Quick caravan fixes for under $50

If there’s one universal truth among caravanners, it’s this: no matter how shiny, new, or “dealer-demo perfect” your caravan was on pick-up day, the moment you take it on the road, there's at least four things you immediately want to fix, tweak, upgrade… or quietly swear at.

The good news is that not all improvements require raiding the kids’ inheritance or selling a kidney on Facebook Marketplace. In fact, some of the best DIY caravan fixes cost less than a pub parmi and can be knocked over with nothing more than a bit of Aussie ingenuity, a hot cuppa (or cold beer) and a quick dash to the local hardware store.

Here are four simple DIY mods we did to our 'van, from silencing those rattly safety chains to making a budget-friendly Starlink pole...

Winning the safety chain rattle battle

Over the years I’ve developed a rare form of driving-induced OCD, or Obsessive Cab De-rattling! The moment some hidden gremlin starts up with a rattle, my ears lock on like a kelpie spotting a gate left open.

I’m an absolute stickler for silencing them, too. If it buzzes, jingles, clinks, or clatters, I’m straight onto it with cable ties, foam, tape, or whatever gadget I can ‘MacGyver’ together, and so it was with safety chains.

One of the most common annoyances when towing a caravan is the metallic clatter of safety chains rattling against the drawbar. Over long stretches of sealed or gravel road, that constant jangling becomes more than just irritating; it can also chip paint, damage galvanising, and eventually lead to corrosion.

But, thankfully, there’s an easy, inexpensive DIY fix that dramatically reduces noise while also improving the appearance of your towing set-up by shielding the chains with 50mm blue lay-flat irrigation hose.

As I only needed a short length (approximately two metres), I dropped into a local rubber and hose supplier to buy exactly what I needed. You’ll find that most major hardware stores only stock lay-flat hose in 10-metre and 20-metre rolls, which isn’t practical for such a small job.

Fitting the lay-flat hose over the safety chains is remarkably simple.

I began by marking out the required lengths, ensuring that each piece of hose left one full chain link and about half of the next link exposed. This allows easy attachment to the tow vehicle while ensuring the bulk of the chain is shielded.

Next, I punched a 5mm hole through one end of the hose, just large enough for a cable tie. This cable tie secures the hose to the chain so it won’t slide back and forth during travel.

Once I’d made the two hose lengths, I simply slid them over each chain, adjusted them to fit, and secured the drawbar end of each hose with a cable tie. The entire process took less than half an hour and required no special tools.

I’ve noticed some caravanners using heat-shrink tubing to achieve the same effect. Heat shrinking the chains does work equally well at reducing noise and providing a clean, uniform finish; however, the downside is cost. Large-diameter heat shrink is typically double the price of lay-flat hose.  

Boosting closet storage

Many caravans come with a wardrobe on either side of the bed, complete with a chrome hanging rail for shirts, jackets, and all the formal outfits you’ll never take on a caravan journey.

Let’s be honest: when you're away in the 'van, there’s rarely a need for a fine dining suit or an evening gown. Caravan life is all about thongs, shorts and T-shirts, with maybe a pair of jeans and a flannelette shirt tucked away if the weather turns cold.

For us, that meant the factory hanging space wasn’t practical. It wasted valuable storage in a place we really needed it.

To reclaim that space and make the closets genuinely useful, we removed the hanging rails and built our own lightweight shelving system. A simple DIY upgrade that cost under $50 and made a massive difference to how we pack and access our clothes.

We constructed our shelving from white 12mm aluminium angle, used as the shelf support framework, and 3mm white double-wall corflute for the shelves themselves. Both materials are inexpensive, easy to cut, and available from any local hardware store.

The colour of our internal cupboards is white, so purchasing white finished raw materials saved on painting.

The aluminium angle creates a rigid perimeter that the corflute panels sit neatly on, keeping weight to a minimum while still offering plenty of strength to hold folded clothes or towels. Despite how light the materials are, the finished shelves are surprisingly sturdy, more than enough for everyday use.

