Best wheel chock and chocking technique in a RH drive California

[Corgimajor]

We've owned our T6.1 Ocean for over a year, but have been lucky to stop on sites with relatively flat pitches. We were fortunate that on the only site we did visit that did have a slope (on Jersey) the site owner lent us a some chocks. However that experience reminded me that as you have to let the handbrake off to rotate the drivers seat, things can become rather uncoordinated if you are inexperienced!!

I would like to buy some wheel chocks to give us more flexibility in choosing sites in future, but I also need some guidance on what chocks to buy to avoid the handbrake release /slide back down the chock issue. Either that or guidance on how best to manage the handbrake release/swing driver seat process. NB. It occured to me anyone driving a LH drive California, will most likely avoid this dilemma as the kitchen is behind the driver's seat, so swinging the passenger seat is always preferable in a two person journey. That said advice on this issue from all owners whether RH or LH drive will be appreciated .

 

[andyinluton]

Put gearbox in park, release footbrake slowly, van will slowly move an inch or two to take up the slack in the transmission then pull up the handbrake., if you do it in that order it won't matter how many times you put the handbrake up or down, the van won't budge.

 

[yossarian]

This is also an option : https://www.milenco-outlet.co.uk/levelling/milenco-mgi-wedge-level-and-chock-singles.html

 

[WelshGas]

We've owned our T6.1 Ocean for over a year, but have been lucky to stop on sites with relatively flat pitches. We were fortunate that on the only site we did visit that did have a slope (on Jersey) the site owner lent us a some chocks. However that experience reminded me that as you have to let the handbrake off to rotate the drivers seat, things can become rather uncoordinated if you are inexperienced!!

I would like to buy some wheel chocks to give us more flexibility in choosing sites in future, but I also need some guidance on what chocks to buy to avoid the handbrake release /slide back down the chock issue. Either that or guidance on how best to manage the handbrake release/swing driver seat process. NB. It occured to me anyone driving a LH drive California, will most likely avoid this dilemma as the kitchen is behind the driver's seat, so swinging the passenger seat is always preferable in a two person journey. That said advice on this issue from all owners whether RH or LH drive will be appreciated .

I presume you have a DSG gearbox? If so, as @andyinluton has said. P is your friend.

 

[Corgimajor]

Put gearbox in park, release footbrake slowly, van will slowly move an inch or two to take up the slack in the transmission then pull up the handbrake., if you do it in that order it won't matter how many times you put the handbrake up or down, the van won't budge.

@andyinluton Great advice, thank you.

 

[Corgimajor]

This is also an option : https://www.milenco-outlet.co.uk/levelling/milenco-mgi-wedge-level-and-chock-singles.html

@yossarian - as I don't have any chocks yet, I'll check these out. Thank you.

 

[RockinNRollin]

I've not tried it in the Cali, but I remember years ago putting an automatic Subaru into "P" on a hill - the force on the pin in the gearbox meant it was very difficult to extract the gear lever from "P"! Is this not a problem in the Cali?

 

[dspuk]

Assuming you mean ramps. To ramp or not is a frequently fought debate on here. The winner? Neither. As with everything it depends and down to your own POV.

We used to religiously ramp when we first got the Cali and then we just stopped, and never had an issue since.

To us a few degrees here and there actually makes no difference to how we sleep and for the one time we may end up on a slope we’ll borrow or repark.

To carry two lumps of fairly large plastic for the 1/100 we might need them is a waste of space in a space poor van so we don’t bother anymore. Yes, you can stuff in the seats, but we have other uses for that space.

Personally I’d advise waiting a while and using a little longer before deciding if ramps/chocks are a must have.

As others have said - we found the handbrake challenge a none issue after a while.

 

[andyinluton]

I've not tried it in the Cali, but I remember years ago putting an automatic Subaru into "P" on a hill - the force on the pin in the gearbox meant it was very difficult to extract the gear lever from "P"! Is this not a problem in the Cali?

No

Assuming you mean ramps. To ramp or not is a frequently fought debate on here. The winner?

It doesn't matter if its ramps or just a slightly sloping bit of ground its the same problem.

