OTT. The guarantee sticker showed the battery was 2 year old when we got the 'van



Next job? Changing the lip seal on the Thetford 'thunder box' :lol:
 
#56 ·
Hence why we had a solar charger fitted, it works even when there is cloud cover so the battery will be fine. Just bought an air hawk pro cordless tyre inflator to make sure they are good after being stored since October last year.
First trip for us is March but we have a foreign holiday booked so will be little trips this year with the 'van
 
#57 ·
I'm desperate to get away now but
1 she's in pieces still after I sorted damp out!
2 My 50th and wife's 40th this month
3 Still finishing house after extending it!
4 1holiday abroad booked with daughter another planned without��
Was gutted van wasn't usable at new year, the weather was great for that week.

Solar panels for topping battery are great, only need a small one.

Thetford seal is not the nicest job but quite simple to do and worth it to avoid leakage��
 
#59 · (Edited)
No jollies abroad for us this year unfortunately. Our daughter is having her 4th child & our 5th grand child shortly, so our dog baby sitters are limited, so I've gone crazy booking up sites! SWMBO was gobsmacked lol

March
April
May
June
July
September
November

Just got August, October & New Years eve to book for 2020 now lol
 
#61 ·
We never did get away last year in the end, and taking our eldest grand daughter to Portugal this year and next year is a milestone birthday for the wife, so thats 10 days in Marrakech.
So the poor ‘van wont get much use except possibly bank holidays but then it will get hammered for the next few years whilst we save up to go see some friends in Miami.
 
#62 ·
First time towing today with the X3
Our caravan storage is only 5 mins away, so not much of drive to assess it
However the 'zoom to trailor tow hitch' which is part of the reverse camera is invaluable. Makes reversing up to the caravan a doddle



Gave a 12 year old in a Corsa a shock when I left him for dead at the traffic lights with the 'van attached :lol:
 
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