Stone-proofing the grey water pipes

When you’re rolling down the highway, the last thing you want is your caravan leaving a tell-tale trail of drips from a damaged grey water pipe. Not only is it a messy look, but in many places, you can actually cop a hefty fine for discharging grey water onto the road. Councils and state authorities take a dim view of caravans “watering the bitumen,” and a cracked or stone-bruised pipe is all it takes to land you in strife.

That’s why stone-proofing your grey water plumbing is one of the smartest, not to mention easiest DIY fixes you can make. A few simple, inexpensive modifications can save you from leaks, keep the authorities happy, and ensure your 'van stays road-trip ready — no dripping, dribbling, or dollar-draining surprises.

Most 'vans, ours included, came from the factory with exposed PVC piping under the chassis. It’s lightweight and inexpensive, but prone to becoming brittle with age. After enough years of heat, cold, vibration and road grime, even a small stone strike can crack a pipe.

For our project, we sourced 2.0m lengths of 42mm (inner diameter) pipe insulation with a 13mm thick foam wall – importantly, but not mandatory a fire-rated type of foam for added safety. (This was purchased from Actrol, part of Reece’s plumbing supplies, at around $20 for a length – a small price to protect expensive plumbing.)

The 42mm size foam was a perfect fit over our caravan’s grey water pipes, and the 13mm wall provides a good cushion against stones. Fire-rated closed-cell foam is durable and won’t easily shred or soak up water and dirt. I just cut the lagging to length, slid it over the pipework, and secured it with cable ties or tape.

Most caravanners should be able to complete the entire job for less than $50, depending on how much plumbing is exposed. Compared to the inconvenience of a cracked grey water pipe, it’s incredibly cheap insurance.

DIY telescopic Starlink mini pole

If you’ve ever tried setting up Starlink at a campsite, you’ll know the dish seems to have a sixth sense for choosing the worst possible angle, usually straight through a eucalyptus forest thick enough to confuse a possum.

It’s about this time you realise you require a telescopic pole to mount the Starlink dish high above the 'van, preferably one that doesn’t cost more than your last rego. Luckily, with a bit of DIY magic, you can whip one up for under fifty bucks.

It took me less than an hour to knock up this one for my 'van; the longest part of the task was waiting for the paint to dry.

The key to this ‘MacGyver’ inspired setup is the discovery that a standard $2.59, 1¼-inch PVC valve socket fits snugly and securely into the Starlink Mini pole mount straight out of the box. With that adaptor problem solved, the rest of the project comes together easily with basic hardware.

For the mast itself, I purchased a 3.6-metre heavy-duty pool pole, ($22), the type used for pool nets and vacuum heads, from the local hardware store. These poles ae lightweight, rugged, and designed to telescope smoothly, making them ideal for a portable Starlink mount that can easily fit into your van’s tunnel boot or round fishing rod holder.

To adapt the PVC fitting to the pool pole, I slid the 32mm x 1¼” valve socket over the top end of the pole and drilled a 5.2mm hole straight through both the PVC and aluminium. This allowed me to securely fasten the socket using an M5 x 65mm bolt, two flat washers, and a Nyloc nut.

Once tightened, the fitting sits rock-solid on the pole and provides a perfect interface for the Starlink Mini mount. To tidy up the job, appease my OCD, and make everything match the caravan and the pole itself, I gave the whole assembly a generous coat of black spray paint. The result looks neat and professionally finished.

I also installed a jockey wheel clamp onto the rear bumper of the caravan which holds the telescopic pole firmly in place during use while allowing quick removal during packing. It also means the mast can be raised or lowered quickly as needed.

If required, I can also mount the pole on the drawbar, which is handy when the rear of the van is shaded or partially obstructed by nearby trees or structures.

The obstruction and alignment guidance in the Starlink app ultimately dictates the pole’s position. The app’s field-of-view tool clearly highlights nearby objects that may interfere with the signal, so being able to reposition the pole, either on the rear bumper or the drawbar, ensures the dish always has the clearest possible view of the sky.

This flexibility is one of the biggest advantages of building your own telescopic mount rather than relying on fixed brackets.

Related: Seven easy ways to upgrade your caravan