Van Covers - Keeping Your Bus Dry

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simo,

Just seem them and it looks real good. I am taken with the door opening of the pro-tec cover and under body straps. Having said that, the pro-tec cover is a good £100 more expensive......choices, choices :?
 
It really does seem a case of pay your money and take your chance.

I think the Pro-Tec covers are good based on the comments I can find. But its not easy to quantify if they are worth the extra £100. As I said a bit earlier...only time will tell. Personally I'd rather pay a bit more and hopefully not wreck my paint. Cheaper covers do seem to be cheap for a reason.
 
Not trying to sell it- you make your own choice! It does have 2 underbody straps tho!
Just trying to offer info to help anyone out ;)
 
I've bought a Hamilton Classics cover. At a bit over £200 it seems to be good quality - with a bit of spare room for my front spare and bike rack. I've also gone for a security cable so it shouldn't be stolen... The thing is very well presented and was delivered in 2 days from order. Rain and wind forecast this weekend. so we will see!
 
My cover from Pro-Tec should have arrived last week...but didn't. I called them last Friday and was told it would be with me by today...it's not. I've just called them again and now it will be with me by the end of next week. To be fair they've not take the payment, but the weather is getting worse and I just want a cover.

Due to the lead time it will now probably take longer to buy from somewhere else.

I'll update if and when it appears.
 
Baldrick said:
My cover from Pro-Tec should have arrived last week...but didn't. I called them last Friday and was told it would be with me by today...it's not. I've just called them again and now it will be with me by the end of next week. To be fair they've not take the payment, but the weather is getting worse and I just want a cover.

Due to the lead time it will now probably take longer to buy from somewhere else.

I'll update if and when it appears.

Customer service :evil:
 
gninnam said:
Baldrick said:
My cover from Pro-Tec should have arrived last week...but didn't. I called them last Friday and was told it would be with me by today...it's not. I've just called them again and now it will be with me by the end of next week. To be fair they've not take the payment, but the weather is getting worse and I just want a cover.

Due to the lead time it will now probably take longer to buy from somewhere else.

I'll update if and when it appears.

Customer service :evil:
Had a call from Pro-Tec today. The cover is going into production today and it should be with me next week.
That will be 3 weeks later than promised and 6 weeks after ordering. They took money from my credit card a couple of days ago.

I hope that the quality of their product is better than their customer service.
 
just received my protec cover.

was told 3-4 weeks delivery when ordered but took 6 weeks to arrive - similar experience to comments already posted.

asked them to make the cover to accommodate front mounted spare wheel and front roof rack.

put cover on a few days ago and very impressed so far.

it has 5 side underbody straps and 2 from front to back. has the side door opening which was one of the main reasons for choosing protec.

cover appears to be made very well, fabric is good and they've done the spare wheel/roof rack adjustments superbly. it fits snugly around the whole van with no excess flapping etc.

time will tell if it's worth the money but at the moment i'm impressed.
 
Cover actually arrived yesterday, so not as late as they suggeseted.

It does seem good quality and as the above comment it fitted easier than I expected and is a snug but not tight fit. Only time will tell if it was a good decision, but I'm pleased with it now its arrived.
 
AndyDC said:
I've bought a Hamilton Classics cover. At a bit over £200 it seems to be good quality - with a bit of spare room for my front spare and bike rack. I've also gone for a security cable so it shouldn't be stolen... The thing is very well presented and was delivered in 2 days from order. Rain and wind forecast this weekend. so we will see!

A post script to my postings about my choice of a Hamilton Cover. It arrived very promptly and was impressively packed into a smallish presentation-type bag. It also came with a separate nylon bag that I guess is intedned for everyday stowage. Hamilton also supplied a cable and lock which will give a bit more security, and sill suppliment the 2 nylon straps which go under the van to keep it in place. Those straps are a bit feeble and the plastic seems brittle. But they work.

A beef is that the cover - being 5 ply - is very bulky. That means simply trying to hold the thing in your arms without dragging it on the floor, and picking up dirt and leaves etc. is very hard. As a result, the nice clean soft lining now includes bits of twig and leaves etc. which somewhat defeats the point. I don't fancy my chances of getting the cover back in the nylon bag either. So right now it's piled up inthe middle of my garage floor, with a pool of water around it.

When it's on the van, the wrinkled look reminds me of a dugong's face. But if it protects against the weather then I guess that's the important thing. Signs are it will.
 
Contacted Pro-tec today to order our cover and they have a 10 week waiting list :shock: :(
They have been inundated for caravan covers. This may explain the delay many people have been experiencing.

Back to square one!
 
AndyDC said:
AndyDC said:
I've bought a Hamilton Classics cover. At a bit over £200 it seems to be good quality - with a bit of spare room for my front spare and bike rack. I've also gone for a security cable so it shouldn't be stolen... The thing is very well presented and was delivered in 2 days from order. Rain and wind forecast this weekend. so we will see!

A post script to my postings about my choice of a Hamilton Cover. It arrived very promptly and was impressively packed into a smallish presentation-type bag. It also came with a separate nylon bag that I guess is intedned for everyday stowage. Hamilton also supplied a cable and lock which will give a bit more security, and sill suppliment the 2 nylon straps which go under the van to keep it in place. Those straps are a bit feeble and the plastic seems brittle. But they work.

A beef is that the cover - being 5 ply - is very bulky. That means simply trying to hold the thing in your arms without dragging it on the floor, and picking up dirt and leaves etc. is very hard. As a result, the nice clean soft lining now includes bits of twig and leaves etc. which somewhat defeats the point. I don't fancy my chances of getting the cover back in the nylon bag either. So right now it's piled up inthe middle of my garage floor, with a pool of water around it.

When it's on the van, the wrinkled look reminds me of a dugong's face. But if it protects against the weather then I guess that's the important thing. Signs are it will.

After all the snow and ice I'm glad of the cover. However, it is a faff to take on and off unless you have help and you need somewhere to put the cover (usually wet) when you take it off that won't result in the fleecy lining getting dirty. But these comments probably apply to any quality cover.
 
I went for the Pro-tec cover in the end and so far, I am very pleased with it. Does not let a drop of water through so far and having the access to the sliding door is well good. The other thing I am pleased with is the amount of straps it comes with. It really holds the cover in place on those real windy days.
I agree with the above statement getting the cover on on your own can be a nightmare expecially when you have just waxed the van....the thing just keeps sliding off before you get all the corners over the van :roll:
 
Yes it's definitely an aquired technique getting the cover back on singlehanded! :lol:
Doing it in windy conditions is definitely 'fun'!
When I take mine off I try and lay it out in the same fashion it goes on the bus, usually by laying it on my car (and putting a couple of lumps off wood on top if necessary, to stop it blowing off), and then when it's time to pop it back on the bus I'm not scrabbling about with it, trying to find which end is which etc! :mrgreen:
 
Just as a follow up.

The Pro-Tec cover has been on the van constantly since last September through all the snow and loads of rain. It has kept the bus dry and the paintwork has not been damaged in any way. Overall well pleased.
 
As mentioned above by Baldrick, we have had our Protec cover for about 3 months and have been really pleased at how dry the van is. Its early days but would certainly recommend the cover so far and having door access cut into the cover has been real useful on a number of occasions.
 
I've been using my protec for over two years now, and very impressed. Van is never damp when I take it off, and so far no rips etc. and it can get fairly windy by the sea :D
 
Will have to look at the Protech's from what you lads have been saying.
 

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