 

[Dave Lowe]

Bought set of ramps. ... Have never used them .... In one of my sheds where l store my other camping kit .... They are still very clean and shiny

 

[RockinNRollin]

Bought set of ramps. ... Have never used them .... In one of my sheds where l store my other camping kit .... They are still very clean and shiny

I have friends who say the same thing, but I find we probably use ramps 1 pitch in 3. I do like a level pitch mind you. At a recent stay where to get the van even close to level I had to get the rear wheels to the top of the ramps, on another pitch a van had parked nose-downhill without any ramps. I did think how on earth they stayed in bed at that angle.

 

[WelshGas]

I have friends who say the same thing, but I find we probably use ramps 1 pitch in 3. I do like a level pitch mind you. At a recent stay where to get the van even close to level I had to get the rear wheels to the top of the ramps, on another pitch a van had parked nose-downhill without any ramps. I did think how on earth they stayed in bed at that angle.

Never had chocks when we tented.

 

[Calimili]

RockinNRollin said:
I've not tried it in the Cali, but I remember years ago putting an automatic Subaru into "P" on a hill - the force on the pin in the gearbox meant it was very difficult to extract the gear lever from "P"! Is this not a problem in the Cali?

No

I may have to disagree, but that is my opinion.
I actually find that if the van is on an incline and parked in P (obviously) without handbrake, the pin of the P gearbox comes under tension and the gear lever is harder to pull out of P. Of course it does come off, but a certain resistance is very noticeable. The steeper the incline the harder to put out of P. I don't think that's good.
I took the habit, if I am on an incline, to hold the break pedal pressed, put in N, put handbrake on, release the brake pedal (so the van shift the "weight" to the rear axle brakes) , and then put in P.
This way the pin of the P isn't under tension, and sure enough it has no resistance coming out of P, provided I take it out of P before releasing the handbrake.

For RHD parking on ramps i find it suboptimal. Ideally you guys could have somebody pressing the pedal brake, while you release the handbrake (engine off in P), to avoid the van to slide and stop onto the pin in P. Swivel the seat , handbrake on, release pedal brake. Basically a faff.

How do people with manual rhd swivel the seat? rely on the engine to compression to hold the van while on a ramp?

 

[andyinluton]

I actually find that if the van is on an incline and parked in P (obviously) without handbrake, the pin of the P gearbox comes under tension and the gear lever is harder to pull out of P. Of course it does come off, but a certain resistance is very noticeable. The steeper the incline the harder to put out of P. I don't think that's good.

So why do you think they bothered to put the "pin" on auto gearboxes? It's what it's there for.

 

[RoB5urf]

No idea what "pin" means in this context. I tend to apply the handbrake when parked. On the odd occasion when I haven't (and the van is parked on a slope) I've noticed there is more resistance in the lever when moving it out of Park.

 

[Calimili]

So why do you think they bothered to put the "pin" on auto gearboxes? It's what it's there for.

They put the "pin" on automatics to prevent the car from rolling on a light incline or flat, similar as leaving a gear in on a manual.
It is also a "back up" emergency feature if your handbrake should fail: in all other options D, N, R the transmission will be disconnected from the engine, unlike a manual where you can leave it "in gear".

The Pin is not designed as a handbrake. Otherwise, the wouldn't have equipped an automatic car with a Handbrake...

 

[Calimili]

No idea what "pin" means in this context. I tend to apply the handbrake when parked. On the odd occasion when I haven't (and the van is parked on a slope) I've noticed there is more resistance in the lever when moving it out of Park.

The Pin is a ... pin that is inserted in the transmission to prevent it from rolling when you select P.

 

[WelshGas]

They put the "pin" on automatics to prevent the car from rolling on a light incline or flat, similar as leaving a gear in on a manual.
It is also a "back up" emergency feature if your handbrake should fail: in all other options D, N, R the transmission will be disconnected from the engine, unlike a manual where you can leave it "in gear".

The Pin is not designed as a handbrake. Otherwise, the wouldn't have equipped an automatic car with a Handbrake...

Try telling that to American drivers. P is Park on an automatic.

 

[Calimili]

Try telling that to American drivers. P is Park on an automatic.

P is for "Park" not for "Handbrake". By now there's a ton of videos from American youtubers explaining exactly this concept , they should be fine.

 

[andyinluton]

They put the "pin" on automatics to prevent the car from rolling on a light incline or flat, similar as leaving a gear in on a manual.
It is also a "back up" emergency feature if your handbrake should fail: in all other options D, N, R the transmission will be disconnected from the engine, unlike a manual where you can leave it "in gear".

I wouldn't have thought anyone is parking for camping purposes on anything other than a nearly level surface - even if you are using ramps, they are being used to get the van as level as possible.

If you speak to our American cousins it's the other way round, the handbrake is there as an emergency backup in case the pin should fail.

At the end of the day it's a mechanical lock, being used for the purpose its designed for - locking the transmission, for a minute or so whilst a seat is swivelled.

 

[Calimili]

I wouldn't have thought anyone is parking for camping purposes on anything other than a nearly level surface - even if you are using ramps, they are being used to get the van as level as possible.

If you speak to our American cousins it's the other way round, the handbrake is there as an emergency backup in case the pin should fail.

At the end of the day it's a mechanical lock, being used for the purpose its designed for - locking the transmission, for a minute or so whilst a seat is swivelled.

Once the seat is swiveled, and handbrake back on, one should take the gear out of P and back in P again, to release the tension from the pin and onto the rear brakes. The van will rest then with the weight taken from the brakes and not the pin...

agreed , 90% of the times you'd park on near flat surfaces, especially in the US

 

[RockinNRollin]

The thing in all of this for me though is while the ramps will make the van level, they actually tend to represent a pretty steep slope in themselves (albeit short, but that's immaterial), so quite a bit of pressure on the pin in the gearbox.

Bit of googling suggests it's actually a pawl (at least in some gearboxes, not sure about DSG), not a pin, in which case I suppose the risk of damage from having to force the gearstick out of P is probably lower. Even so, I dislike anything that feels like it's not mechanically sympathetic. Each to their own of course.

When tenting I tended to seek out flat spots (not always accessible in a vehicle), but even when not possible, I could still level the stove for cooking and chock the table so my pint didn't slide away from me - that's less easy in the van unless you're cooking/drinking outside!

For us at least we prefer to swivel the passenger (LH) seat anyway as there's the kitchen worktop there as a table, so we don't find it a burden. The driver's seat is usually piled high with child seat, coats etc. etc.

 

[yossarian]

I think all the ground has already been covered.

If you don't like leaving the van resting on the gearbox the ramps and interlocking chocks are a decent choice.

Otherwise there's the gearbox lock.

Choose your favourite solution.

 

[BrendanJ]

Just to add to the debate,
I am thinking it very much depends how the chocks are being used, ie to lift the front or back end or even side to side, or even just the odd wheel that is down in one corner. But in all cases you are only talking about marginal lift to an ideally level position of the van. Which is clearly not like parking on a hill.
In the first case both front ends lifted and now van level, for the van to roll down the chock means forcing the real wheels and the whole van across level ground, which I would expect would diminish the force, including on and parking mode pins
But my main point all depends on the particular circumstances of chocking.
But for sure I am going to go out and experiment with each of the advices already given. Saves employing my wife on the handbrake whilst I manipulate the drivers seat into position with one foot on the handbrake, works but tricky

 

[Calimili]

Just to add to the debate,
I am thinking it very much depends how the chocks are being used, ie to lift the front or back end or even side to side, or even just the odd wheel that is down in one corner. But in all cases you are only talking about marginal lift to an ideally level position of the van. Which is clearly not like parking on a hill.
In the first case both front ends lifted and now van level, for the van to roll down the chock means forcing the real wheels and the whole van across level ground, which I would expect would diminish the force, including on and parking mode pins
But my main point all depends on the particular circumstances of chocking.
But for sure I am going to go out and experiment with each of the advices already given. Saves employing my wife on the handbrake whilst I manipulate the drivers seat into position with one foot on the handbrake, works but tricky

the van might be level once on the ramp, but the wheels are actually on an incline (the ramp). Infact it usually require giving a bit of gas to go up the ramp and brakes applied as it otherwise immediately tend to slide back off the ramp, despite the van being level.

also doesn't "chocking" refers to "blocking" a wheel from moving in one direction ? although fiamma provide ramps with chokes , but usually those are for caravans: